Recently, I made a thread about my mediocre GPA. My constantly anxious young mind has something else to ask, however.
This summer, (I’m currently entering my sophomore year) I’ve been making websites for various companies, one of them being my mother’s company. I won’t state how much money I earned, but it’s quite significant for a fifteen year old. Since I am not employed by one single company, does this technically count as a work experience? If so, how much weight does it hold for a top university? From what I’ve gathered, most applicants applying to these top universities have done similar, and even greater experiences. As I’m an international student coming from a third world country (Indonesia), would they consider the fact that there are much less opportunities for me than countries like the US?
Yes… Any experience like this is work experience regardless if you got paid or who it is for. My kids both worked for us but also had outside jobs etc.
BTW… My daughter spent the last year with 6 months in Indonesia for study abroad and https://clscholarship.org/languages/indonesian
And loved it. Hope your away from the current problem areas.
While it’s impossible to know how any “top” university weighs any particular experience, your freelance work would count as work. The short answer is yes, it’s real work and the world generally accepts it as such.
Thanks for the replies. For references, these companies are local companies - meaning local restaurants, shops, etc. In particular, my mother owns a beauty salon company, which I made the website for.
I have an online portfolio which showcases every programming-related projects I did. Where should I put the link to this portfolio in the common app?
The work you have done should count as a job. Admissions officers typically view a part-time job as similar to an extra-curricular activity. Do not include the link on your application. Admissions officers are swamped and don’t want/need to see proof of what is written in the application.