How Many Volunteer Hours Do You Need for College

How Many Volunteer Hours Do You Need for College SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Community service is one of the most popular extracurricular activities for high school students to do in their free time. There are hundreds of ways that high school students can get involved in their communities. There is really something out there for everyone, no matter what your personal interests are! Admissions officers also love to see community service on college applications. Having community service experience means you're passionate about making a difference in the world and are ready to take action and be involved. But how many community service hours for college do you actually need in order to make sure your contribution is â€Å"good enough† for admissions officers? Is there a certain numberof hours that you need for different schools? Read on to find out! Do You Need to Complete a CertainNumberof Volunteer Hours for College? As a rough guideline, anything between 50 and 200 hours is going to sound impressive and show that you have made a commitment.However, once you get above 200 hours, you should start to consider if your free time could be better spent doing something else. Unfortunately, there is no one magic number of community service hours that is going to be your golden ticket into college. Grades and test scores will always come first. Though community service work can showcase an aspect of your personality and make admission officers see you as a good citizen and leader, it isn’t going to guarantee admission on its own. Even if youhave spent 500+ hours on volunteering, admissions officers won'thold spots open for you based just on that. You still need to be the full package. So treat volunteer work as you would any other extracurricular activity. If this is what you choose to do with your time, make sure that it counts. Fortunately, a recent study by DoSomething.org will help you to do just that. They asked admissions officers from 33 of the top 50 colleges for guidance on how they judge community service as an extracurricular activity. Their answers are a great guide towhat admissions officers are actually thinking when they see your community service hours on your application. You may be surprised to learn thatthe number of hours you spend doing community service is notthe most important focus. In fact, most admissions officers say thatthey care more about what you have done, why you are doing it, and what you are getting out of it. As long as you can adequately explain these things, they don’t care as much about the number of hours you spent doing it. Two-thirdsof college admission officers say that it’s not possible to have too many community service hours. As long as it’s not affecting your grades or other parts of your life, you can volunteer to your heart’s content. But the opposite is also true. As long as you have made a valuable contribution that you can explain, most admissions officers are probably not going to discount community service work that you have done just because you haven’t spent enough hours doing it. How Should You Allocate Your Volunteer Hours? So if your goal is 50-200 hours, how should you spend that time? In general, it'seasier and takes fewer hours to havean impact if you keep volunteering for the same project, instead of spreading yourself across several different projects. Try to find a project that you can spendat least fifty hours on.If you have much less than this, most admissions officers will not be convinced that you have dedicated enough time to really be making a difference. Be intelligent about how you spend your free time if you're going to dedicate more hours. However, once you get above 200 hours, you should start to consider if your free time could be better spent doing something else. At the end of the day, 500 hoursis not going to seem that much more impressive than 200 hours,and those are hours that probably couldbebetterspent elsewhere, such as on other extracurriculars, getting top grades, or test prep. If the numberof hours you spent doing community service isn't the most important thing that admissions officers are looking for, then what DO they want to see in your community service? What Do Admissions Officers Want to See in Volunteer Work? There are three main qualities that you should be showing inyourcommunity service work: commitment, passion, and leadership.The best students will also use their community service experience as an opportunity forreflection. #1: Commitment You can show commitment by being involved in your chosen project over a long period of time. In the DoSomething study, 70% of admissions officers said they would prefer to see long-term dedication to an unglamorous cause such as local service work instead of a short-term commitment to something flashy like volunteering abroad. Furthermore, 60% of admissions officers would prefer to see students who have made a commitment to just one cause over their high school careers. Why? They're more interested in seeing what you can accomplish when you're dedicated and put your mind to it than they are by a longer list of volunteer activities. One officer noted,â€Å"Longevity and dedication are traits necessary for collegiate success.