<p>So I'm a high school sophomore and really would like to do a lot of things this summer. Yeah, I do want to hang out with friends, but I want to branch out into other fields to stay busy and build my college application.</p>
<p>So my family is out of the city for the first three weeks of June. Upon return, I intend to get a summer job. (attempts at getting internships have not worked out because of my early absence in June and missing the training orientations). Would me being out of town in the first few weeks of summer make it significantly harder to get a job upon my return as I'd probably work only like 6 weeks? In that case, should I not bother and pursue other activities. In that case, I'd go with volunteering, which is something I love doing. Good idea, bad idea?</p>
<p>I also want to learn some new skills that would help more score an internship next Summer. Such as Excel. What other skills could I learn? (I'm hesitant about anything computer science-related as I'm the type of person who doesn't enjoy spending most of his time staring at a screen intensely, so I don't plan to major in that field.)</p>
<p>Also, this is for something I'd do during the fall, or the following summer, but what advice should I follow for scoring research internships with professors. There's a big public university that's two bus rides away from me</p>
<p>Any other ideas on what I could do this summer.</p>
<p>Thanks.
FTF</p>
<p>I think that doing anything constructive (read: anything that isn’t lounging on your couch, drooling on yourself) is a worthwhile pursuit. How you spend your summer need not be something that may necessarily be “college application worthy” - you’re approaching your Junior year which is pretty crucial in terms of college admissions; you could spend your time preparing for the SAT/ACT - getting a head start on your courses, reading a few good books (everyone can benefit from a good book) - or even something as simple as making the effort to exercise everyday. </p>
<p>My rationale in telling you this is that in the instance that you don’t land an internship (or even a gig at the local pizza joint) - it isn’t the end of the world, your summer isn’t all for waste. Send out resumes and applications, go to your guidance counselor and see if any businesses are looking for employees (or in the case of businesses like law firms or the like; unpaid interns) - if you don’t get the results you want, still make use of your summer in a way that you’ll be grateful for in some way at some point down the line. </p>
<p>See if the university near you offers a summer extension program to high school students. Participating in those looks great on your college apps and it may give you an idea of what you want to major in. This experience may also get your foot in the door when inquiring about research opportunities with professors.</p>
<p>As for learning excel, khanacademy.org is great. Another technical skill you should learn is coding, and I would recommend codeacademy.com for that. </p>
<p>But don’t spend your whole summer working. Really most of the time you should be focusing on having fun and relaxing because this summer is your break between the two most stressful years of high school. If you live near a beach then learn how to surf. I learned last summer and it’s awesome. If not then go hiking or whatever. Don’t just sit on your couch. Have fun, go out and make memories</p>
<p>The reason I want to work a job is that it’s my Plan B, in case all of my internship apps fell through, which did happen. I read CC frequently, and I see all the amazing stuff do for the summer, like COSMOS and Internships at companies like Apple (my ex-gf’s mom worked for Apple in Cupertino, could have scored one there). I get overwhelmed because I feel “there’s other stuff I could do,” so I keep myself narrow or I don’t end up doing anything which is how fresh-soph summer went. I need the money cause my parents haven’t saved a lot for college despite our middle class background. And I need the college app boost too. Seriously, I just want to consider any possible thing that I could do for the summer. </p>
<p>If you want a job then, you should be applying now. </p>
<p>To address the point about saving money for college - while a cause noble in of itself, I’m gonna be the Debbie Downer and go ahead and say that a middle class family is gonna have to fork over a lot more than what a summer job can pay if substantial merit aid isn’t present. There’s nothing wrong with making money - it’s very liberating; but don’t get caught up in the idea that you’re gonna be making any substantial amount that can put a serious dent in the astronomical cost of (most) colleges. </p>
<p>I think I should just not get a job or internship or any formal program and do that for junior-senior summer instead.</p>
<p>For this summer,
I’m definitely going to be running, a lot, cause I’m in cross country . And hitting the gym for “obvious” reasons. 
Volunteering (because I love doing that). Getting involved with my church. Keep track of what’s happening in my city (I live in Silicon Valley, 'nuff said) </p>
<p>Well, I’ll definitely hang out with friends.</p>
<p>Now I feel a lot less anxious, lol. I still want skills to work on besides Excel. Got my guitar with me. Novel writing could help. Driver’s lessons.</p>
<p>Ok, CC I’m done.</p>
<p>I’ve been wondering the same thing. I’m a junior in high school, and earlier in the year I applied for a couple internship at a local government laboratory, but unfortunately didn’t get chosen. I’m potentially going to contact the local university and see if math professors would be willing to take me on, since I’m potentially going to major in math (or engineering, or physics) and I would like to see what work they do.</p>
<p>Other than that, I feel really unproductive…I might do more at the loca hospital. Right now, I go there once a week and play piano in a surgery waiting room, but I never really get any other opportunities. But other than that, I’m stressed out because I’m not sure what else I will be doing, and I want to be doing more.</p>
<p>^I feel ya.</p>
<p>so I was curious. Is it better to spend the summer volunteering, intern at a educational organization, or pull off some kind of research internship with a professor? I’m club president actually with Interact Club (which is the Rotary version of Key Club) at my school. I really enjoy volunteering, and I think sticking with volunteering would demonstrate strong commitment to it for colleges. At the same time, I’d like to enter engineering and get into a UC such as SB or SD. Which would help me more?</p>
<p>I would do the interning. It seems that you’d get more valuable experience doing the internship in your specific field rather than volunteering for community service hours.</p>