<p>Will having and maintaining a job throughout high school weigh into college admissions?
I have worked (so far) for one year at the company (Junior year) at an average of 30 hours a week while still maintaining a 3.7 college GPA and 3.85 HS GPA Unweighted.
How greatly will this affect college chances?</p>
<p>I have had three jobs so far during high school, and I heard it really improves your chances of getting into a college because it shows you can maintain a great GPA while working. That’s why they look for extracurricular activities, because it shows the same results.
P.S: having both a job and extracurricular activities will boost your chances even higher</p>
<p>Depends on the college. For CSUs, U Missouri or colleges with auto-admit plans that are solely based on academic credentials (provided you are within auto-admit range), no. Otherwise, yes.</p>
<p>Did you attend college via dual-enrollment?</p>
<p>I’m looking at Berkeley and Michigan as I am auto-admit into Texas. </p>
<p>Sort of. My high school is actually at a community college so I took 17-20 credit hours per semester.</p>
<p>The real question is why do you have that job. For financial reason, or for your interest? You may want to link that into your essay. That would make the best out of it.</p>
<p>Since I’m a rising senior you guys think I should get a job this summer? Or is it too late?
By the way I’m not hijacking this thread, I just thought it was relevant.</p>
<p>I just got 2 jobs this summer lol. Now I work at a clinic and as a Kumon instructor. I’m a rising senior and 16 (almost 17)</p>
<p>I think it does yes. Its relevance depends on the job though.</p>
<p>Then if I had had any job, should I mention it in my essay? Even for an international student like me?</p>
<p>Not necessarily in your essay, but definitely in the app. There’s no reason not to include it.</p>
<p>How about babysitting? Can that weigh in at all? I have a retail job too, but babysitting accounts for a lot of my time. Great thread!</p>
<p>It may be better if it’s actually a job that gives you experience that you can mention in an essay. It does make you stand out, though. Few people can study and work at the same time before they go to college.</p>
<p>Babysitting? I would say no. That’s more of an “occasional” thing rather than an actual JOB that demands an application, set hours, etc. </p>
<p>Probably best to leave that out of an app.</p>
<p>How about interning as a crytpo engineer at a F500 company, although for only one summer?</p>
<p>I’ve babysat three times a week for the same family for two years. For many people it’s an occasional thing, but I provide legitimate after school childcare and people depend on me. Why shouldn’t that could toward my application?</p>
<p>I agree with some previous posters that having a job can influence your college decisions but it depends on the school, the job, and how you tie it into your application. However, I have also heard that they don’t weigh jobs as heavily in the admissions process as some other factors.</p>
<p>I live near UNC, DUKE, and NCSU in north Carolina., and have talked to a couple of their admissions officers. The duke one said that they want to see a passion for what you do and want to see progression in that job. In addition, they will also take into account the time commitment and discipline required of a job. </p>
<p>I currently work 20 hours during the week and 40 during the summer as a server. I started just as a server then after a year and a half was promoted to Floor/Shift Manager during the periods I work.</p>
<p>My stats:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.86UW 4.68W</p>
<p>Rank: 10/288</p>
<p>ACT: 30 Composite
27 English
31 Math
32 Reading
31 Science
9 Writing</p>
<p>7 AP’s
-AP BIO
-AP Physics
-AP Environmental
-AP English 4
-AP English 3
-AP Statistics
-AP Calc BC</p>
<p>While these things are decent separate, I incorporated my work as my primary extra curricular (also play varsity sports) into my college Essay. Hopefully this will impress some admissions officers.
If you have further insight, especially with these school (duke, UNC, NCSU) please feel free to comment. I am very interested to see what others have experienced with college admissions that have a similar resume.</p>
<p>I appreciate this thread. I myself am a line cook (Chef) at a local upscale Italian restaurant. I tend to work somewhere between 20-30 hours a week, and the work is very demanding, and stressful. I wouldn’t say the job is dangerous, but I have burnt and cut myself a few times. I’ve been working for two years now, but I do believe that having this job has somewhat negatively impacted my education. So far, I have not been formally accepted into any of my applied schools, so I can not weigh in here on how employment is viewed on by admission officers in a college application.</p>
<p>Yes, very much so…I believe that my job (working the night shift at McD’s as a fry cook on friday/sat nights) played a big role in my interview for Princeton. Interviewer was very interested about my job and I think it showed some humility. Some of the other applicants from my area had similar stats with more “advanced” jobs but the way I presented it to him (in that, I was looking for work experience, money, and I balanced it in with all of my ECs and academics by working from 9pm-2am at the best place I could find that hired at that time). </p>
<p>As for the application, who knows, but I made it in.</p>