<p>I see all these kids on here with tons of good ECs, sports, etc, but very few of them seem to have work experience listed. However, not everyone has time to do all that. What about the ones who work 20+ hours a week and acquire months or years of work experience? Do colleges factor that in significantly?</p>
<p>of course. that is considered an EC</p>
<p>i wouldnt be too sure about that. dartmouth doesnt consider work experience AT ALL.</p>
<p>at TheBlackLantern: Are you sure that Dartmouth doesn't consider work experience?</p>
<p>Darklantern: you're saying that Dartmouth admissions are idiots. I believe they aren't. I believe they want the best possible kids and this does not rule out many, many top applicants who NEED to work to survive, dontcha think?</p>
<p>The immigrant kid who works 30 hrs at parent's business isn't going to be Football captain, right?</p>
<p>Isn't the value of any EC (and by definition, outside employment is just that) going to be judged by how it's presented in the application? The applicant can either say they spend xx hours a week slinging hash OR they can talk about the work place/time management skills they learned, how these will be used at school, in their future career.</p>
<p>Big difference. It's all in the telling.</p>
<p>Yeah I think that they'll consider work experience the most when yoour job is connected with planned major.</p>
<p>For example, I worked as a freelance computer help (how to call it :) ) and I would like to major in computer engineering. Hope this is going to help me at MIT...:)</p>
<p>I think Dartmouth doesn't consider work experience in that it doesn't say, "Oh, this kid's never held a job, can't admit him." They probably look at it like an EC instead of a separate category. It's not like they're going to ignore that somebody's been holding a job because they need to; they're just not going to hold it against somebody for not having done so.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Isn't the value of any EC (and by definition, outside employment is just that) going to be judged by how it's presented in the application? The applicant can either say they spend xx hours a week slinging hash OR they can talk about the work place/time management skills they learned, how these will be used at school, in their future career.</p>
<p>Big difference. It's all in the telling.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, there isn't many chances for me to talk about all that. I talked about my autistic brother in the common app essay, and for the others, I found a lot better topics to write about. The applications don't leave much room for EC explanations, especially work experience (common app asks for name of the job, hours/week, and thats it).</p>
<p>i am very sure of it. a dartmouth student showed me a website that had all the statistics of dartmouth as well as admissions criteria. in the box for work experience, there was a checkbox marked next to it that said "Not Considered".</p>
<p>edit: here i found it</p>
<p>Wow, that is kind of ridiculous. I don't know why they don't consider it. That seems a bit unfair to me. Even though work experience might not be considered by Dartmouth, it's considered by a lot of other selective colleges.</p>
<p>Work exp. is considered believe me or not.</p>
<p>Not according to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>weird thing is dartmouth a few years back did consider it but now it doesnt anymore</p>
<p>yeah seriously screw dartmouth</p>
<p>This was the first year that they put it as not considered. But honestly, they are still going to read it on your application, and it will influence their decision.</p>
<p>If it really bothers you, write them an e-mail inquiring why work experience is not considered. Create a new e-mail address with gmail if you are paranoid.</p>
<p>if i had known before thinking of doing early decision, i would have. but now that ive been rejected there i dont care.</p>
<p>Hi everyone!I am ivan a new guy from Beijing. In China the Work Experience is very important for grad. That determine you can receive a better position.</p>
<p>for most colleges work experience is great, especially if you show commitment like working at the same job throughout high school. however, if you do not have work experience it will not be held against you.</p>
<p>
[quote]
for most colleges work experience is great, especially if you show commitment like working at the same job throughout high school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I disagree WHOLEHEARTEDLY. Having work experience doesn't mean anything for admissions. In fact, if I had it all to do over again I wouldn't have worked during high school at all.</p>
<p>I wanted a car and some cash and being from a middle class family I decided it was time to pull my weight and start working during the summer after my sophomore year. I would go to school 7-1:30 and then work 2-9 or 3-10 for 2-3 days a week and then 8-4 one or both days of the weekend. This left very little time for homework, much less afterschool activities. I managed to graduate valedictorian and win a few state trophies on the math team but that's about it as far as distinctions go.</p>
<p>Many of my peers chose to not have jobs. Instead, they did various things like join all the academic teams, take night classes at local universities and volunteer. They had the same grades as mine, a few were NMF's like me, but ultimately they became more well-rounded (in the eyes of an adcom looking for "diversity") than I could hope to be, and as it turns out I was the only person in my peer group who didn't get into a Harvard or MIT. Do I sound bitter enough? I am, but that has ameliorated some over time now that I've landed a grad position in a top lab for my field, but I was so mad for awhile - at least my first two or two and a half years at state U.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Be poor. Don't get a job if you want to succeed in getting into an Ivy unless it's in some professor's lab. Adcoms just don't care.</p>