<p>Hi, I'm going to be a junior this year and am new to this website. My goal is to get into Harvard and/or Yale. I'm wondering how these schools would view my summer in terms of admission:</p>
<p>-Spent 2 weeks in Spain with my school's Spanish department
-Was a camp counselor for 3 weeks
-Volunteered at the library
-Did a program at Yale</p>
<p>Please let me know. Thanks!</p>
<p>The two weeks in Spain is good if you’re planning on going to H or Y for Spanish. If not, it’s just neutral, maybe a bit of a boost for showing aggression to learn outside of school.</p>
<p>Camp counselor is good, but 3 weeks, not so much. Dedicating 8 weeks, or 2 months, looks a lot better in the eyes of an adcom evaluating your extra curricular activities.</p>
<p>The library is good. No real comment on that. It’s pretty straight forward.</p>
<p>Program at Yale is excellent. Getting ahead of the game, by visiting the school, showing true interest, and once again showing desire to learn outside of school looks awesome. Especially when it is one of the schools you want to go to.</p>
<p>sounds good, just make sure you had fun</p>
<p>In general, summer programs or study abroad opportunities that cost money won’t positively impact an application to HY.</p>
<p>Glassesarechic nailed it. Unless you did something truly extraordinary, summer programs and study abroad opportunities aren’t going to positively impact your application. Some say they can have a negative impact, although that’s debatable.</p>
<p>Are you really asking how your summer looks? I spend my summers entirely hanging out with my friends and relaxing. Do I care how it will look? no</p>
<p>well, maybe you should tbomb.</p>
<p>LOL @ This thread</p>
<p>And I agree with applicannot and glassesarechic. </p>
<p>Go to Spain.</p>
<p>looks great. have some fun and dont be too worried though…</p>
<p>How on earth are you going to find the <em>physical space</em> to explain these activities in sufficient detail on your application? This is a general question, by the way. I see a lot of people going into detail when describing their ECs, and I can’t help but wonder if they’ll manage to squeeze it all in on their applications.</p>
<p>Am I correct in assuming you intend to send a resume with your application? Because while it is certainly helpful, a lot of people get in without sending in resumes, which is to say, without revisiting every day of their summer school programs and club vice-presidencies.</p>
<p>No national competitions won? No Nobel Prize nominations? No published research in a prestigious medical journal? You’re absolutely, unequivocally done for.</p>
<p>…Your summers are fine in the eyes of colleges. Since you were productive, they will work neither for you nor against you. You’ll have to rely on other parts of your application to give you a boost that will reel in that acceptance letter. I wouldn’t bank on anything, though: along with Princeton and Stanford, Harvard and Yale have the most competitive applicant pools in the United States, so unless your parent is a multimillionaire donor or you’re a qualified athletic recruit, nothing is certain in respect to these two Universities.</p>
<p>Best of luck. :)</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses.</p>
<p>I will most likely be salutatorian of a class of about 620. During the school year, I am Student Council President, incoming Varsity Debate Team Captain, Secretary of Drama Club, I participate in every drama production, I’m on 2 soccer teams, I do Mock Trial (will most likely be an attorney this year), and contribue to my school’s literary magazine. In terms of awards, I have won regional writing and debate awards as well as a lot of math awards.</p>
<p>How am I looking for Harvard and Yale? They are my ultimate dreams.</p>
<p>H and Y… are great to dream about. But it’s important to remember that, although acceptance is possible, it’s not likely. So definitely apply, but don’t expect to get a thick envelope.</p>
<p>That being said, your extracurriculars are very strong for slightly lower-tier schools, but are only average among competitive applicants to H and Y. It’s great that you’re so involved, though. Have you won any big awards in your state?</p>
<p>Your class rank is outstanding. A class rank of 2/620 definitely makes you a competitive candidate, no matter what school it is that’s in question.</p>
<p>Now, for the big one… what did you score on the SAT and SAT Subject Tests (or ACT if you took that on instead)? If your test scores are on par, you’ll be in great shape, although once again, as an unhooked applicant, absolutely nothing is guaranteed at H and Y in terms of acceptance.</p>