HELP, Intership or Community College Classes

Applying to College
1

<p>Looking for advice from the older and wiser...
My son is currently a junior, top of his class, good EC, taking all the AP's possible blah, blah, blah and wants to apply to some highly selective schools in the fall. </p>

<p>He was offered a summer internship in a gov officials office over the summer and this week his guidance counselor suggessted he take 2 classes at our local community college instead. </p>

<p>What's the more valuable experience? I say internship all the way, you are making connections, getting real life job experience (not paid). She says the college level classes will be looked at more favorably. </p>

<p>Who's right? What would you do?</p>

2

<p>Unless the community college classes are things that this student wants to take and are things that he can’t cover with the AP courses at his high school, I just can’t see much point. An internship, or even a paying job at Walmart, will give him exposure to the outside world and help him think about his career goals, so that he knows WHY he wants to go to college. It would also give him something to write about in all of those college essays.</p>

<p>If the guidance counselor continues to push the CC classes, make an appointment for a sit-down meeting about this. Ask the counselor just exactly why those classes are recommended, and ask for specific evidence from his/her experience in placing students in the colleges on your son’s list. </p>

<p>Oh, and if you haven’t done so yet, run the FAFSA EFC calculator [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Expected Family Contribution (EFC) Calculator - Finaid) so that you know what the colleges/universities are going to expect you to come up with. If you can’t pay at least that much, have your son look at this list and see if there is anything he likes <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>I’m going to agree with happymom. The internship shows success in another area. This becomes important for schools with holistic admissions and for departmental scholarships at schools that are stat based admissions. The cc classes show intellectual interest, as well as academic success (something their transcript prob already shows). It’s a great use of time, no doubt. If you’re looking for the better experience (as well as admissions bang for your buck), I’d go with the internship.</p>

4

<p>Is there anyway to do both? Perhaps see if your son can schedule night classes, so he can intern during the day, and take classes at night. It’ll be a full plate, and he should go after it if he’s up for the challenge. A combination of both activities will prove his intellectual interests, his real world experience, and his ability to juggle multiple, difficult activities, just like you need to do when you’re in college.</p>

<p>I’m trying to do the same thing this summer. I’ll be taking night classes at a local state university, and working as a server in my free time. I doubt I can keep it up for long though it’ll be too time consuming :(</p>

5

<p>Thanks. I’d love for him to try to do both but nights and weekends are committed to 2 theatre companies and that is what he loves…I still believe he is entitled to the fun of being a kid before the not so fun world of being an adult arrives. </p>

<p>I feel like the real world experience of the internship will test more of his skills; how to solve real world problem, dealing with the public, polish him and his professional demeanor. That being said, he still has to get thru the next 2 weeks of AP testing, SAT’s and essays. Maybe he’ll be glad for summer to be here just to catch a break.</p>

6

<p>“nights and weekends are committed to 2 theatre companies and that is what he loves”</p>

<p>Is he a performer or a techie? Is this something he’d like to pursue in college? There really would be nothing wrong with him spending the whole summer doing theatre stuff if he wanted to. Chances are they’d be happy to have him in the administrative office doing almost exactly the kinds of stuff he’d be doing in that govt. office.</p>

7

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<p>I was thinking the same thing. Otherwise, the internship sounds coolers, and if your son agrees, the answer is clear.</p>