<p>Anyone with ideas with how to make a valuable summer without a summer camp? I’m going to continue to work this summer…</p>
<p>Just have fun. Or learn a new type of math online!</p>
<p>Working actually impresses adcoms. Do something you love , try something new. Play a new sport, take up a musical instrument. Read some great books.</p>
<p>Working is always a plus on an application. Students who worry that not doing a prestigious summer program or not building a bomb (curing cancer) in their basements will keep them out of top notch schools are mistaken. Better for the work however to be related to your interest, or volunteer in a community agency.</p>
<p>My DD grew and changed working in a school kitchen for the summer - she learned how to suck it up and get the job done. Burn your knuckles - run it under hot water and get back to work. Total growth opportunity.</p>
<p>And she spun it into an awesome college app essay. </p>
<p>Its not what you did for the summer - College want to see what you got out of your summer. What did you learn; how did you grow.</p>
<p>Toadstool - totally agree! Colleges want to see you develop into a well-rounded person who learns from every experience. There’s a better essay in back-breaking work than there is from yet another summer at camp!</p>
<p>as long as you have a plan–volunteering, writing a novel even–if it’s something that defines your interests, and perhaps your talents, and of course, in the case of working, your good work ethics and motivation, then it should be a summer full of valuable experiences. </p>
<p>It’d be important for you to write about your summer experience, whatever you decide it may be, soon after it takes place/while you are experiencing it or are engaged in it, as this can be good fodder for college app essays or scholarship essays in the future.</p>
<p>working for the summer can be a great experience–the important thing, if you’re worried about college essays, is how you present it, and what you as a person can glean from it. Of course, you’d still have free time off from work when you could maybe learn sth interesting or create something as well :)</p>
<p>What if you can’t find a job for the summer? Didn’t get the summer camp job was counting on. Worried how it will look on college app that he’s never had a job, no matter how good his grades or ECs.</p>