<p>I spent my summers relaxing with friends and working out and reading and playing sports.... I still got accepted into Wharton/Duke/Columbia</p>
<p>I wouldn't advise anyone to do ANYTHING in the summer that they don't enjoy (unless you want to work to get money for a car or something, which I did for a summer)</p>
<p>Yeah Reeze!!!! Summers for HS students should include a respectable heap of slack time, and I feel sorry for those who feel compelled to fit into someone else's expectations for adequate community service work, etc. If the admissions people really have a fetish for such summer endeavors, embellishment of the application should be the order of the day! Apply strict union rules, where 6 hours credit (minimum 4 hours at time-and-one-half) is claimed for 15 minutes of actual effort.</p>
<p>Hi,
I'm not actually a parent, I'm a Harvard student...so pardon the "intrusion", haha :) I thought you might want to know what a student has to say about all this...
First of all, I completely agree that an international experience--even if it's just focusing on learning another language--is very important. I've only been to Canada, but everyone (!) at Harvard seems to speak a minimum of 2 languages or is fairly advanced in one and fluent in another (generally English).
Back to the main thread topic, community service: COLLEGES ARE MORE THAN AWARE THAT STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO DO COMM. SERVICE FOR NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. They will often overlook the "required" community service and see what the student has done BEYOND that. Speaking of the "necessary passion" (I don't recall the poster's name, sorry!)...colleges want initiative and depth in a certain area. Volunteering isn't necessarily more important than other ECs...in fact, one of my main ECs was my job. I was a church accompanist since 8th grade and used the money to buy my own clothes, supplies, etc.; I was fairly independent throughout high school finances-wise. The majority of my extracurriculars also involved music, and I went to All-State Band twice as well as being involved in about 6 other music groups year-round. That was certainly more depth than breadth, and definitely displayed "passion"...basically, colleges want to see that your child has a deep interest in something, even if it's as random as training horses or juggling torches, because if they show enough interest, skill, etc. in one subject, chances are they have the potential to really do great things in another area.
There was something else I was going to address, but I can't remember it, since it's very late and I'm going to go sleep now. However, I will say this: let the poor kid rest in the summer. If he or she is ready for the schools you all hope they will attend, they will get sick of doing nothing very quickly (I already did 2 weeks ago) and be "productive" on their own. Colleges can tell when volunteer activity is done to "pad resumes".
If you're interested, go over to the Ivy League forums and click on Harvard...the "featured discussion" is my "How to Get Into Harvard" thread. It might interest your daughter or son, and I think it'll help you, too.
I hope this was helpful!
Ciao,
~lb</p>