<p>Sadly enough, I've never held down a steady job, just random spurts of paid activity. I haven't had time to during the school year :/
I plan to get one this summer, but that "work experience" box on the common app is intimidatingly large..</p>
<p>As a side note...any recommended summer jobs?</p>
<p>not very i'd say. most teenagers don't have extraordinary jobs. obviously, it'd be to your advantage if you had a very unique job...but not working at the local mcd's can't really hurt you that much.</p>
<p>How about something like working in a research lab? something that actually takes skill or knowledge in a specific area; would this help a college app?</p>
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not very i'd say. most teenagers don't have extraordinary jobs. obviously, it'd be to your advantage if you had a very unique job...but not working at the local mcd's can't really hurt you that much.
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<p>this is absolutely not true. </p>
<p>For a student from modest means who has a part time job out of necessity in order to help out the family, to pay their own college fees (remember the college board only gives 4 waivers), purchasing their own stuff or simply being active participants in financing the things that they want or need, having a job (even at the local McD's) is a big thing and trumps most paid for and fluff ECs.</p>
<p>There are a lot of admirable traits associated with holding down a job (even an afterschool job or by students who work even though they may not "need" the money) that many admissions officers find attractive in a prospective student: time management skills, collaboration, communication, interpersonal skills & being committed to something over a sustained period of time just to name a few.</p>
<p>rats....i was hoping it didn't count for much of anything. i'm not even really sure where to start searching. i'll be gone for three weeks right at the beginning of summer, too; who'd want to hire me for 7 weeks??</p>
<p>i have the same problem commodore, plus i'd need to get a permit and all that jazz.</p>
<p>what about an internship? does that hold the same weight as a job? you do all the stuff a job does, plus you need to be skilled and you don't get paid.</p>
<p>keep the job during the school year and just work on weekends.</p>
<p>I'm going to be a camp counselor at a day camp this summer. Yeaaahhh.</p>
<p>what sorts of jobs has everyone held down?</p>
<p>Cashier here!</p>
<p>i bag groceries, lol. it...sucks:D</p>
<p>If you don't need the money badly, you may also want to balance your time between a paying job and a volunteer institution. I'm going back and forth between a bakery and a philanthropic bookstore.</p>
<p>is a job at a fast-food joint going to reflect more poorly than a job somewhere else?</p>
<p>Do internships count as work experience?</p>
<p>I work at subway. I think it's helped the most for scholarship applications.</p>
<p>Sybbie didn't say that you HAD to have a job to stand out, just that for some students it can be a very impressive addition to your application. You can show that you have been busy, productive, successful, impactful, a leader, organized, driven, etc. through unlimited different ways. It all has to do with how you have capitolized on the opportunities and environment you've been given.</p>
<p>sybbie made a pretty compelling argument to get a job, and started me quaking in my unemployed boots</p>
<p>If not work, then volunteering, or travel, or just being a really good student.
But there's no way you won't find something doing with your passions - even if it's helping a kid out with homework every weekend.
Doing well is what counts - doesn't matter if they're the big things or the small things.</p>
<p>There are lots of people who get jobs and apply to top universities. I doubt they're seen as unique. 80% of my class holds a job, and these kids aren't poor at all. They just want more cash to spend... I don't think that having a job is necessarily going to help your application, unless you also do a lot of volunteering. You don't want to seem GREEDY. If the job is being a research intern or something, then that's much more meaningful. And if you're helping your family make ends meet, then that's a totally different story.</p>