<p>I'm currently still figuring out my summer plans (terribly late, I know) and my mom insists that having a job is imperative and doesn't want me to drop it even though my summer is going to be crazy busy. Which activities should I keep from the following?
1. Volunteering (2end year, leadership position- youth leader)
2. Intern- local newspaper
3. Retail job </p>
<p>I also need to...
-study for standardized tests this summer. I canceled my SAT score from the spring and thus have no SAT 1 test score ready for college apps yet!!
- paint a mural at the local elementary school... </p>
<p>It is not important for college admission, but CAN give you an edge later when you are applying for internships. And earning some money for college is good – maybe handling your own spending money and books, and paying expenses for any unpaid internships you might decide to take, even if your parents say they will foot the bill.</p>
<p>I would say it depends on how much time you are spending at each, whether you can do it all. </p>
<p>Some supplemental applications ask “What have you done for the last two summers?” and you don’t want to write down “I sat on the couch, watched TV, played video games, surfed the net, and studied for my SAT test!” So, ANYTHING you do with your summer looks better than what I described. Get a job, volunteer, paint that mural, pursue what you love to do, make good use of the time – all of that WILL be helpful for college admissions. Colleges like active students . . . so be active, get involved!</p>
<p>How many hours per week are you planning to study for the SAT? I’m sure there are at least 30 hours per week, including the weekends, that you could be actively pursing things you love – and it doesn’t matter what you do. Just don’t sit home and veg on the couch! </p>
<p>@gibby I’m not sure! I know that I’ll be volunteering 1-2 days a week and interning at least 1-2 days a week, and, if I work, anywhere between 1-3 days a week
Since I really want to do well on the SATs, I’m getting worried that I’m going to be booked all the time and not have enough space to really block out solid study sessions. </p>
<p>Then do 2 things instead of 3 – volunteer and work, as getting an internship as a high school student is not easy without family connections. Neither of my kids in high school were able to get internships. In fact neither of my kids the first 2 years of college were able to get internships because everyone wanted rising juniors and seniors in college – and Admissions Offices know that! So, IMHO, if your looking to enhance your college applications, it’s better to volunteer and work!</p>
<p>^ I did interning and volunteering over the summer as well. Personally, I found myself much more productive after doing something positive during the day. Then after whatever that day had planned (I usually worked form 9-5), I’d go home and study. An hour or two a day is plenty, and you’ll have the weekend off as well, I’m assuming. Go do the things that you love, and then study in the time remaining, you’ll find it more rewarding</p>
<p>@gibby If it makes any difference, I have no connections at all to my internship, which is actually a lot less impressive than you make it seem haha. It’s just a small local newspaper but I’m supposed to be writing small columns on high school life. </p>
<p>@gibby and @shawnspencer thanks for the support! I’m sorry to trouble you guys with my indecision but since ending junior year hell a week ago, I’ve become skittish about possibly overwhelming myself. I’m going to buck up and try my best though, so thanks again! </p>
<p>@gibby, did you even read the initial post? Doesn’t seem like it… OP, I assume you made a commitment to the mural you can’t get out of. And your mom insists on the job. So I think you should consider giving up one other item, either your youth leadership position or your paper internship (I kind of think the paper internship should be the one to go). If you had a pretty solid SAT score and were just retaking to bring it up a little, I would give different advice. But I think you are right to worry, and probably need to give something up so you can manage your time well enough to do well on the SAT this fall.</p>
<p>@intparent I’d first like to thank everyone for taking the time to help me! I’m incredibly grateful because, as intparent suggested, I’m a little stressed out right now. I think I could convince my mom to let the job drop, but if my mom’s ideas were not a factor, do you think I should still choose the job over the internship? </p>
<p>It depends on your financial situation. Is your college all paid for, or are you going to be scrambling financially? If you need to earn money beyond books & spending money when you get to college (if any room/board/tuition is going to fall to you), then I say take the paying job. If not, then I would say it doesn’t matter whether you do the job or newspaper internship.</p>
<p>@intparent In this department, I am extremely grateful to my parents. We are not rich in the least but my parents have always been very careful with money so that I would not have to worry financially about college. I think I’ll do the internship because I’m more interested in it and I also write for the school paper so it’ll be nice to continue that EC outside of school. Thanks again for the help!</p>
<p>Have you run the net price calculators yet with your parents for the colleges you are interested in? The cost of many colleges is astonishing to parents these days. We see a lot of students whose parents tell them not to worry, then when spring of senior year rolls around they are SHOCKED at the cost and the student has no affordable options.</p>
<p>You would need to work with your parents to run the net price calculators that pretty much all colleges have now on their financial aid website pages to show you how much need based aid you might get, and what you can expect to pay for a given college. It is very eye opening for many parents, and an important early step in the college search process.</p>
<p>@intparent I’ll definitely have the conversation with my parents about the net price calculators, but I think I’ll be fine since my parents have gone through the college paying experience just recently with my sister, who went to to a private college. I’m really touched by the concern though!</p>