<p>Most of us know that the Common App calls for one to recall their ''last two summers'' or so, or the activities in which they did...can someone give me a little more insight on that, or their college experience mixed with what they put in particular? </p>
<p>I am a HS sophomore.</p>
<p>I don't really have a super-privileged life where I can do something extraordinary like travel somewhere far away for community service. My family has never had the money to go on a vacation, and I do not have the transportation/permission/money to attend a college for any type of program, visit, camp, or anything good. I live in a small, secluded area where there really isn't any extravagant opportunity, especially during the summer.</p>
<p>I do a lot of babysitting for my mother, who works from mid-afternoon to very late at night. Her bad habits otherwise (I'll try not to get into my personal life much) prove a large hindrance in regards to me getting to participate in earlier-in-the-day activities- I can't do sports. She sleeps during the day to catch up for her late hours/shenanigans the night before so I often babysit during the day and am restricted from those sorts of things as well.</p>
<p>I caught a very small break this summer- I am attending a summer school program that lasts two hours- I am simply retaking a mathematics course in order to boost my GPA. </p>
<p>I am big on community service, I'm hoping to get at least 40 hours in this summer as well- I have gone petitioning for local council and mayoral elections.</p>
<p>What can I do? What should I put? Is this enough? I do tons of extracurricular activities during the year and my grades are great. Are they specifically wanting people who spend their summers exotically though? Will it matter? I'm a little nervous here; I have Ivy aspirations and I know everything is taken seriously.</p>
<p>No, they are not specifically wanting people who spend their summers exotically. </p>
<p>Colleges try to understand applicants based on their opportunities and environments. You have done some growing up and overcome some obstacles that many students (including those with enough money to go to summer courses or travel during the summer) don’t have the opportunity to do. Try to present your summer activities in a way that shows how it’s made you grow, what you’ve learned form it, how it reflects your work ethic and sense of responsibility, and how it’s motivated you to be the strong student that you are. Use one of your essays to show these things - not a check list of what you do all day, but maybe a snapshot of a day when you’ve had an interaction with the siblings you babysit for where you do things you hope will motivate them to work hard in school or encourage them to develop integrity/ambition/perseverance/a sense of humor - whatever. Or a look into how caring for younger siblings has opened your eyes to something you need to do to care for yourself.</p>
<p>Things you could potentially do in your spare time that might be better than what you’re doing now:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Evening jobs. I worked 17 hours/week in senior year during the school year and it really helped me mature and understand the complexity of interactions outside the school environment. I also got to save up quite a large sum of money.</p></li>
<li><p>Volunteering online. I used to translate for NGOs under the United Nations umbrella, which was a good way to work with people with very different backgrounds without actually traveling. There are loads of different types of jobs one can do from a distance.</p></li>
<li><p>How old are your younger siblings? If they’re not infants you might be able to babysit for other people as well or even tutor other local children. That’ll also help you save up money.</p></li>
<li><p>Study for an AP exam your school does not offer. From my experience you just have to talk to your counselor and call up neighboring schools to make sure that come AP time you’ll be able to take the exam at their testing location.</p></li>
<li><p>Get certified in something that will raise the quality of whatever part-time job you decide to take later in HS or even in college. E.g. drafting, 3d design, programming, etc. Usually all you have to do is read a book (found at the local library), practice on a computer (student software is quite affordable), and then pay some money for the test which is totally worth it when you’re drafting and your friends are wiping tables.</p></li>
<li><p>Fundraise for an organisation you like, such as UNICEF. Register as a volunteer at them and start collecting money. If you have the time and energy, you can start a small campaign–online or in real life. The Red Cross and your local blood donation center will also welcome your help if you want to organize a blood drive. This is actually surprisingly easy, and quite a bit of prep work can be done over the phone and the internet since it’s really just pulling people together and getting the word out. If you fear that you do not have the social influence/leadership skills to pull this off, build them by starting with small projects like selling things that you and your friends can make (possibly while babysitting) or convincing your local library or even just people in your school to donate books to sell for charity. Everybody has old books they’d be happy to get rid of. Even if you don’t end up making much money it’s still fun and doesn’t take all that much time.</p></li>
<li><p>Wherever you volunteer, make sure to get involved. This is not so you can write it on your college app but because it will be millions of times more fun and rewarding to be an actual organiser than to be one of the kids who just come in wash dishes/wipe the floor/shelve books and then leave.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I do not recommend these simply because I think they sound impressive, but because I genuinely believe they helped me grow in ways that I could not have imagined when I first took them on. The point is not to think only of impressing the adcoms but to actually nurture the qualities and skills that you will need later on in life. It is easy, in high school, to want only to pad one’s resume but without the actual abilities, it is impossible to take full advantage of the ivy education.</p>
<p>In addition to the suggestions above, there are summer programs out there that are free. I did an engineering internship program last year at UCLA, and the stipend I was paid covered the costs of room and board for two months, so I didn’t pay anything to live there the whole time. You could research those as well.</p>
<p>edit: now that I’ve read the above posts more closely, I agree with the previous two posters, about the community service that may not necessarily be for padding a college resume. the summer before junior year, my friends and I started putting together a volunteer tutoring program at a local elementary school. it started out being something for our resumes, but it the end, it turned out to be an amazing, fun, different experience.</p>
<p>The above are all good ideas. If you are interested in science, an easy (and free) thing to do is go to your local university, pick a department you are interested in, and knock on professor’s doors. Tell them you are interested in their subject, and that you would like to volunteer as a lab intern. While not everyone will be interested, if you talk to ~10 professors you are almost certain to get an offer, which will almost certainly be interesting. Science work is also highly valued by universities, and its TONS of fun - plus, develop a good project on your own and you can enter in some incredible competitions which can pay for college.</p>