Do Summer Programs Count as Extracurriculars!?

If your a participant in a summer school, does it count as an extracurricular? I was accepted to an international summer school in Japan, does it count as an extracurricular? Thx

No. What you do at the program might. What activities are you engaged in. Travel could be one.

so if I only went to the summer school for one summer, can I talk about what I did at the camp? it was 1 summer ago.

Yes you can list summer programs as an activity/EC. However, if you paid money to attend, it won’t be very impressive because anyone can pay thousands of dollars to attend a summer college program. However, if you applied and were accepted into a free program, that will be a nice thing to have on your app.

My kids put summer programs in their EC list. You can definitely list that summer school experience.

Yep.

Absolutely. It shows that you wanted to do something productive with your summer. It isn’t just about the fact that you spent money. In fact, my kid did two summer programs, and the instructors wrote her recommendations that were designed to be used for college admissions. One of those programs she received college credit for. List it.

In my area, if you don’t play your summer sport for the HS - then you don’t make varsity team. In this case then yes, summer sport is an EC.

Yes, it’s an EC. It’s more effective if it’s part of a larger picture regarding an EC, as in the example above. A musician who participates in a summer music program, an athlete who participates in summer athletics, an artist who does a summer art intensive - these are all part of the overall EC, and show dedication and commitment.

Yes it counts. Extracurricular activities can be either inside or outside of school, including summertime. As the college counselor at my daughter’s school explained it to her class, they want to know that you aren’t sitting on a couch watching TV most of the time during the summer. They want to know that you are doing meaningful activities or working. People that take advantage of their off time for doing something worthwhile are the sort of people that colleges want. As stated above, it doesn’t need to cost a lot of money.

Yes it’s an EC and if it’s relevant to what you do, want to do, relates to other ECs it should definitely be there. Paid or not.