How important is the summer after junior year?

Applying to College
1

I will be applying to college in the 2015-2016 school year, and I am hoping to gain admission to some of the top schools in the country (MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, etc). I understand that there is a section on the Common App where you explain what you did over the summer before senior year. I am very interested in mathematics and physics and I want to do either theoretical physics or pure mathematics as a profession. So in previous years, I have attended some math summer camps in the U.S such as USA Canada Mathcamp. Another summer I launched a weather balloon into near-space with electronics and a camera, but this was kind of an easy project that I did with my friends for fun.

As far as this summer, I have a dilemma. I totally forgot about the deadlines for applying to summer camps in math/science and so that is out of the option. It is probably too late to apply to interships as well.

My plan for the summer as of now is to simply prepare for math olympiads, teach myself abstract algebra, and teach myself introductory quantum mechanics using the Feynman lectures. But all of this is self studying and I’m not sure if this will be accepted or looked upon favorably by the admissions commitee. After all, there is no way that they could check that I studied this stuff. Also, I fear that this might appear less impressive than what some of my peers are doing: community service in another country, orchestra tour in Asia, doing research at lab, etc.

I suppose I could try to enter one of the science fair competitions (intel, seimens, etc) and start a project but this takes up a lot of time and to be honest I would rather study abstract algebra.

I understand it’s quite late to be thinking about what to do over the summer (school just ended for me), but it is what it is. It’s probably too late even to apply for an internship at some tech company.

So my question is: (1) will colleges look favorably upon what I plan to do this summer, and (2) if not, can anyone suggest some things I could do over the summer?

tl;dr:

Will colleges look unfavorably on my self studying physics and math over the summer before junior year, instead of doing some program or community service in another country or research at a lab or something like that? I thought I would do this summer what I enjoy doing: sitting down and thinking about math and physics for hours on end. If colleges would not consider this favorable, does anyone have any suggestions of things I might do over the summer to impress colleges?

BTW: when I say things to do over the summer I am excluding things like vacationing in another country (which I am doing) because colleges don’t care about this obviously.

2

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with self studying; you can connect it with being mature responsible career wise etc

3

Also, rather than vacationing, if you volunteer or make a difference in a different country that is significant. Look into this

4

Do some volunteer work locally (it doesn’t have to be internationally) or get a part-time job at least. There are too many hours in the week just to self study all summer.

5

That was the summer one of my kids did SAT prep, driver’s education, and a low level music experiences (she was a music major in college).

6

My recollection is that the question about summer activities isn’t on the main Common App, but rather something that individual schools may ask you about. Most of my D’s schools did not specifically ask about summer activities.

7

I agree with doschicos. Are there any local science or math high school classes that you could be a teachers assistant? Kumon? Community service in another country is a dime a dozen and the admission counselors know that the parents are paying for their children to have this “altruistic” opportunity. I could be wrong but I think that self-studying all summer could be considered too one-dimensional. Trust me, with your mind the world is your oyster and they will WANT you to help out!

8

The thing is, this is so stupid because I enjoy self-studying math and physics and that’s really what I want to do. I really hate that this will be seen as one dimmensional because this is my passion and I am who I am. I mean why would I not get into the college of my choice because I did what I love doing? This makes no sense to me at all.

I also really don’t understand this volunteering in another country thing. Last year a girl at my school went to Guatemala to build houses for the homeless. I mean, that’s really nice thing to do for the homeless Guatemalans, but anyone whose parents are rich enough can do this. I also suspect that people who do this kind of thing are only doing it for college, which makes this volunteering thing a bit selfish. But my parents can’t afford to pay for this kind of trip anyways.

Are you guys sure there is no summer activities section on the Common App? What part of the college application involves discussion of what you did the summer before senior year?

More ideas are appreciated, so keep them coming!

9

It IS one dimensional. That is not necessarily bad. Some colleges will not want that one dimensional aspect, and you probably wouldn’t want to go there (even though you may THINK it is the college of your choice). Others will be fine with it.

None. You can put down the ECs you’d like to list and write an essay about what motivates you.

10

Then you should do what you want to do! I said I could be wrong! Just my own perspective. You wanted opinions!. You don’t like my opinion and that is absolutely fine. What are your parents thoughts in this regard?

11

I am in the camp that would look spending your time exclusively with independent study over the summer as too one-dimensional. But if you have had any meaningful EC’s during the school year, your summer before senior year is far less important than you may think.

Vacation is an important time to recharge yourself, but many bright kids will continue to study because of their love of learning. And I get the math / physics passion (my son is a math major).

For many kids, a good part of the summer before senior year is spent touring prospective colleges, and the summer job market for high school kids is not very robust. In parts of the country, the youth unemployment rate remains at historic levels.

