D went to college with the intent to debate (switched to rugby early on, but that’s a different story) and spent the summer working for the debate camp that the college program ran for high school students (which she had attended the previous summer as a rising senior). It was pretty good gig: we had to pay her air fare, but food & housing were provided, along with a very generous stipend, and she was able to get very familiar with the campus and town before coming home for a brief stay.
My kid has worked every summer and school break since she was 14… she learned to budget and covered a lot of her own expenses, including drivers ed and cellphone. I’m a big fan of summer jobs for kids. They learn responsibility and it’s a great feeling to earn their own paycheck. She’s been home since the first week of May and has 2 jobs this summer (apparently there’s a lot of dining out/takeout food being ordered at college, and I’m not funding all that, lol). She also did “boot camp” at the Culinary Institute last summer (HS graduation gift) and is doing a few additional classes there this summer. She’s looking forward to moving into an off-campus apartment after next year, so she can cook for herself and roommates.
Last summer, she did accept an invite to arrive on campus 2 weeks early for a pre-orientation program for URM kids. It was a really great program with mini- classes, team building activities etc. and they were able to meet some faculty and really explore the campus. By the time her roommates arrived, she had a solid group of friends and really knew her way around the place, and was able to hit the ground running.
As for her 4 impacted wisdom teeth… well, those are coming out at 8AM tomorrow . Ugh. I’m not looking forward to the aftermath!
@ChangeTheGame That sounds terrific. My wife grew up in the DC suburbs and I have several close friends with kids at all of the major schools in the area…and they are uniformly pleased with their choice of college. The fact that her group is small and there are lots of activities planned…major bonus! Best of luck!
@cameo43 Good luck - just have some extra steri gloves to use to change the gauze often (they should give these to you with a glob of gauze. It slows down dramatically after the first several hours. When ready for intake, no straws! If you give her yogurt - be sure it doesn’t have seeds, particularly strawberry and raspberry - get the smooth seedless kind. Those little seeds can get in the wound and cause all kinds of problems. All four of mine got them out around age 14, so been through this a few times.
Sorry to de-rail your thread @ChangeTheGame ! Back to originally scheduled programming…Your daughter will grow so much this summer and totally get not-helicoptering. The deal I put on the table is while she is traveling to her destination, she has to keep in contact. What’s App is rockin’ and Find Friends must be enabled. (Would be the same if in U.S. or abroad.) My phone is on 24/7 which makes for some very early morning suprise texts. Who needs sleep? Once at her destination with her college pals, I leave her alone…I am always pleasantly surprised at how happy she is to talk to me when I haven’t been a pest and reached out too often.
Mine worked. Earned spending money for college.
My daughter was a volunteer camp counselor at a local historic site (something she had dome for several previous summers). We also took a family vacation (may be hard to do once they start college).
At 24, my daughter just got her 4 wisdom teeth pulled. She healed quickly (despite being old for this surgery according to the dentists) - missing just two days of work. She is out of state and I went and stayed with her to play nurse. I wasn’t very good at the bloody gauze changing. No seeds or straws for 2 weeks (hard when your favorite smoothies are berry flavored.)
Enjoy having them home if/when they are home. After freshman or sophomore year they’ll be all over the place, doing internships and whatnot.
Older D went to a summer fast track program at her university. Kind of like physics boot camp - they covered Calc 3 and Physics in an intensive six week program. She chose to do this because she’s more introverted and wanted to meet kids ahead of time. Turns out about 8 of those in her class of 40 became best friends, rooming together and taking spring break trips throughout all their college years. And D graduated in three years due to AP and the summer program credits.
Younger D toured China with her orchestra, then took piano lessons and did volunteer work (but basically just chilled out a lot). She majored in music and engineering, and the piano lessons allowed her to test out of two semesters of piano. I think the more relaxed summer was good for her as she then jumped into an overloaded college year.
Re: wisdom teeth. First D had jaw issues and had them extracted in high school as part of her overall treatment. Second D’s hadn’t dropped down before college. She was working OOS at a summer internship after junior year when she awoke one AM with a swollen jaw. Hello, wisdom teeth. Had them all extracted a few days later. Hubby flew down for the surgery and she missed two days of work.
Worked.
Baby-sat.
Warped Tour.
Spent time mooning with boyfriend.
Mine mostly slept the three weeks between HS graduation and basic training.
