<p>I’ve narrowed my summer to four possible things: an internship, a summer program, volunteer work or a job. My family can’t afford those really good summer program, and I was just wondering how an internship that relates to what you want to take in college relates to a job that doesn’t relate at all. I personally think that internships give you job as well as learning experience, while summer programs are just learning and job/volunteer work are just working, but people have told me that colleges want their students to learn. I’m really conflicted and really want to do an internship but I really don’t know which one I want to do right now. Let me lay this out simply in three questions:</p>
<li><p>Which one looks best for college?</p></li>
<li><p>If I don’t get an internship, which should I consider next?</p></li>
<li><p>Do colleges really look at summer programs as a ‘hook’?</p></li>
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<p>My advice would be job as a last resort. Look for something you like to do first and foremost. Colleges want to see you work at something your passionate for.</p>
<p>Why can't you find a <em>job</em> where you would <em>learn</em> and <em>earn</em>?</p>
<p>When I hire summer help for my business, I look for the kid who will be using their summer experience with my company as their very first career spot. </p>
<p>I've hired kids who want to be vets, kids interestted in animals, kids interested in business, kids interested in fashion -- I certainly don't want to hire kids who just want a paycheck. Wanting the paycheck is important -- for doing meaningful work as part of our team is very important.</p>
<p>i dont think colleges look at a summer program as a hook. i mean summer programs as in like the usual 3-5 grand stuff.. from say stanford or cornell or harvard or upenn etc. it only shows that u hav a lot of money. but it also shows u hav initiative and if u do well, it would b a plus. but dont do it for the sake of.. filling ur college app.</p>
<p>i would go with the internship if u can land it. there are plenty of paid internships plus u will get a lot out of it. and also, u sed volunteer work/ job u just work. i would disagree. i personally am spending my whole summer doing community service. inner city boston, jackson mississippi, mongolia etc. i just like doing that kind of stuff</p>
<p>so bottom line here r the answers to ur 3 questions.
1. Which one looks best for college?
i dont really think there's an answer to this. u havta think <em>beyond</em> ur college app. do what u really want to do. and show that passion in ur essay where u can elaborate more on it. that would look <em>best</em> on ur college app.</p>
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<li><p>after internship. i'd consider volunteer work or ajob.. along with just taking a couple courses at ur local community college =)</p></li>
<li><p>short answer: no</p></li>
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<p>p.s. sorry for the terrible english.. its 9 20 in the morning here</p>
<p>I have the same issue, almost. I applied to the Harvard SSP, and since it's not terribly selective, I'm pretty sure I'll get in. But my parents would rather that I landed a research opportunity with someone in an actual lab.</p>
<p>The problem with getting an internship, though, is that it's getting kind of late. I've been doing research all morning, and most of the programs I looked into had deadlines in January and February (still kicking myself for not finding out about the NIH internship early enough). Not to mention that even if the deadline isn't past, there'll probably be many students vying for the opportunity, so it'll be competitive.</p>
<p>I think, if you focus on doing something productive over the summer that shows your interests and doing it well are more important than what you do. That being said, an actual internship probably does look better than just taking a class in the summer, but I would hope that colleges realize that internships are scarce for high school students.</p>