† Long-term commitment shows passion and dedication. Over 60% of admissions officers say that they would like to see service that goes back to the beginning of high school, and 15% more say that the service commitment should start before high school. But what really matters is that you have been volunteeringfor a long enough time that you have actually made a difference in the community and your own development as well. #2: Passion To showpassion, doa community service activity thatrelates to something thatyou're already interested inor care deeply about. If you have a certain interest, community service can be a great way to explore it. For example, if you're passionate about animals, you could consider volunteering at an animal shelter. As mentioned above, long-term involvement is important. Students who already care about a cause are more likely to make a long-term commitment. Working in an area you care about also shows thatyou can take action to improve things where you see a need, which is a great trait that admission officers look for. Also, the more you can talk about why you care about a cause, the more sincere you will seem in your efforts. #3: Leadership You can show your leadership skills by managing others and being in charge during an event or activity. You can also show leadership by being responsible for motivating others to succeed. As with any extracurricular, schools are interested to see how you've taken charge and made your extracurricular activity better than you found it.Colleges want to admit people who will change the world, and leaders have a better chance of doing this.Over 50% of admissions officers thought that having a founding or leading role in your volunteer work was the most important quality that you could show them. #4: Reflection The best students who have done community service work will also be able toreflect on how their work has made a difference, both to others and to themselves. Students should ask themselves if their community service projects have actually made a positive contribution to society. After all, that is the point of community service. Successful community service can be a lot trickier to gauge than success in other extracurriculars. Ask yourself if you have accomplished what you set out to do and who is better off because of your work. Also, check to see thatyou understand whythe work you've done is important and how you've made an impact. Students who can reflect on these aspects are more likely to impress admissions officers because theyshow that they are thoughtful and have dedicated themselves for sincere reasons – not just to have something to list on their resume. Ask yourself, have you spent enough time doing community servicethat you have actually made a difference?If you just showed up and did some hours for the sake of a better resume, admissions officers won't be impressed. Finally, what kind of experience have you gained? In particular, admissions officers are looking for leadership experience, as mentioned above. However, they're also interested instudents who have become more mature and developed in other ways as a result of their community service. If your service work has made you more empathetic, for example, this would also be a greatthing to write about. Students who can reflect on these aspects are more likely to impress admissions officers becausethey canshow that they did community servicefor sincere reasons – not just to have something to list on their resume. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. What Do Admissions Officers NotWant to See? Many students willdo community service work for the wrong reasons - and it willshow. Admissions officers are always on the lookout for students who volunteer just to fulfill a quota. If you talk about your experience in terms of hours instead of causes and accomplishments, this can be a red flag. Words like â€Å"required† and â€Å"mandatory† are also red flags for admissions officers. If community service was required by your high school, even if you did productive and meaningful work, don't describe it in a way that makes it sound like you were forced to do it. This can make admissions officers feel you hada negative relationship with the work you accomplished and only did it because you had to. If it’s obvious that you are only doing community service work so that you can list it on your application, admissions officers would prefer that you leave it out. As with any other extracurricular activity, you should only list it if it’s beensignificant to your development. The Bottom Line Though all extracurriculars are theoretically equal, I would still recommend that you have some typeof community service on your application if you have the means to do so. This is especially important when applying to top schools. Try to have a project that you have committed at least 50 hours to.If you want community service to be your main extracurricular activity, try to dedicate even more time over several years. Though most officers say that all activities are totally equal and can show the same traits, some admissions officers for top schools say that community service can be mostconspicuous on an application if it'scompletelyabsent. This is especially true in applications for the most competitive schools, where most students will have done some volunteer work. However, also keep in mind that community service is not mandatory, especially if you have a good reason for not having done it.Almost 100% of officers say that there are many ways that you can show you are a good citizen and leader that DON’T involve community service. This can be accomplished through other extracurriculars, work experience, or helping out your family if that is what your personal circumstances require. What's Next? If you need some inspiration, check out our list of 129 community service activities that you can try. Want to find your own project? Here are the 9 best places to do community service. Not sure that community service is worth your time? Learn about some of the ways that community service can benefit you. Did you know that doing community service can help you pay for college?Check out our list of community service scholarships that you can win! Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Ceremony by leslie silko Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ceremony by leslie silko - Research Paper Example Stories give individuals their identity. Over the years, they cease to be mere stories and become a part of the people. This is why they are an essential part of human cultures all over the world. In Silko’s narratives, individuals are deeply affected by stories. The Yellow Woman explores her sexuality freely in one night of passion because the tribal stories sanction it. Silko herself attributes her passion for telling stories as a product of her tribal culture. It is an integral part of her American Indian identity. â€Å"Storytelling is a whole way of seeing yourself. It is a whole way of being† (Silko, p.150). According to Silko, stories give an individual identity and help them settle into their rightful place in the community. â€Å"You know who you are by the stories told about you† (Silko, p. 56). Ultimately, the individuals affected by these stories become characters in their own stories through their actions. â€Å"You should understand the way it was back then because it is the same even now† (Silko, p.157). Stories connect the past, present and future. By helping people understand the past, they aid in making present and future decisions. Believing in witchery gives it the power to interfere in a person’s life and cause havoc. The resultant fear incapacitates someone and makes them unable to take action. The fear robs people of the ability to control their own lives. Only by reconnecting with tribal traditions is someone healed from the poisoning effect of witchery. The fear caused by witchery causes illness in people. In the narrative, Tayo wishes to disappear from the earth. This is witchery manifesting itself as desperation and hopelessness. This is the reason behind the suicidal tendencies. The greatest fear is that one can do nothing about the situation. Witchery makes someone fearful of taking control of their destiny. It makes them feel that they are not responsible for anything that happens. Tayo believes that the

Passion of The Christ Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Passion of The Christ - Movie Review Example Throughout the film, Jesus undergoes brutality and much suffering. The other leading roles are Caiaphas (the Jewish High Priest) and Pontius Pilate (the Roman Governor). Both do not want to see Jesus being crucified, but live in a perilous time, and Jesus is a major threat to them1. The film relies mostly on the Gospel of Mark; the Jewish crowds shown in almost all scenes of the film support this. The Jewish crowd is shown as indirectly protecting and directly supporting Jesus against the authority of the high priest, which opposes him according to the Gospel of Mark2. In Mark 15:6, â€Å"Pilate had established an open Passover amnesty: ‘at the festival he used to release a prisoner for them, anyone for whom they asked’.†3 The ceremony was open because the crowd and not the governor selected the person to be released. Mark notes that Barabbas (a prisoner) and Jesus are presented to the crowd for it to choose who is to be released and who is to be crucified. There are many differences between the film and the story of Jesus according to the Gospels. There are some portions of Scripture that have been omitted in the film. Gibson cuts words of Matthew 27:25 which states that â€Å"And all the people said, ‘His blood shall be on us and on our children!†4 and John 19:30 which quotes Jesus saying â€Å"It is finished.†5 There are portions of the film that are extra-biblical such as the scene in which Satan is seen holding a baby. The most central scenes of the film are where Jesus is brutally beaten using a whip by the Roman soldiers and the 14 Stations of the Cross. Techniques used in the film include steadcam cinematography and narrative. The utilization of steadcam cinematography assists in the provision of quasi-documentary feel and look. The film has used the languages of the region where Jesus was actually crucified and the setting of the movie appears to capture the Jerusalem atmosphere (though the filmsetting was in Italy). The languages used

Customer Care At Sheraton Hotel Kampala Tourism Essay

