<p>Hey guys, how important is having an internship or impressive job during the summer for college admissions? Would it be less impressive if I did some vollunteer work or got a sort of grunt job like retail/grocery store? </p>
<p>Of course I would rather have been able to get into an impressive summer program or land a paid internship, but it never really worked out and I'm faced with volunteer work and getting a job at the local store.</p>
<p>Find a volunteering cause you’re really passionate about. Whether it’s a local organization, relief work, or raising money for a charity that’s close to your heart, doing this will not only be self-fulfilling for you but also impress colleges (as they can sense sincerity). This will be much better than just shifting from community service opportunity to community service opportunity. From what I hear, providing significant help in this way can be perhaps even more beneficial than some internship.</p>
<p>Add to that a job at a local store, and it’s even better. You’re working, which colleges like to see, and being paid! You’ll be fine. :)</p>
<p>There are many University-sponsored programs. Drexel, Temple, NYU, Columbia, and UChicago all have summer programs for high schoolers. I wouldn’t devote all my summer time for a retail job. Realize that the work hours are often long, and there are limited vacation breaks. Do something more constructive.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I don’t have several thousands to spend on one of the expensive programs, and I tried for LEAD but was rejected ( probably because I wasn’t hispanic/native american/black). Something I do plan on doing though is besides bagging groceries or whatever, I’m going to be volunteering on sort of a rescue van- pretty much the organization takes socks, blankets, sandwiches, etc. and drives around the streets of Chicago and hands them out to the homeless.
I’m excited for that, but I just look at people who are helping out at summer camps or going to the residential programs or getting internships and I feel like I won’t be having as much fun or being as productive</p>
<p>You could take a class or two at a local community college. I’m taking Statistics over the summer because I don’t have time for AP Stat during senior year.</p>
<p>Drexel University’s camp is relatively cheap (compared to the others). It is only $500 for the Summer Economics Institute (which I am attending), An Expedition in the True Spirit of Young Entrepreneurship, Journey into the High-Stakes World of Securities Trading, and Camp Business.</p>
<p>Drexel is in Philadelphia, BTW.</p>
<p>Sorry, though. It is too late to apply.</p>
<p>It’s not that important. Colleges don’t want a kid that spent four years trying to get into their college. They want people who spent four years doing stuff that they were passionate about. You don’t need any fancy summer thing to get into top schools.</p>