Summer Activities - What would Williams think about this?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
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<p>I’m a sophomore in high school right now and haven’t really been thinking about college TOO much. However, within the next month I will need to decide what I will be doing next summer (the summer in between sophomore and junior year). And, apparently, colleges are interested to see what I do during this summer and the following summer.</p>

<p>My main interest is social entrepreneurship and social economics. I have been EXTREMELY involved with a non-profit NGO that helps educate the underprivileged in India which is how I developed my interest in social entrepreneurship and social economics. Because I want to go into this sector, I thought it would be nice if I could do something related to it during this summer. I have an opportunity open to work (when I say “work” I’m talking about what would be equivalent of doing “research” in the sciences) with a professor of social entrepreneurship at a university that’s one hour away from me. However, this college isn’t ranked too high – To give you an idea, based on the Princeton Review’s best 301 business schools, it has an Academic Experience rating of 70.</p>

<p>The main reason I am addressing this issue is because I am ultimately aiming for Harvard, Williams, Yale, Dartmouth, and Princeton. Do these colleges care about the caliber of the college that I worked with the professor at? So will working with this professor – and most probably eventually publishing a paper on what I found out/did – not be impressive to these schools? Or do the colleges simply care that I immersed myself into the subject that I will be eventually studying and completed some significant work?</p>

<p>Would these colleges view working with a social economics professor from…say, Harvard…differently than working with a professor of social economics at a not-so-high-ranked school?</p>

<p>From what I hear, it seems that it is best for me to do a lot of things related to social entrepreneurship so that I can portray myself to colleges as someone really interested in the subject (I genuinely am!).</p>

<p>Also, service (specifically the one w/ the NGO mentioned above) is my main EC (even though I have other things like ABRSM piano, etc…), which also shows my interest in the social side of economics and entrepreneurship.</p>

<p>So, the bottom line: Will the colleges I mentioned earlier find working with this professor very IMPRESSIVE AND UNIQUE (I’m assuming not many kids do this type of thing in the non-sciences fields)? Or will they just consider it as “Oh, just another kid who did a research sort of thing.” Would they consider this more impressive than doing programs such as EPGY/CTY?</p>

<p>Oh, and sorry for the long post!</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>Anybody have any thoughts on this?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>I definitely think the type of summer experience you are considering will be more interesting and far better for you in the long run than the typical EPGY summer. Although more and more high school students are doing research with professors, these experiences are valued by selective schools. The caliber of the institution is not nearly as important as the experience you have, the relationships you build and the impact all that has on you. And, the lower ranked institution could work to your advantage because you might get to play a larger role in the professor’s project. Taking advantage of the opportunity to work with a professor in a subject area that interests you sounds like exactly the sort of thing that will move you along on the right path to highly selective colleges. </p>

<p>At this point, I would not suggest approaching your summer opportunities as resume-building devices but rather as opportunities to learn, grow and develop. Ultimately, that’s what matters both to you as a person and to colleges.</p>

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<p>niceday - </p>

<p>Wow, thanks for the insight!</p>

<p>Yeah - social entrepreneurship is definitely a field I am seriously considering so I will definitely try to pursue this option.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>