Customer Care At Sheraton Hotel Kampala Tourism Essay INTRODUCTION Kampala Sheraton Hotel is an international hotel in Kampala, Uganda. It is situated on Ternan Avenue in the central division of Kampala. Sheraton Hotel Kampala is part of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Incorporation. Sheraton is located at the heart of Kampala. Sheraton Kampala serves the needs of upscale business and leisure travelers worldwide. For over 75 years this full-service, iconic brand has welcomed guests, becoming a trusted friend to travelers and one of the worlds most recognized hotel brands. It has also stepped into major international markets all over the world. What is customer care? The customer care operates in markets whose tastes change as times change. The hospitality industry is greatly affected by these changes and this means that the customer care has to change accordingly. Customer care services at Sheraton Hotel Kampala include reliable services, security, parking space, front desk services, upscale frontiers, attractiveness, beauty, speed that comes with service delivery, attention to customers, anticipation of customer needs, honesty and a decent attitude towards customers. These services are intended to make customers comfortable, create memories they can ponder about, create satisfaction that will cause them to pay for the services and thereby retain the customers. Every business hopes to create and serve but the challenge is actually meeting the motive. Sheraton Hotel has also provided quality services for its customer base. The hotel has a customer care service policy which caters for customer activities. These policies include exclusive accommodation, efficient and timely delivery of services, hotel guides, security, customer attention, parking space, 24hour front desk services, and anticipation of customer services. Despite Sheraton Kampalas efforts to provide the best services to its customers, the hotel has competitors in the hotel industry like Serena. Unfortunately, the company can barely do much in creating a new market. This is due to the average to low standards of living of people in Uganda. PROCEDURE The target study population was the customers and staff of Sheraton Kampala. The study involved 75 respondents, 50 of which were customers of the hotel and 25 were part of the staff at Sheraton Kampala. Non statistical methods were used for example the nature of field respondents and other field situations. A descriptive study was undertaken in order to determine the characteristics of interest at Sheraton Kampala. The qualitative and quantitative data acquired from both primary and secondary sources was analyzed. The study was majorly based on customers views, opinions and preferences in order to make judgments, conclusions and recommendations. The primary sources of information were acquired from the staff and the customers of the hotel. The secondary information was acquired from Internet, newspapers, journals, sales report and invoices. Questionnaires were given out to the customers in order to seek their opinions, views and preferences. Observation of the customers was conducted in order to verify that the customers actions were a lot like their views. MAIN RESULTS AND FINDINGS These are the finding concerning the demographic characteristics of employees at the Sheraton Kampala. There were more female employee respondents than male respondents. This precisely means that females are more attractive in the hotel service industry because of they are presumed to be better at customer care in comparison with males. From the above illustration, most of the workers are aged between 30 and 39 followed by 20-29, then 40-45 and lastly 50 and above. From the results above, all the employees are educated and have the capability to respond to the questionnaires given out. The hotel customer care service recruits people who are old and mature of which most are married. The only explicable reason for the outlook of the results is mainly because Christianity dominates as a religion in Uganda. This means that conclusions can be based on the views of the employees for they have gained a sizeable amount of work experience. These are findings concerning the customer care strategies employed by Sheraton Kampala. 44% of the employees agreed that tour guides and other services are the best strategies employed by the hotel. 28% of the employees recommended training of the employees. 20% and 8% of the employees suggested that motivation of the employees and after sales services would be a great strategies. This is so because this would attract customers which in turn brings about customer retention and increased sales. 28% of the customers agreed that they work hand in hand with the top management in order to improve customer care for the purposes of customer satisfaction. This is more or less induction training of the employees. 44% of the employees were not sure about if the top management works hand in hand. One can then conclude that the activities ensure quality of customer care and customer satisfaction. 56% of the customers acknowledge that for customer care services to be successful, the customers needs should be at heart in order to achieve customer satisfaction while the others are not sure or carry a different opinion. These are findings concerning customer care services. A TABLE SHOWING THE RATING OF ASPECTS OF CUSTOMER CARE AT SHERATON KAMPALA. Rating Clean Friendly Helpful Efficient Polite and courteous % % % % % Good 60 32 68 60 90 Fair 40 68 28 24 10 Poor 0 0 4 16 0 On critical analysis of the above findings, one can rate the customer care services at Sheraton Kampala as generally good. A TABLE SHOWING THE RATING OF CUSTOMER CARE SERVICES AT SHERATON KAMPALA. Rating Parking space Security Front Desk Service Hotel guides Customer attention % % % % % Good 90 86 88 36 92 Fair 10 14 12 40 8 Poor 0 0 0 24 0 Regarding the above results, it is no wonder why people go to Sheraton Kampala. This is because of their good services despite some flaws faced in some areas especially with the hotel guides. Most of the customers appreciated the services that were offered so the services at Sheraton Kampala are creditable. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. SWOT analysis is a form of strategic analysis that identifies and analyses the main internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats that will influence future direction and success of the business. Strengths Weaknesses Internal Location of the business Recruitment of unskilled workers that require training. Strong brand reputation Poor services offered by hotel guides Good customer care policy Few services offered to customers Fair management efficiency High prices charged for quality services. Focus on customer satisfaction Opportunities Threats External Undifferentiated products and services in relation to competitors like Serena A new competitor i.e. Serena Hotel A new international market Price wars with competitors Taxation is increased on the services. CONCULUSION From the findings, it can be deduced that Sheraton Hotel Kampala has a good performance level especially towards employees. Some of their substantial customer care services include training of employees on customer service handling, complaint handling, seeking customer attention, avenues of customers complaints, transport services and replacement. Employee motivation has been a stimulant to the growing number of customers at Sheraton Kampala. However, training and motivation should be enforced in order to maximize the customer care delivery. From the research findings, the customer care services are generally good as acknowledged by hotel customers. However Sheraton hasnt created an interface for customers complaints that can air out their views on the services provided. It is also important to note that a significant relationship between customer care delivery and customer satisfaction exists. The two variables are directly proportional to each other. The better the customer care delivery, the improved satisfaction of the customer and vice versa. RECOMMENDATIONS The hotel should arrange and present streamlined hotel guides who are more knowledgeable about the hotel. When a few of the hotel guides were asked about the hotel, they were only conversant with the dining and resting rooms avenues. This is a limitation to Sheraton Kampala. The complaints of the customers should be highly regarded. A customer complaint desk should be established. The hotel will then be more open to external ideas if they handle the ideas. As the core focus of Sheraton Kampala is the customer satisfaction. The management of the hotel should involve the customers while designing the customer care policies. The employees of Sheraton should be involved in the designing of the customer care policies as their creativity will be tapped and more ideas will be sprought up. AREAS OF FURTHER RESEARCH. Research should be carried out on the employee performance and customer satisfaction. Research should be carried out on the impact of customer care services on sales volume. Research should be carried out comparing customer care services of other hotels.

Types of Organizational Chart

Businesses come in many different sizes and forms. Organizational charts are used to visually summarize the structure of a business. By using charts to study the overview of a business' structure, owners can analyze how effective operations run. By identifying bottlenecks and redundancies, organizations ensure smoother operations and increased efficiencies. Organizational charts display businesses from different aspects depending on the nature of the business and the needs of the chart creators.When creating charts, it is essential to think ahead as to how the charts will be used, how they will be presented and to whom they are presented to. Hierarchical Hierarchical charts show the relationships between top and lower levels. These types of charts can show an organization's structure, key top-level personnel and areas or employees they are in charge of. Hierarchical charts show authority and can be effective in summarizing the chain of command and accountability within an organizatio n. Matrix Matrix charts display an organization as a group of teams with functions.Each box on the chart refers to the name of a team and its function or could display the team leader's name. In the latter case, each team's box breaks down into individual subteams of members and their subfunction. Flat Flat charts are used for companies that are owned, managed and operated with few employees. For instance, mom and pop stores are horizontal or flat organizations because there are few levels between these working the front line and management. Employees in flat organizations are often involved in key decision-making for the company.Flat organizational structures can be presented as a triangle which shows the owner at the top followed by a middle level and bottom level of departments. Geographic For very large companies with divisions dispersed throughout the world, a geographic organizational chart that shows the locations of divisions is beneficial. Typically, each box is used to dis play the division name, location and division head. The company's main headquarters is displayed on the top level with the other geographic locations given on the bottom level.

