We are going to attend another “Virtual” visit tomorrow with Haverford. Anyone else hopping on that virtual event? We are not going in person, so depending on emails and online events.
@Golfgr8 - Haverford is on my list! But kiddo isn’t up for doing research yet, I think he is still in a bit of denial. Baby steps. Maybe by spring break he will start in on it. Would love to hear your thoughts, though.
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I love Haverford! Hope you all have a nice “visit”.
Wow, that sounds great. We’d actually get to visit colleges kids might attend. Stop and have a bite. Do a little bit of sightseeing.
Wish the world would return to normal. I feel so bad for the kids. I’ve already seen 10 states. LOL. But at this point, I’d be willing to pitch a tent and walk through campuses for a Summer vacation.
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Speaking of college visits and summer…anyone else “on hold” with summer internships, summer jobs, service and learning opportunities? Last week, the GC asked @ summer plans. We have applied to 2 summer educational programs and waiting to see if the the summer job (in person) will happen. Anyone else have a kid who is planning/hoping to work this summer in person - not virtually?
I have a feeling that there will be few in-person opportunities - what are your GC’s telling you? What did you say about this on applications?
One of my kids worked in person last Summer. It was really hard not to worry about Covid. I’m wondering given the economy how many businesses will close or not be able to hire.
In terms of Summer programs, we’re on hold. I can’t see spending $$$$ on more Zoom calls. If things are in person then great. If not kids will figure out something to do. I think lots of expensive programs are getting pushback. Many are requiring payment which is non refundable and the amount doesn’t change that much if things are online. No thanks.
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My senior did a work from home internship last summer ( research for a public affairs firm) and my daughter (freshman) is pursuing volunteer jobs at our local museum (they have Covid protocols) and a local non profit (may be work from home doing mailings, etc) - it seems volunteer jobs can still be had! We also ran a fundraiser last summer from home for our favorite nonprofit that my son received an award for over winter break and was able to write about in his update letters to schools.
I think a lot of the in person opportunities are going to depend on your location. Other than medical/educational opportunites, most other businesses around here seem to be operating somewhat normally and my guess is that their summer programs will too. Even the medical and educational are operating fairly normally, just not allowing unnecessary people in their buildings (D21 has had 2 medical shadowing opportunities get shut down where the doc told her they could make it work, but when they ran it up the flagpole the admin gave a hard no).
That may be something to consider, if your child has a situation where they could live with other relatives for a month or 2 in a different state their opportunities could change dramatically. I know that’s a big ask for a family where the child doesn’t live at home already during the school year, just throwing it out there.
Kiddo is holding out for his swim team job. We just won’t know anything about it for a while. If it doesn’t come through (probably won’t), then he wants to work in a restaurant or something.
Plus, he is taking bio over the summer to clear up room in his academic schedule for other stuff.
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My DD’s hoping for a language immersion program abroad this summer but…
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Wow, any chance of that happening? My kid thought all trips abroad wouldn’t happen this year or next. That’s the usual things like French language students going to France, service trips etc. These trips usually get planned about 6 months in advance (or longer).
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You should probably read the recently posted thread on CC titled Haverford College bullying issues. I’m very glad my DS did not apply there.
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Around here it seems the opposite. The traditional summer jobs are definitely available, all the camps are hiring already (the day camps ran last year but now sleep away camps are back up and running too), there are lifeguard jobs, restaurant, summer stores etc. My kids worked at a restaurant last summer and the HS kid is likely going back to that job. Since he plans to spend significant time playing his sport he has to have a job that will work with his tournament schedule so not many other options anyway. No summer programs unless he finds something amazing for a week or two which is actually in person. No more zoom school here.
My college kid is applying for all sorts of internships but those are much tougher. While all the businesses seem to be ‘operating normally’ everyone still works remotely and will till the fall at the earliest (or much longer for some) so there are fewer internships and they are almost all remote. Even the kids who thought they landed in person internship are getting word that it will be remote after all one by one. So we shall see what happens, but the regular job is the fallback (and likely will complement any remote internship regardless like last summer).
