<p>My D is pretty much beating me hard in order to do a part time summer job. Till now in the last 4 years we have advised her to spend that time doing community service and volunteer than doing part time jobs.</p>
<p>This summer also she is going to do a research internship from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. 8 weeks which will provide her a stipend of $1500.</p>
<p>So I've told that this is equivalent to a summer job and it may be insane to spend any additional hour on a job.</p>
<p>But she says this still put her personality as a nerd and she would like to do a part time job handling/interacting with customer at Jamba Juice/Starbuck type joint in order to be more well rounded.</p>
<p>Nice internship! I have 2 Ds, both at an Ivy without ever having worked a summer job (lots of summer performing arts and community service trips though). But doing Starbucks and the internship sounds like a nice balance to me (. . . and maybe even material for an application essay?).</p>
<p>I work at McDonald's. It is a real eye-opening experience. I'm not a spoiled brat or anything--I'm certainly not rich--but I've learned so much about dealing with the public, listening to bosses, and just in general doing my job well. I actually CARE...which is a rare thing to find at a fast food place, but my regulars love me for it.</p>
<p>When I went to my Georgetown interview, my interviewer was really impressed that I worked at McD's; she said I was the only one all year who had a real job. I think it shows that you can humble yourself, work for minimum wage (which for me is $5.85/hour). I average 16 hours a week on the weekends now.</p>
<p>So, is she concerned that she'll look like a nerd and that if she works at Starbucks, she'll appear to be more well-rounded? The point is to do something during the summer. Your daughter should be getting a job at Starbucks or Jamba Juice or whatever because she might enjoy it and it's a way to get money, not to pose for colleges. Once a parent asked former Dean Fred Hargadon of Princeton University what her son should do during the summer: teach English in China or study abroad? He replied, "He should pump gas." The point is, it's not what you do, it's what you take away from it and the character it builds.</p>
<p>Plus, it might be a fun and interesting experience interacting with customers by getting a part-time job. It's pretty popular among high schoolers.</p>
<p>I think what she might be concerned with the typical absent minded nerdy look of a research intern, she wants to have some cheerful bubbly personality too.
She says there is difference between the set of students who will be attending the internship from those that she might meet at the Jambo Juice/Starbucks type of joint.
She thinks she has a very limited exposure to wide variety of students and it may add a different perspective.
I don't think it is practical to spend all time in these activity and would like her to hang around with friends and have fun.</p>
<p>I think she may be right in that respect. I have met so many different kinds of people, and I have so much respect for them. People think you must be stupid if you're "flipping burgers," but these people are some of the nicest I've ever met. They'd give you anything, and yet they're trying to support their families on less than $1000/month. Some are high school dropouts, some are high school kids, and some attend classes to better themselves now.</p>
<p>I never would have met any of these people otherwise, so I'm really happy with my job choice.</p>
<p>Um ... when is she going to find <em>time</em> to do the part-time job on top of the internship?</p>
<p>I have yet to meet a teenager that can work 30 hours a week effectively, much less 50 hours! I cannot imagine she would be any good to anyone (much less bubbly and perky) after she finishes her daily stint at the internship. </p>
<p>Beyond that ... <em>when</em> is she going to work? 7-10 at night? Weekends? The two weeks before the internship begins? Two weeks at the end of the summer? While I applaud the ambitiousness of youth -- I do hear from a lot of them, including my <em>star</em> teen employees -- that they want a few weeks to do nothing. And if they don't have the time off, they then attempt to do <em>nothing</em> in the shop and collect their paychecks!</p>
<p>Maybe let her see if she can find said part time job. With her limited availability, I am not sure she can get one .. unless she has some great availability in late summer and wants to continue after school resumes.</p>
<p>listen to your kid. I definitely feel that a job (cashier- McDonalds etc.) is going to show the AdComm- that I'm a real person- with real needs and I am not just doing my activities to try and get into your school.</p>
<p>The kids who have been most successful with Ivy League admission is my area of Long Island are those who had the academic stats- some solid EC's and showed that individual streak by not having only "cookie cutter" activities that were listed to impress the AdCom.</p>
<p>Let her be a cashier- or a camp counselor or salesgirl. Just let the kid do something that shows that she is a real teen-ager!!</p>
<p>As your kid will have very limited time due to her research commitment, she may not be succesful on the job hunt. But honestly, I think your kid may gain more from a summer job at McD or CVS than just being another IvyHopeful doing a summer research project!!</p>
<p>If she is real serious about doing both, I'd suggest she try to get in touch with employers NOW and see if she can get a few hours of employment starting ASAP- before the summer rush.</p>