<p>
[quote]
Too many teens and their parents assume a carefully assembled montage of bought-and-paid-for camps or overseas service trips will be their admission ticket to a competitive college. In fact, Seth Allen, immediate past president of The Common Application, a group of 400 colleges and universities that use a standardized undergraduate application form, regards this as a widespread misconception, "that getting a paid job isn't nearly as valuable an experience as going to a physics boot camp or building homes for the less fortunate on a Caribbean island."</p>
<p>At many colleges, admissions officers' regard for such elaborate camps or group service trips, vs. earning a regular paycheck, "has flipped a bit. Students who work may stand out more" in a big applicant pool, says Mr. Allen, who is also dean of admission and financial aid at Grinnell College in Iowa. Paid jobs can provide the training and context teens need "to connect the education they will have in college to the real world," he says. If a teen can't find a paying job, serving "as the low person on the totem pole" as a volunteer with assigned duties and a regular work schedule at a nonprofit organization can deliver comparable experience.
<p>Want to second the value of work experience - colleges do appreciate this. Things like babysiting and pet sitting count also - particularly if you have babysat for one of more families on a regular basis for a year or more - or if you built up a neighborhood pet sitting business for school breaks, etc. From what I have heard - colleges actually respect this more than the trips wealthy parents pay for to have their kid work at a South American orphanage for 3 weeks, etc.</p>
<p>Summer job even in a field that is related to future carrier, does not help a bit to get into some very selective programs simply because all applicants have similar stats/ECs. However, absence of certain ECs (not just jobs, might be un-paid position) will prevent one from entering some selective programs. Kids who are interested in these programs are very well aware of requirements starting in early years of HS.</p>
<p>yes, the article specifically mentions camp jobs, which I was relieved to see because “life-time camp counselor” appears to be my D’s chosen profession! ;)</p>
<p>rodney,
Completely undertand, D. has been there and might be in the same situation this summer and she is college junior and 20 (not 16) with perfect college GPA (if anybody cares).</p>
<p>If your kids are over 18 have them look at a job with the census – good pay, and the jobs are fairly flexible, and will mostly be done by the end of the summer. Just google US census jobs</p>
<p>My D would love to find a summer job and is not at all selective as to what she will agree to do. Unfortunately, despite literally pounding the pavement in our 'burb looking for a job last summer she came up with nothing, and it doesn’t look any better for this summer. Babysitting, petsitting - everyone already has someone signed up. Most kids around here who work over the summer work at those same places during the school year, which D cannot do with her schedule. And I can’t afford an expensive program (I can’t believe the price for some of these things). I told her that all her applications would require her to talk about what she did the summer before her senior year (this summer) and that she needs SOMETHING. So far, the situation does not look promising.</p>
<p>Miami- your D should head to her college’s career center asap.</p>
<p>You have posted before that you don’t want your kids brainwashed by the paid faculty and staff at their colleges-- which is your prerogative. But not to tap into their expertise is foolish. Even if all they can do is improve her resume (I see a thousand of resumes a week in my job and not a single one couldn’t stand some restructuring or re-working) that will help her chances with a summer job substantially. There are employers close to campus who may well need people for the summer (they probably won’t know until April) and posting the jobs at the campus career center will be one of the first things they try.</p>
<p>I don’t think anyone could paint with a big brush to say that adcoms care more about low paying job experience than a summer internship/volunteer opporunity. What is important is to show maturity, responsibility, follow through, and maybe some sort of interes of passion(pretty strong word here). I bet you, the experience a kid could get by working at an orphanage in some under developed country, even if it’s paid by the parents, would be just as valuable as someone babysitting some neighbor’s high maintenance brats.</p>
<p>Not every kid could get a job, and not every kid has parents who could afford to pay for a “meaningful” volunteer work. I am in the camp of not giving either one more credit than another, and just look at the applicant as a total picture - from academic, school clubs, sports, after school volunteer work - thinkgs kids have some control over.</p>
<p>Blossom,
"But not to tap into their expertise is foolish. "
My D has applied for paid summer program at college. It does not mean that she will get it. She has also paid job at college during academic year, it is hers to keep until she graduates. She has tapped to resources much better than most primarily because of her superior academic records and being in Honors and overall very hard working person which is very obvious to everybody who know her including profs. She was also told by her pre-med advisor that her resume is very impressive overall, including GPA, EC’s and essay and she would recieve the most positive recommendation. </p>
<p>The point still is that if she did not get that summer position at college, she will not have summer job. She has applied to very many places in a past better summers, was complete waste of time. Our city is in really bad economic situation, always has been. I lost jobs here 8 times.</p>
<p>Jobs are still tough to find this summer. Something like 230 applicants for 18 slots this year for the summer teaching program my daughter is in. Glad she got in a couple of summers ago when they had less than 100 applicants!</p>
<p>Oldfort, I agree. D didn’t have a job in HS (summer or otherwise) other than sometimes babysitting. I knew other students who had several jobs. Didn’t seem to matter in admissions. Also, D got a great internship (paying) as a freshman without prior job experience.</p>