Colleges get that, and they won’t hold it against you. One niece spent two of her high school summers caring for her grandparents - it saved them the cost of a caregiver, and she says she wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

One place the summer activities often come up is with the interview. I like the expression that one interviewer said to my son - this our chance to get a glimpse into what makes you tick, or if you have a nervous “tick”, or if you might be a ticking time bomb. Clearly meant with humor and intended to put my son at ease, which it did, he then asked what did you do with your time off in your summers. My niece told how she loved that interview question because she was able to talk about spending all summer long with her grandparents, watching old movies and binge-watching complete TV seasons - she had no time during the school year.

One of my son’s good friends spent his junior summer learning Elvish and Klingon, and making custom fantasy costumes with his older brother, which they sold for Comic-Con and Halloween. Because its cool.

Don’t stress too much about this - you won’t be the first kid without an organized summer activity, nor will you be the last.

12

Sounds like you have a good summer plan. If that is what you will enjoy and what you will be engaged with, then do it. Other people will do other things. Some of them will go abroad, some will volunteer, some will do internships, some will do research projects etc. I am sure you will get into a good school for college. Different readers of your applications from different schools will have different opinions about the merits of your application as a whole and about the specifics, such as what you did with your time the summer before senior year. You will never know who the readers of your application were and which parts of your application drew them to either admit or reject you. Do what you want with your time if you are gainfully occupied.

13

There is absolutely nothing wrong with self-studying! It’s perfectly fine and rather a wise thing to do. If that’s what you want to do and you are passionate about, by all means, do it. Never let a college dictate your choices or actions. If you truly feel like you’re not doing enough, instead of volunteering in another country, volunteer in your own community or pick up a part-time job. There’s got to be SOMETHING local and close to home for you to do.

14

@TheDidactic, you say there is nothing wrong with self-studying and never let a college dictate your choices or actions. I wish this was possible, but based on the responses of some other people here it seems like its not.

I’m also still confused. I looked at the Common App, and there is a section which says summer job/activities. And besides the interview is there anything place else that this will come up?

Basically I’m getting the impression that my self-studying could really damage my application (I know that this shouldn’t be the case, and if it actually is the case there’s definitley something wrong with the admission system). I’m not sure if I should desperatley try to find something else to do in addition to my self studying, or if I should just do what I want.

15

“but based on the responses of some other people here it seems like its not.”

“Basically I’m getting the impression that my self-studying could really damage my application”

I don’t really know where you’re getting this impression. The responses, to me, seem positive and supportive of your decisions and current summer plan. Do what YOU want and do what YOU are passionate about. Whatever you do won’t be held against you and it wouldn’t be a reason you would get rejected. Colleges look at academics first, activities second.

16

Several people here are saying that it will look one-dimmensional and that some colleges would not want that. Plus, given that the rest of my application will be very math/science focused, if everything I do, including what I do during the summer, is related to math/science, I am afraid I will be seen as one-dimmensional and I’ll be rejected.

Thus I am afraif that not using this summer to “diversify” myself would be a big mistake.

17

Are you saying that you need all the strangers who may reply to your post to agree completely with your summer plans in order to feel secure in your decision?

You do sound focused in your interests so you should pursue that self study if that is what you want to do this summer. However, if you also feel that you are not diversifying enough into some other area, find something else to do with your time when you are not doing math and physics. Gaining deeper knowledge in a specific area is depth and there is also breadth of experience. In life, you will probably want both, however you may not be able to accomplish everything in this one summer before senior year. I doubt this means all university admissions people will look at your application and say “Oh how one dimensional this one is”.

18

@madamecrabster: I am saying that I am very troubled by the suggestion that colleges could possibly look at studying quantum mechanics, on my own, as unfavorable in any way. I’m feeling very uncomfortable that I can’t devote as much time as I want to my passion because colleges would want me to do things I’m essentially not interested in doing.

I don’t really know to much about college admissions, but I am getting the feeling that it’s not really based on academics. Considering as I want to pursue a career in math, I thought my summer plans would show interest in that area as well as skill level. You would think, for a math major, it’s quite logical to study math over the summer. But counter-intuitively, you guys seem to be suggesting that doing so might not actually be what the colleges want. I mean, how does this make any sense at all! This really is confusing and frustrating.

Can anyone confirm whether or not the summer thing comes up during the application process and if so, where does it come up?

19

There are a lot of students interested in and good at math. Those that stand out will have the math plus extra stuff. Aren’t there enough hours in the day to self study and do something else? Schools are building a community as well. They want students they feel will add to that community. People with multiple interests might fit the bill better than someone with a singular interest. It is what it is. You can choose to play the college application game or not. One of my kids chose not to in the sense that he would not study for standardized tests. It was his choice and he knew that making that choice might preclude being accepted to some schools that he might have gotten into with higher test scores. He’s somewhat opposed to the whole standardized testing industry. He got into schools that interested him, didn’t waste time studying that he’d rather spend on other activities and was fine with the outcome. But, he understood the choice he was making.

Do you have ECs/interests you pursue outside of academics during the school year?

20

The colleges do NOT ask what you did during the summer. This is not grade school. They want to know your ECs and when they happened.