Currently I barely have anything to do over the summer except volunteering that I regularly do during school year and also a summer academy that I will attend later for a week. Other than these, I have nothing else so I don’t want to look like I did nothing over the summer. I really want to major in computer science and want to show that I have interest in computer science, so I was wondering if taking online computer science courses will help my college application? If not, then what else could I do to improve my application?
Why not step up your volunteerism to a new level? We don’t know what you are doing now, but lots of non-profits would love to have someone with some computer skills who could help them out by upgrading their reporting, making their website slicker, automating some manual functions, providing some training to staff on new software, write a manual for the new hires on how the systems work, documenting policies about computer usage in the workplace, etc…all valuable experience for someone with a future in the tech industry.
On-line courses in comp sci are fine, since you are genuinely interested - but it’s not going to matter to your application much one way or another. It shows some initiative.
The other option is to do something completely new - test your boundaries by doing something that’s intrigued you, but you’ve never tried before: cooking classes, salsa dancing, camping, spending a few days interviewing your grandparents about ‘the good old days,’ learn to fix the family car, take up running, learn Swahili, take a drawing class…It may not help your college application, but it might make you a more interesting person who is leading a richer and more fulfilling life…and that has to be worth something, right?