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Articles: Expert Advice
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importance of summer activities
stone_cutter
Registered User Posts: 783 Member
Do colleges really care if you had any summer activities, such as internships? Can summer activities be the deciding factor between you getting accepted/declined? How important is it to have summer activities on your application?
Post edited by stone_cutter on
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Replies to: importance of summer activities
Now....You can all attack me and tell me I'm wrong.......
Colleges want people who are genuine. If you genuinely need to earn money because your family is not high income or whatever, then I would say that looks great. And having a job shows many other qualities like responsibility, getting along with co-workers, bosses etc and commitment. Summer jobs can also provide opportunity for essay topics.
Summer jobs, plus sports from your school all help to show the person. The bottom line is, do somethig because "it's in you" not because it's what you think or perceive the college wants and everything will work out.
But it is nice to show them you did SOMETHING over the summer.
One of the best things for rich kids is to have a job, it looks strong (character wise, I'll bet).
This turned out to be excellent advice. She made a real contribution, and had to connect with a population she doesn't usually interact with (tourists at a historic site :)) She also had to become knowledgable on a topic she was already somewhat interested in. One of her essays drew heavily on this experience.
Other than this position, most of her summer activities were pretty run-of-the-mill: sports camps, other less meaningful volunteer gigs, travel, paid volunteerism, selective school's summer camps.
Look for an activity where you can truly explore an area of interest to you. Whether it's paid, volunteer or packaged education doesn't really matter.
Don't look at it from the angle of "what do colleges want?" Look at it as "I have a chance to do something wonderful...what do I want to do?"
It reeks of wealth, as one counselor said.
curlygirl said it best: "The bottom line is, do somethig because "it's in you" not because it's what you think or perceive the college wants and everything will work out."
Camp was even the subject of one of his college essays, and he got into his SCEA school. The relative lack of "important" summer pursuits definitely did not torpedo his application. So I now believe that you don’t absolutely have to spend your summers engaged in "serious” pursuits in order to be accepted to highly selective schools. (I am not, BTW, bashing such pursuits. I think they’re a fantastic idea for the student who is motivated to do them.)
That being said, my son loves his summer job. He works with his peers in a fast paced environment and has learned alot. Most of his co-workers are not from the town we live in, so that is an added bonus as he met new people. Most were older and already in college, so it gave him a taste of what was ahead and they are a very diverse group. Jockks, goth, lesbians. The whole thing is a great experience. Jobs and work experience allow you to get out of your comfort zone. I have spoken with many admissions people who love the fact that a kid scooped ice cream all summer or was a fry cook and washed dishes like my son did. Frankly, in this day and age, having a summer job actually sets you apart from the rest of the crowd.