Both kids would love to travel but I do not see it for this summer. Older kid’s college just announced they hope to resume study abroad programs next fall but there are a lot of disclaimers in there so I am not all that convinced it will actually happen.
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My college kid is interning on Capitol Hill now, and it is in-person. The Hill offices opened for interns a few weeks ago, and most will have them in the summer. COVID precautions are in place; legislators and many paid staff have revceived the vaccine. I’ve read that many agencies are also planning on in-person inters starting this summer.
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I jumped over to another thread on CC…which was interesting… Because so many EC’s, internships, and community service opportunities have been limited this year, do you think AO’s will take that into account? Packing on the EC’s and volunteer experiences in the admissions arms race? See interesting post from someone below:
@Golfgr8 - what are the Deerfield college counselors saying (other than “we don’t know yet, let’s see what happens with the seniors” - which has got to be what everyone is saying right now)?
I have been a regular reader of the main board for a while now, and while you can glean nuggets of useful information, generally it isn’t gospel, especially for bs kids. Kiddo’s Counselor specifically called out CC as something to ignore.
The advice in the before times we were given was do things that authentically interest you, summer programs are not necessarily great options, etc - you have heard it all, too.
Now, with test optional being more the norm, and EC opportunities gone, there is little to look at beyond rigor, recs and essays. To the extent ECs and summer opportunities exist, if it took pluck and grit and true interest to score the opportunity, then I think it matters. If they organically came up with their own activity that matches their interests, great. But other than that, not so much. I suspect AOs are mindful that more now than ever opportunities are more available to students who can afford them, not necessarily the most talented.
I also suspect coming from a known school that pre-filters pluck and grit and true interest, and has teachers who can write real recs, is a leg up - as much as anything.
There is only so much you can do to create opportunities that don’t realistically exist right now. I wouldn’t worry too much about the things you can’t control. What does your daughter want to do with her summer?
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Abroad I doubt it unfortunately though I don’t think it’s quite 0% (yet).
As others have commented though, domestically it seems like there will be all sorts of in-person camp options, language immersion or otherwise. It’s not universal though as CTY already pulled the plugged on in-person for this summer.
Well, I hope your optimism is correct. I REALLY really do. Most of the programs my kids are interested in are either on hold or have been put online. Even the ones which have a low acceptance rate are in danger and will likely be modified.
I think it’s most likely that a small % will run and the rest will not. And frankly even the best camp/activity doesn’t work so well without being in person.
So, what can kids do? My kids are lucky in that they’ve been doing a couple of EC’s for a long time. Some made the switch to Covid, others were modified to a large degree or didn’t run much /at all. The sports got hit really hard. Kids are not practicing (mine and others), there haven’t been games/tournaments or meets for a long long time.
Keep thinking that kids who’ve done things before Covid hit are in better shape. We keep looking around to find things which fit. My oldest would love to travel but it’s likely not going to happen.
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This is probably true. I imagine there will be a lot of essays along the lines of “X is my passion, but I haven’t been able to do it; I did Y instead”. My guess is AOs will be sniffing out how kids are faring mental-health wise, what additional burdens kids have, and how creative/industrious kids have gotten in the past year to keep busy/on track with their goals.
So, you don’t have to have EC’s where you are curing cancer . . . (Nice if you do, of course). My middle son worked on a farm making hay during high school (we live in a rural area w/o many (any?) internships etc). He not only wrote about that job for his essay, he asked the farmer to write one of his recommendations.
My youngest (about to graduate) is working a couple of hours a day with his very elderly grandparents. That experience could also make a killer essay!
I would be thinking along the lines of " what can my kids do to give back" – that may spark some simple ideas. As a general rule, things you pay a fair amount of money for don’t move the admissions needle (eg the service trip to Thailand costing $15,000) (not that anyone was suggesting something like that).
Everyone is in the same boat. AOs know opportunities are more limited.
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