<p>I'm currently a junior and I'm planning what to do during summer. My extracurriculars don't look too good, so I'm hoping to make it look better by working. Right now, I'm deciding between making sandwiches at Subway or being a camp counselor at a summer camp for kids. Money isn't an issue but the camp counselor job pays $2 more per hour. Which one would look better on a college application?</p>
<p>Camp couselor is a leadership role where you have the opportunity to coach/influence young people to develop their potential. “Sandwich artist” is a BS title which will make admissions officers’ eyes roll when they read it that way on your CV</p>
<p>A few questions: </p>
<p>a) What are your future professional plans?<br>
b) Do you need flexibility in your schedule for other summer activities?
c) Which would you enjoy most?</p>
<p>If you want to run a restaurant, become a chef, operate a franchise, be a small business owner or think you might - then work at Subway. You may learn something that’s of use to your future career goals. Or if you need to take an extra class over the summer, you may have a more flexible schedule at Subway.</p>
<p>If you are looking to teach, work with kids, like being outdoors and want to share that with others - well, camp counselor is a fit. </p>
<p>Frankly, which one you do doesn’t much matter. They are both ECs and from an application perspective, they show that you doing something besides watch t.v., which is all you need to do. From a personal perspective, which the one that fits your interests is the way to go.</p>
<p>I would say camp counselor. It seems more fun anyways…spending your time at camp with kids compared to staying inside a subway making sandwiches…</p>
<p>Going to agree with camp counselor - this shows leadership and the ability to be in charge of a group of kids, deal with crises, plan activities, and keep a program running. If you ever want to apply to be an RA, this is a valuable experience that you can talk about in your interview (we always value camp counselor type jobs when we hire RAs).</p>
<p>I don’t necessarily think that working at Subway will teach you anything about running a small business or operating a franchise.</p>
<p>What M’s Mom said. Word for word.</p>
<p>OP’s immediate concern is getting admitted into college not interviewing for a job. Therefore, a leadership/management role like camp counselor looks better on a college application than a repetitive, grunt role in fast food.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’m not really in it for the money or experience. I just want to have something to put on my apps so it doesn’t look like I’m just sitting around not doing anything. And I live a big city, so this camp counselor thing isn’t really a camp. It’s just taking a bunch of kids to the zoo, museums, and doing other group activities. I still get to go home every day.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the help!</p>