I have not had great access to transportation and have not been able to do anything productive over the past two summers of my time in high school. Will this negatively impact my application?
I’m not sure it will hurt, per se, but it won’t help.
You obviously have access to a computer. Could you take an online course? Become active in some sort of charity group? Even do SAT prep?
Do you live in an area where you can get to a part time job? Do volunteer work locally?
Basically, time spent over a summer doing SOMETHING is far better than time spent on Xbox or in front of the TV.
I’m going to be volunteering with the American Red Cross soon ( Orientation is Aug. 3). I am planning on starting prep for ACT soon (planning on taking in October). I have been actively looking for a part-time job all summer (have an interview aug. 4). So, I guess I have not been totally unproductive. But, the things I see online of what people did over the summer before they applied and got into the universities I am interested in really surpass mine.
Sorry, but all the kids from my (admittedly affluent) public who got into HYP did cool summer internships or research at universities. Oftentimes they managed to get scholarships/sponsors though so they weren’t paying their own way. But my anecdote certainly isn’t representative of the whole. I’m guessing most kids, even at elite schools, didn’t do stuff like this during the summer.
@Studious99 If you do not mind me asking, what is HYP?
@Studious99 And, I am planning on doing research or an internship that is science oriented my junior year or the summer after. I did have an opportunity to this summer, but I would have had no transportation to and from.
@worrymole007 Harvard, Yale, Princeton
Then you shouldn’t be worried. Just focus on seizing the opportunities presented to you. You’ll never know if being involved this summer would have made a difference, regardless of whether you are accepted or rejected at your top choice schools.
Do you live in a rural district?
When you turn 16, will you be able to drive and have access to a car or some form of transportation?
Most colleges don’t care what you did over the summer until summer after junior year. A job and a family vacation are perfectly acceptable. Resting followed by whatever you can do (yard work for neighbors, helping at local churches’ Bible Camp, library reading competition, online class…) also works.
I usually tend to look for programs related to what I want to study. I want to study, creative writing, so I attended Duke University’s Creative Writing Summer Camp, a few years ago and it was a blast!!! 
@MYOS1634 I do. I am 17 and about to finally get my license. It has taken a while due to family and economic conflicts. I am hoping to be able to be involved in more things next summer.
@writer80 Thanks for the tip! I am planning on studying science/medicine, so I am going to try to volunteer at a hospital and/or interning in a biology/chemistry facility at a nearby university.
Wow, yeah that definitely sounds like a great idea to me! Best of luck!