How Should Your Student Spend Their Summer?
This week we’re discussing a question parents ask us often, and that’s how their child should be spending their summer. By that, they mean, “What summer activities look best on a resume or college application?” We get it! Colleges want to know how your child spends those precious weeks away from classes and homework. With so many options, how can they use their summer break to their advantage?
We’ve discussed how to select the perfect summer internship, and even dissected some of the pros and cons of common summer jobs. These are great resources for your child to use. In this blog, however, we wanted to speak more generally about how your child (and you!) should think about their various choices.
Here’s a highly guarded secret about the college application process: admissions counselors are intelligent human beings. That being said, they will not be fooled by luxurious vacations disguised as volunteer work, or adult summer camp disguised as summer school at a university. At the end of the day, admissions counselors are working for a few things: a strong work ethic, goal-oriented behavior, and dedication. They want to see students who spent their summer break working, learning, and helping – and yes, they can usually tell who actually put in the hard work!
This blog from Ivy Coach summarizes this idea nicely: “The admissions process is a human process. Working humanizes students.” Taking college classes and traveling are wonderful things, but they are also luxuries. Working, however, is an unavoidable part of life. Colleges want to see that your child can handle a long day of work – whether it’s a competitive internship with a company they hope to join one day, or it’s waiting tables to pay some bills.
