<p>I'm asking this question for a friend although I'm also interested in the answer. She is trying to find something interesting for her high school student to do this summer that might make said student more attractive to colleges. Her kid has a very high GPA in high school...I'm pretty sure it's above a 4.0 so he is looking at selective schools. My friend is divorced and doesn't have any money to send her kid on a fancy trip or basically spend on any of the standard things people seem to do to make themselves look good for college (if those trips even make kids look good). Her son will try to get a job as a lifeguard this summer (he won't be 16 yet so limited job opportunities) and she was thinking maybe he could also take a class or too in an area of interest. He already does a significant amount of volunteer work. If you experts out there think that this might be a positive, will you let me know?</p>
<p>Maybe a broader question is - what can a lower income kid do during the summer to increase his attractiveness to more selective colleges?</p>
<p>My S is interested in technology and may major in computer science in college ( he is only a HS sophomore now). This summer he is going away for 4 weeks to a computer camp to be a “Program Assistant”. That is basically one step above a camper, and he will assist with the younger kids. We are still paying for him to attend- it is not a paying job but it will show responsibility, initiative, and interest in his field of study. In response to your question, if the family does not have a lot of $$, getting a summer job would be the best option. Admissions really does value when students get jobs- it is not looked down upon at all. It shows drive, determination, responsibility, maturity, etc. Good luck!</p>
<p>Those fancy trips aren’t as attractive as they once were. It’s no longer kids who were passionate about a cause traveling a great distance to DO something about it. Well, I’m sure there are still kids who are driven by passion to those activities but not the masses of wealthy kids who now do it strictly for that college resume. Most the articles you read on college essays roll their eyes at the “my summer in Africa” topics. So, I don’t think your friend needs to feel badly for not being able to send her child. Certainly, I am not able to send my kid to things like that.</p>
<p>Those top tier schools are interested in demonstrated passion. Summer is an excellent time for a kid to dig into an area of interest and that seems to be what colleges like. For example, if you had a kid whose passion was art, they took art lessons, they drew all the time… great! In the summer, perhaps they could volunteer to give art lessons at the community center daycare center, took an internship at the art museum, perhaps even joined the student art council. Maybe they spend the summer painting in a certain theme and manage to put together a small art show with the works (maybe adding the works of some fellow students.) Maybe they attend a series of workshops on the art industry. Maybe they get a job at the zoo summer art day camps. Yes, they could take a community college class in art that wouldn’t be available at their high school and that would be a great use of their time! Most of that would either be free or low cost… especially in comparison to a trip anywhere. </p>
<p>As for your sons friend whether a class is good depends on why he’s taking the class. Is is something he wants to do? Is it in an area that he loves? Just taking another math class isn’t going to register much unless he’s also demonstrated being big into math (or taking the math in summer allowed him to take an interest based class at school during the year.) Maybe he’s someone who just loves to learn and decides that he really wants to explore anthropology and the community college is the only place to do it. Sure, that class would look great!</p>
<p>All that said, it’s OK to work at Subway to save money for college. It’s OK to spend the summer babysitting your little brother because it saves the family a grand in childcare. Your friend shouldn’t sign her son up because it looks good for college. She should sign her son up if he’s really loving the idea.</p>
<p>He shouldn’t plan his summer based on how to impress colleges - admissions people have seen it all and can sense genuine interest from trying to puff oneself up. If he needs money, and can get a job, that’s a positive thing. The college sees that he is trying to help himself pay for school, and even low level jobs teach things like patience, responsibility, dealing with people in work setting and the like.</p>
<p>One thing to be careful about with community college courses: many schools offer the best financial aid to incoming freshmen. If he accumulates too many credits he could be in danger of being accepted as sophomore and lose the needed aid. Limit the number of credits or see if he can audit them for no credit.</p>
<p>I’ve read so many times that colleges aren’t impressed by the trips and the special activities and that kids shouldn’t think about how to do things that impress colleges, but they all seem to do this. The kids I see getting into the selective colleges all seem to have these things. Or they have connections that help them get “special looking” internships. I interviewed a student recently for my alma mater who had an “internship” with a physician as a high school student. After much discussion, it turned out that the physician was her uncle - maybe that doesn’t minimize the experience but it makes me painfully aware that there are great kids out there who don’t have the same opportunities. Almost every other student I interviewed had gone on one of those community service trips. </p>
