<p>I am a sophomore going to be a junior next year. I will be missing one semester of summer school due to a family vacation and the only class I could take for the second semester of summer school (creative writing) is filled up. Will it look bad to college admissions if I don't have anything on my transcript for this summer? Are there any online courses I can take that don't have set start and end dates?</p>
<p>Most students don’t go to summer school at all, not sure why you feel that it’s necessary.</p>
<p>Then what should I do over the summer to show admissions that I’m passionate about learning?</p>
<p>You don’t need to do anything over the summer. Get a job. During the school year get good grades in challenging courses. If you run out of courses at your HS look to your local CC.</p>
<p>It’s really hard to get a job where I live… and the community college is all filled up (no really, names are being picked out of hats)… any other suggestions? But thanks…
does studying for the ACT, volunteering, and doing summer work sound like enough?</p>
<p>OP, do not spend your summer (or any part of your life, really) doing something that you would do simply for purposes of admission to some college. You are only 15/16 once. You will only have this time once. Use it doing something that makes you happy. Or at least earns you money. Can you babysit? Volunteer somewhere that is important to you for reasons other than how it will look on your college app?</p>
<p>Enjoy your family vacation. Do as many enjoyable things as possible. See if any of them could find their way into a college essay. Being passionate about learning doesn’t mean sitting in class all day. It means finding something to learn regardless of where you are.</p>
<p>Do whatever interests you, not your parents or colleges. Since you mentioned that you were interested in creative writing, perhaps you can write short stories over the summer. And starting a travel blog for your family vacation isn’t a bad idea.</p>
<p>Maybe enter some online writing contests. One of my kids has had several poems accepted to online publications, she put that on her college applications. If you feel really obligated to take classes then take something through a free online course program like Udacity. You do NOT need to do something for credit to stand out to colleges. My advice is to do something that makes you less of a “Flat Stanley” on your college application (that is how I think of students who try to use all classwork and test scores to stand out). Volunteer or take up an unusual hobby that interests you. For example, one of my kids took up insect collecting in the summer after 9th grade. Look for some need in your community and start a project to fill that need.</p>