I am new this forum, and I’m not exactly sure where to post this. basically, I have an overseas wedding during the summer, and a lot of my friends have been telling me that I’m not doing enough for the summer. I know people who are doing LAUNCH MIT and programs at Stanford. I’m doing a 2 week video game development course, some SAT Prep and a working on some charity. I guess my real question is, how much does this matter to colleges? If my sophomore year summer didn’t have a fancy college program? I am going into junior year.
There are no guarantees that any of the activities your friends are doing will get them into the college of their dream. As many posts on CC will show you, there isn’t one sure-fire way to get into MIT or Stanford or any college for that matter. But, you cannot ever get this coming Summer back. Live your life. Don’t compare yourself to others. The experience you’ll have overseas will most likely be enriching. Use it to explore a bit. Perhaps you’ll learn more than you would at any expensive college summer program.
Most of all, please don’t stress so much!
Learn to make jam or something wacky like that. Put it down as an EC. No one else will have it.
Let’s say of the tippy top schools the only ones that ask explicitly what you did over the summer are Stanford and Princeton. So in general, I wouldn’t worry about how much you did over the summer for top 25 or whatever schools. Yes you can add activities from the summer to the section but school year activities carry more weight overall. Those programs really don’t matter. Just do something you love, as I didn’t do any huge expensive programs.
OP what you’re doing sounds totally fine especially if the charity is something that you care about. You can have a deeply meaningful experience pulling weeds in a nearby park or tutoring little kids, or a totally empty experience at LAUNCH MIT whatever that is. If you want to do more, you can always take an online course.
Having said that, don’t sit on the couch watching anime all summer.
Do something for your community. Get involved with your local food shelter, etc. Volunteer! Find something you care about and can make a difference. Do one or two things and do them well. Start a business to help others? Or start a business and grow it. Not just something you do once or twice to put on your resume. (Everybody does that!) One thing my daughter did was create art to sell to raise money for a community charity. My son was involved with an organization that brought awareness to human trafficking and raised money to help the victims. While this is no guarantee, we were told by one university that they like to see something the student has done that they have been very involved in and have made a difference. They said they would rather have one thing done well and with purpose than a list of ten things done just to “pad” the resume. Best of luck to you!