<p>re # 34
I mixed up 2 AP award levels- Son was AP Scholar with Honor his JR year, National AP Scholar his Sr year.</p>
<p>In case some have the idea that I am an advocate of a student working all summer, that is not the case. Jr yr, in addition to his research internship, son backpacked for 3 weeks with a small group of students and volunteered for 2 weeks at a local classical music festival, doing ushering and sales of refreshments at the evening performances. We also took a 10 day trip back east to visit various colleges.</p>
<p>My S, through HS (rising senior) has always had a mix of activities in the summer. He’s usually had 3 weeks of some academic class, 2 weeks for a family trip, and the rest of the time is his to fill with his EC (water polo/swim team), AP summer work, chilling with friends. One year the chill time was reduced due to a BS two week backpack trip.</p>
<p>This year will be a little different, in that in place of the 3 week academic class, he’s going to be doing a reserach internship he created with an Earth Sciences professor, where he’ll be working on some climate modeling. This will give him a good introduction to the world of research and he’s raring to go now even though school isn’t out for another three weeks. This will take most of the summer, although we still have the two week family trip and he will have time to get ready for the water polo season. The internship will be six hours a day, M-F so that still leaves chill time … or time to get started on those SCEA college essays!</p>
<p>I think what the top colleges expect is different from kids of different backgrounds. Expectations from a kid in a rural area and one from a major city are 2 different things.</p>
<p>The OP tells us that her DD attends ‘a selective public school’ in a major city. She also tells us that she’s going to camp abroad and DD’s friends don’t seem to work. This gives us a hint that this is an affluent child at a top school with lots of opportunities. Much is expected of these kids.</p>
<p>This is just the type of kid they would love to see with a job at a fast food restaurant. Lots of volunteer work would also be good. But camp abroad and travel with family will probably not be attractive to HYPS. She will be seen as another affluent applicant with lots of resources who didn’t go the extra mile.</p>
<p>She already has extreme competition from her classmates applying to these schools. I don’t see her getting into one with lazy summers to be perfectly frank.</p>
<p>I’m with bethievt, fireandrain, etc. She’ll have her whole life ahead of her to work. As long as she’s got some interesting things coming out of the summer (the camp abroad certainly sounds awesome), and some quality time with you (that you can NEVER get back), she’ll be fine.</p>
<p>My D’s both did CTY, oldest one for 4 years, youngest for 2. Youngest stopped doing them because they conflicted with some spectacular trips that she and her dad took for 2 summers. For example, her college essays about what she learned about herself and how she saw the world differently, after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro last summer, made for some outstanding reading.</p>
<p>If you’ve got a kid who’s suggesting spending time with you on road trips, I can’t imagine any better way to spend a summer.</p>
<p>Yes, that time she wants with you is PRICELESS!! I worried so much about college admissions and it was silly. Enjoy your time with your dear girl. The best schools for her will want her. But saying that, I mean she needs to have schools other than HYPS on her list that she can love, unless money doesn’t matter and she can go EA or ED somewhere.</p>