I am currently a junior and summer is about to start, and I have little to no idea of what to do over the summer. I initially wanted to do an internship, however, it was hard to find any that was pertaining to fields I was interested in, and the ones that I was interested it had its deadline passed. I also have to check in whether or not my parents like the internship, so I cannot go somewhere that far as they have to drive me, which limits my choices.
Instead of doing internships, I was also looking for a job on tutoring or working in an SAT prep center. Another option was to do nothing outside but to focus on improving my programming efficiency and learn new languages. I wanted to create websites and apps over the summer, however, my friend told me to not do that as it would have no effect on college decisions, and in doing so it would be a waste of my time.
I will still look into improving my skills regardless over the summer, but which of the following options should I put an emphasis on?
I worked in an SAT prep center my senior year. Loved the money of course but I don’t think it helped me get into college. You can put projects you did on your own in applications (a lot of detail would help). If I were you, I’d do both.
Well, for starters, you could do college prep:
- The Common App essay prompts have been out for months. You can-- and should-- google them and get your essay done this summer.
- Firm up your list of applications. Visit any schools from that list you can get to.
- Decide whether or not you'll be applying ED or EA anywhere, and get to those first.
- The Common App goes live on August 1st.
- I'm going to assume that you've already requested letters of recommendation from teachers.
- There's always SAT prep for the autumn exam dates.
Aside from all that, do what interests you, regardless of what your friend thinks (nice friend, by the way) or of how it looks on a college application. Believe it or not-- and in spite of all I wrote at the start of this post-- there’s far more to life than college and college applications.
How about volunteer work? A part time job? Starting any reading for AP classes?
And, probably most important for a lot of the kids on this site: how about some down time with friends? Time at the beach, time at the mall, time just being a kid and hanging out with other kids? Half-Apps at Applebees after 10, or endless apps at TGI Fridays?
Those 8 weeks of summer go by so quickly. Enjoy them.
Get a summer job; learn about what the real world is like. Meet some different people. Think different things. For me working at a gas station did me a world of good.