My D went on a backpacking trip with her college group, had major dental work completed, and did a major of clean-out of her possessions. With few exceptions, if she wasn’t taking it to college, it went on Craigslist or to Goodwill. She was supposed to paint her bedroom a nice neutral color before August, but somehow that never happened.
She would’ve gotten a summer job if the timing were different. But she had only 6 weeks between HS and college.
Mine converted our house into a smart home (changed all the locks, switches, installed sensors and smart hubs) and built racks in the storage room. No one asked him but he felt like doing it. Now he is confident that he can be a good orthopedic surgeon 
"Mine converted our house into a smart home (changed all the locks, switches, installed sensors and smart hubs) and built racks in the storage room. No one asked him but he felt like doing it. Now he is confident that he can be a good orthopedic surgeon "
That’s all you need to know to be a good orthopedic surgeon? Awesome!!! I’m so glad I have a lucrative alternative career lined up for when I get tired building things and tinkering on my boat and trailers. Good to know… 
My son is working this summer before heading off to college. He loves his job, though, and it’s in the field he’s interested in majoring, so not a bad gig. He doesn’t know it yet, but he will also be doing a few somewhat nasty projects around the house. Judging from the rest of the thread, though, he shouldn’t be too upset by the projects because none of them are as bad as dental surgery. He’s one of those lucky people with enough room for his wisdom teeth so the dentist doesn’t think he’ll need to have any of them pulled. I’ll tell him he should be focusing on gratitude for that when he’s thinking about complaining about the weeding and yard work. As a teen, he will surely appreciate that advice and his good fortune.
Kid one worked part of the summer, and attended a summer music program the rest of the summer.
Kid 2 worked as a lifeguard.
If they hadn’t worked, they would have had no spending money.
They had ample time to relax as well.
Neither took any classes…although DS did get 3 college credits for his summer program.
@CADREAMIN Thanks for the app suggestions. My daughter has WhatsApp so I have downloaded it so we can communicate once she is in Germany. We talked by phone only once last summer during the 3 weeks she was gone and I would suspect that she doesn’t want to talk to dear old Dad much more than that once she is gone.
@srk2017 Your kid sounds amazing… He could have a nice side hustle (I have been procrastinating looking at what it would take to make my house “smart” but will hopefully get it going this summer).
@milee30 That is very cool that your kid gets to work on a job that touches on his possible major. I have always liked an early “view” because you may or may not like something once you actually see what’s involved. And I am a firm believer in yard work bring my own son and I closer together (with him doing the hard work while I supervise now that he is older although he can not touch my edger)
My daughter looks like she has overcome the no spending money problem that most freshmen deal with because of the lack of expenses (full ride) and the crazy amount that she has already collected in graduation gifts. I had no idea that she would collect any where close to the amount she has so far. I still hold out hope that she will work a summer job someday (I worked lots of minimum wage service jobs as a kid and they teach you some things that school alone can not provide) but it may not be in the cards for her if she finds internships/co-ops/research opportunities in the future.
My D15 worked as a lifeguard and in my office to save for college spending money. It was good for her because it created a habit of her working for her own money and saving. She also performed in a local musical, for fun. S18’s summer is too truncated for a normal job but he is continuing to produce and direct a charity musical that is an extension of a prior service project, as well as acting in a community theatre musical.
my rising freshman will be working at a summer internship. It will be her 2nd year in the program. Philadelphia runs an internship program starting the summer that you are a rising junior (high school). It is a wonderful program and the kids get the paid internship M-Th and Fridays are a skill building day. She will also continue her dance training since she will be in a BFA for Dance in the fall and she needs to arrive looking and performing like she did in the audition, especially since she received a very nice scholarship. We belong to a swim club, so she will be there or the beach when she has down time.
A summer off, an entire summer devoted to family time, so much family travel it gets in the way of a job, educational programs that cost money…those have simply never been options for many of us for financial reasons. So, kids get jobs, whether it’s the summer while in high school, just prior to college, or during college.
Mine played video games, swam in a pool, went to a church camp and ate Cane’s and Pei Wei. (not exactly academic) But, he also attended a freshman orientation weekend that let him meet some people. He had a tough senior year with AP stuff and organic chemistry among other things. I am glad he just hung out with us.
Mine worked. Effect on college was that she was able to buy booze and food (dorms do not serve weekend dinner) and attend a couple of balls and travel.