<p>I’d like to see my friend’s son do something that he enjoys, but that also helps him. I know we’re not supposed to think about that stuff, but if everyone else is…</p>
<p>KK, thanks for the feedback about accumulating too many credits - will make sure they are aware. </p>
<p>Get a job. He will be evaluated in context to his/her environment. There will not be an expectation that he/she is doing fancy trips, mom paying for him/her to take college courses, unless he/she has been invited to participate in an experience; LEDA, MITES, etc. Has s/he applied to questbrigde as they have a summer program for juniors/rising seniors? </p>
<p>Sybbie - “lower income” was probably the wrong word. The kid lives in a town full of high-income folks and attends a blue-ribbon high school. It’s just that there is no disposable income for the mom to send him anywhere special for the summer. (As an example, A good portion of the kids in the high school do Builders Beyond Borders where they say that the kids raised the money themselves, but in reality the kids send emails to their families asking for sponsorship - some kids do try to work but no way a kid can raise that much at minimum wage. He tried to raise the money for it and couldn’t.) So no Questbridge, just a kid who can’t afford a fancy program. His mom is on the lower end of the income range for the town. </p>
<p>I agree with Sybbie. My friend’s son had the most amazing resume—bought and paid for by parents, and when kid was interviewed at parent’s alma mater, the feedback was that the thing that stood out the most was the job he did during the summer. Everything else was pretty clearly provided. He’ll look a lot better simply saying that his parents have no disposable income and he’s earning money to help pay for some things. What a breath of fresh air! You think that the admissions folks don’t know where the money comes from on those programs like Builders Beyond Borders and the such? I KNOW where it comes from and I’m sure there are sharper cookies than me, a lot of them and they deal with this as a living.</p>
<p>To answer the title question, yes, it can help in situations where a kid is in a highschool that simply does not offer a lot of advanced courses and this is a sign of him looking to do more. Taking a calc course, some heavy duty course in the summer to supplement his academics would be great. But if he’s already in a high school that offers these goodies, then community college courses can even be a step down to a a college without some specific picture in mind. Like a special interest being pursued. I know a kid who took every cartooning course he could, to the point his parents were not happy, and guess, what? A number of highly selective colleges were impressed. And that his parents were not supportive was a plus. Yes, his cartoons, which he also submitted as a sample of his passion helped him get into some schools that were reaches for him, over kids that had stronger academic profiles and whose ECs were more mainline. He had the passion.</p>
<p>There are summer activities and internships that he could look for. Usually these opportunities are made available in his school or nearby universities. If he is interested the US Naval Academy has a STEM summer camp where a student spends 5 days at the USNA campus at Annapolis and learn about the academics and programs at the Naval Academy. He will meet many high school students from all over the country. It might even inspire him to apply there as well. </p>
<p>What are his interests? Is there a summer camp he can get to on his own that can use his help as an assistant counselor for a program related to that interest? Start with that.</p>
<p>One thing often overlooked in the rush to collect some random college credits while still in high school is the simple fact that the transcript recording those credits will follow the student for the rest of his natural life, and will have to be requested for every college or grad school application, or when applying for any job that requires all college transcripts. One more piece of paper to keep track of forever. </p>
<p>Anything that a student does to show a passion for her areas of interest will help some, but colleges will not penalize an applicant whose family can’t afford some of the summer opportunities.</p>
<p>All 3 are good:
-a higher level class at cc (or one that fills a significant gap)
-a responsible job
-responsible focus on valid comm svc
add; some internship. But since some are a few hours/week for a few weeks, fill in the rest </p>
<p>You may see kids with admits who did the fancy trips (pay to play,) but if it’s a highly selective, bet your bottom dollar they had plenty else the adcoms liked. The complaint is kids who make a big deal of a p2p and don’t ever roll up their sleeves locally. Same for kids who start a foreign “charity.”</p>
<p>A lot of this is about how the kid thinks. How it shows.
You just don’t need to spend big. </p>