I have a job at a bakery that I do over the summer and winter breaks. So far, I have accumulated 202 hours of work and can probably get to 250 or so by the end of the summer. These 250 hours would be the result of working the summers before junior and senior years and the winter break of junior year. Is this going to look impressive on a college application or should I try to get some more hours?
The common app asks for you to list hours per week for your activity – not total hours.
As I have said here this many, many times: applicants need to eliminate the words “impressive,” “like,” “best,” or similar words from their vocabulary until after decisions are made. It is the rare application/course schedule/EC that admissions will “like.”. Perhaps the AO that read Malala’s application “liked” her ECs, but she set the bar high. Do things that are right for you.
Work the hours because you want/need the money/enjoy it/are learning from it. Don’t work the hours to “impress.”
No more impressive than if you had another EC with similar hours of commitment. On the application it is usually X hours/week. Adcoms just want to make sure you have other activities outside of school. Of course, if your EC is at state/national level then it is even better.
Colleges like to see that you have spent your time constructively but it is not unusual for a HS student to work over school breaks. It is good to show that you have worked but it won’t get you into a college you are not otherwise qualified to attend.
I suggest you stop stressing over your ECs (another post), work etc. The idea of the application is to focus on what you HAVE done and present it in the best possible light.
Colleges like to see that you can do something productive (work, ECs, sports, etc) outside of school and still do well academically.
But at some point, doing too much outside of school will affect your academics.
I agree that no college cares about your total hours…they would be more interested that you can work 10 hours /week and still get A’s. They care about that you did something productive over the summer (this student is responsible and doesn’t just play video games all summer).
So prioritize academics and keep working and save yo’ money.
Don’t focus merely on the hours you’ve worked, but rather what your work experience taught you about human nature, about our world, about yourself, etc.
I wouldn’t view number of hours worked as anything remarkable. Rather, if there is something special you did, for example, if you were promoted, or you came up with a new product, or improved the efficiency of a process which saved the bakery thousands of dollars, those things might be worth mentioning.
Put in your usual hours at the bakery. Unless you need the money, extra time at this point is better spent getting a head start on the essays (available in August, right?) or prepping for the SAT or ACT if you are planning to take them again.