Economies of scale and diminishing returns Essay

In Business Economics, the short run is defined as the concept that within a certain period of time, in the future, at least one input is fixed while others are variable and the long run is defined as a period of time in which all factors of production and costs are variable. The law of diminishing returns is a short run concept, which states that increasing successive units of a variable factor to a fixed factor will increase output but eventually the addition to output will start to slow down and would eventually become negative. This is because if capital is fixed, extra labour will eventually get in each other’s way as they attempt to increase production. E.g. think about the effectiveness of extra employees in a factory that’s maximum workers is 100. If the firm employs 150 workers, then the productivity will eventually decrease, as they will get in each other’s way etc. However, this law only applies in the short-term, as in the long run, all factors are va riable. As you can see from the graph above, the average fixed cost (AFC) curve falls as output increases due to the fact that fixed costs are a decreasing proportion of total cost as output increases. Both the average total cost (ATC) and the average variable cost (AVC) curves fall, and then rise again. The curves start to rise after a certain point because diminishing return takes place. The distance on the y-axis between the ATC and the AVC represents the value of the average fixed cost (AFC). Just like the average variable cost and average total cost curves demonstrate, the marginal cost also falls, and eventually rises again as diminishing marginal returns take place. Economies of scale, however, refer to the advantages that arise from large-scale production, which in turn results in a lower average unit cost (cost per unit). It explains the relationship between the long run average costs of producing a unit of good with increasing level of output. Unlike  diminishing returns, economies of scale is a process that operates and is caused by a development over a long period of time. Economies of scale also have many sources whereas diminishing returns is the relationship between output and only one input of production.There are two different forms of economies of scale that could occur in a firm. The first is internal economies of scale. This refers to the advantages that are caused as a result of the expanding and growth of a firm/business. Internal economies of scale can be additionally categorized into commercial, managerial, financial and technical economies of scale. Commercial economies of scale arise from the purchase of raw materials and the sale of finished goods. When the firm’s output increases, they order larger quantities of the raw materials (bulk buying) and therefore these raw material firms favour these businesses, and offer lower prices due to their ordering of higher quantities. Managerial economies of scale is a process that follows the principle of the division of labour and creates specialization due to the firm’s ability to employ specialized employees, and this causes an increase in production efficiency. A financial economy of scale is when a large firm benefits by getting better credit facilities e.g. credit at cheaper rates, being able to negotiate better finance deals etc. Finally, a technical economy of scale arises due to large-scale production because there is a technical advantage in the use of large machinery in the production process. Technical economies of scale will most likely arise due to machinery being used in the production process, which are more efficient than human labour, and also require less maintenance, training and do not require payment. External economies of scale refers to the advantages firms/businesses can get as a result of the growth of the entire industry as a whole. Usually, the industry grows due to an improvement in a specific area of the industry, such as an increase in the local’s skill and training, and improving in the training facilities themselves, which causes an increase in the quality of training for the future employees or an increase in the foreign supply of labour with a higher skillset that before.

Business Success For A Business - 1204 Words

Business Success in the New Normal For a business to succeed in today’s global economy, it takes more than opening doors, turning on phones or powering up computers. Today’s businesses have to look beyond their local competition and take into consideration global competition. Globalization’s impact on business organizations continue to grow. Therefore, today’s businesses must take advantage of opportunities and make their business more agile and responsive to the needs of their ever-evolving consumer. Rhodes and Stelter (2010) speaks to this change, â€Å"†¦the rapidly developing economies also will spawn a new generation of competitors, or global challengers† (para 9) In order for businesses to move forward toward business success, they must†¦show more content†¦PESTLE analysis is a structure of macro-environmental or external marketing environment factors that can have an impact on a given business. The results of which can be used in conjunction with other analytical tools such as SWOT analysis. This business measurement tool consists of six factors: Political, Economic, Socio-culture or Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental. The first four factors are the basic portion of this analysis tool. The Legal and Environmental factors are expansions of the technique as well as other factors such as Demographics and Regulatory. The factors will vary in importance based on a given business industry. For example, companies such as 7-Eleven may be seek social or economic factors whereas companies like HSBC may consider political or legal factors. Porter’s Five Forces Framework Porter’s Five Forces Framework considers other factors. This model identifies and analyzes five competitive factors that shape and help determine an industry’s strengths and weaknesses. These factors include competition in the industry, new entrants into the industry, threat of substitutes, buyers and suppliers. Porter’s model is applicable in any segment of the economy to search for profitability or attractiveness. In addition, theses five forces are considered items that may affect a company’s ability to serve