Did you help build homes for a disadvantaged community in a country far from the United States? That’s great! You should be proud of your commitment to making the world a better place. But don’t expect this service trip to get you into a highly selective college. All you’re conveying is your privilege when you write about the foreign travel you carried out ostensibly to help those who are less fortunate than you.

Let’s unpack why writing about service trips on your college application essays is a death sentence for ambitious college-bound high schoolers.

Service Trips Do Not Show Your Upright Character. They Show Your Privilege!

Admissions officers at highly selective colleges are responsible for curating highly diverse cohorts of students. Socioeconomic diversity is a crucial piece of this puzzle. Even if your service trip to help install whiteboards in classrooms in Chile had all the right intentions, it still cost you (or, more specifically, your parents) thousands of dollars. And once you’ve come across as wealthy, you’ve done yourself a great disservice. Admissions officers want to admit the underdog who overcame adversity, not the rich student who had the opportunity to travel the world.

You might think that your service trip was different and that the story you will tell will defy all of the conventions and get you through the door. But it won’t, plain and simple. Many students who are not Ivy Coach’s clients ignore our advice and center their application essays around service trips. They don’t realize that admissions officers can see through their pretense! Writing about a service trip on your application makes it seem like you only went on the journey to leverage it to get into a good college. It comes off as opportunistic and disingenuous.

As an essay topic, a service trip directs focus away from the applicant. Your application essays should be oriented around your singular admissions hook and the personal and intellectual journey that has driven you through high school. Don’t use your time spent among the less fortunate as an opportunity to say something about your character! It’s icky and unlikable!

Make a Difference In Your Neck of the Woods to Really Wow Admissions Officers

However, this advice does not mean that all service activities have no place on your college application. A disadvantaged community in your hometown could use your volunteering efforts. Admissions officers would much rather see you lending a hand to people in your neck of the woods than halfway across the world. This kind of service comes with no price tag and does not ring of privilege.

With that being said, we at Ivy Coach would caution against framing your application (especially your essays) around service if this angle has nothing to do with your singular hook. The most competitive college applicants these days are the students who change the world in a particular and often unusual way (e.g., using applied math to improve their community if their hook is applied math). These budding experts and specialists often seek to improve the world through service, but this isn’t always true. If your singular hook has nothing to do with giving back, don’t force the subject with a gratuitous focus on service in your essays. You’ll only come across as well-rounded, which is the bane of any college applicant in 2024. 

Not everyone is poised to be the next Mother Teresa, and that’s okay! Admissions officers would much rather see you being unabashedly yourself on your application than trying to fit some predetermined mold.

How Ivy Coach Helps Students Come Across as Altruistic Underdogs Who Deserve Elite College Admission

Is your head spinning with all of this myth-busting information? Fear not — Ivy Coach’s team of former elite college admissions officers knows how to help frame your child’s application to optimize their odds of admission to a highly selective college. If you want us to help your child write the most competitive college essays possible, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll contact you.