Student Service Learning Hours (SSL) are a graduation requirement in Maryland that requires students to participate in service activities outside school hours. Students are required to have completed at least 75 hours of service throughout middle and high school, but students may significantly exceed this requirement. While universities may carefully review these hours, they also may disregard them. However, the question remains whether the number of service hours beyond the requirement increases students’ chances of college admission.
According to Prepory, a college admissions counseling website, colleges typically favor students who complete volunteer work as an extracurricular activity because it displays passion, commitment and a sense of civic duty. Service hours indicate that a student will be involved and engaged on a college campus, while also serving as a meaningful topic to write about in supplemental essays or interviews.
A different platform involved with assisting high school students in the college application process, Collegevine, says that no magic number of volunteer hours can guarantee admission. The quality of the service outweighs the quantity because a higher quality of service has more influence than multiple smaller ones.
Senior Teemo Taiwo agrees that it is best to have a high number of hours from just a few organizations rather than a couple of hours from a long list of organizations. She said she also believes some schools value community service differently than others. “I’d say about half of the schools I applied to had a supplemental essay dedicated to listing out or expanding on a community service experience,” Taiwo said.
MCPS has an award called the Certificate of Meritorious Service. This award is given to seniors who earn 240 SSL hours or more and includes a purple tassel for graduation. It recognizes the contributions seniors made to their community through volunteer work and could be an impactful addition to college applications.
Sophomore Gabriella Estrada is focused on limiting the services she assumes and narrowing them down to an issue she is passionate about. “Since there are so many student service scholarship opportunities out there, my mom always pushed my brother and I to focus on one specific SSL activity a year,” Estrada said.
Sophomore Manuella Poggio, a student with 231 SSL hours, said she believes that SSL hours make a student stand out by showing how involved they are within their community. “It sets the individual apart from others who do not have as many hours by showing responsibility in the student,” Poggio said.
Taiwo also said her involvement in community service impacted her college applications. “I don’t think my number of community service hours had a tremendous impact on my application itself. However, because I had so many hours, they are derived from a number of activities that were listed throughout my application,” Taiwo said.
