<p>Just saying, in my experience...</p>
<p>those with, say, a 3-4-5 hour a day job and those with no job/that study all of the time can get the same grades. Really. I know because I've been in both situations and my grades have not changed at all. Not because it's necessarily harder - there's only so much one can study, really.</p>
<p>thats not how the adcoms would look at it. Say you were an adcom and you get these records</p>
<ol>
<li><p>GPA 3.9 (one horrible B that ruined his life and almost killed himself becuase of it), 2150 on SAT, and no work experience</p></li>
<li><p>GPA 3.5, 1950 on SAT, work experience since freshman year</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Assume everything else is the same (APs, Ecs, essay, recs, etc). </p>
<p>Which one would you choose. I think that the adcoms will take the 2nd cadidate just becuase he had work experience and "nothing was handed down to him"... You can argue the point but remember that adcoms get many people with similiar grades and scores as #1 but worthing the working expereince. A combination would be deadly though.</p>
<p>worldshopper, my situation is quite similar to yours. I've worked two jobs since my freshman year, one year-round and one seasonal. My parents agreed to pay for my HS tuition if I paid for everything else. I'm hoping the committment that I've had for my jobs will pay off, because working three or four nights a week doesn't exactly leave time for a person to become a god at piano or do research in a laboratory and write a thesis about it.</p>
<p>On my college interview, I told the my alumna about my job and the hours that I work, and she said something along the lines of "well, you must manage your time very well...", so I can't imagine work experience doing anything but portraying you in a more positive light.</p>
<p>My college counseler said that working at a fast-food restaurant is more admirable than paying $3000 to do community service in Guatamala.</p>
<p>No one should ever pay to do volunteer work! I went to school in Guatemala this past summer and also did some volunteer work while there. I did not pay to do the volunteer work and the cost for my school tuition, meals and board was $20 a day. This of course was due to the fact that I had no organization or contact person to meet me at the airport or ensure my safety while there. I think it is sad to pay all that money and call it a volunteer experience. Why not just write a check and give it to them instead?</p>
<p>
[quote]
thats not how the adcoms would look at it. Say you were an adcom and you get these records</p>
<ol>
<li><p>GPA 3.9 (one horrible B that ruined his life and almost killed himself becuase of it), 2150 on SAT, and no work experience</p></li>
<li><p>GPA 3.5, 1950 on SAT, work experience since freshman year</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Assume everything else is the same (APs, Ecs, essay, recs, etc).</p>
<p>Which one would you choose. I think that the adcoms will take the 2nd cadidate just becuase he had work experience and "nothing was handed down to him"... You can argue the point but remember that adcoms get many people with similiar grades and scores as #1 but worthing the working expereince. A combination would be deadly though.
[/quote]
There's a major flaw in your scenario.
There are only a certain number of hours in a day. Those with work experience have to give up on extracurriculars in one way or another. They simply won't be able to attend meetings and such. Student 1 will most likely either A) be more committed to a single EC or B) have more ECs than Student 2. I would think that the extra commitment to ECs takes less time than a 30-hour/week job, leaving time for more studying and thus higher scores/grades.</p>
<p>Most of us know that colleges don't want full-time studiers.
I think the real question here is...do slightly higher scores, but also (and more importantly) solid ECs make up for no work experience?
From what I've heard, I think they do.</p>
<p>I worked @ Washington mutual bank since my Sophmore year (Senior now).
Part-time volunteer with Wall Street Rising (50 hours+ so far).
Worked for Microsoft for one year (freshmen) and earned a
Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) Certification (industry-standard).</p>
<p>But yes, LadyinRed is right... My average did suffer a bit because I was too devoted to working/extracurricular/etc.</p>
<p>Gpa = 3.45 (FOREIGN LANGUAGE SERIOUSLY SCREWED ME OVER.)
ACT = 35 Composite (hopefully it'll balance out the bad GPA)</p>
<p>In all, It really depends what kind of Job you find (or extracurricular you particpate in) and try to relate that to your ambitions for the future - career, dreams, etc. Colleges like the fact that you took initiative to pursue something that you're interested in majoring for that college.</p>
<p>does working a volunteer lab internship over the past 3 summers count as "job experience"?</p>
<p>I dont think so; Job experience is only if you get paid.</p>
<p>Volunteer Lab Internship sounds like hot stuff though. That's almost just as good as acutally having a job. Again, it'll depend on how it relates to your planned majors and/or careers.</p>
<p>This year I'm managing 15-20 hrs/week at a job and probably another 10 hrs/week on other stuff outside of school while maintaining a good GPA.</p>
<p>I think ECs and work experience can go together with the right job. My job allows a flexible schedule, so I work on my free days and on weekends, and then go to math team meets/meetings, volunteer sites, work on our yearbook, etc. on nights that I take work off. But that's with a 15-20 hr/week work schedule...I don't know about 30 hrs/week.</p>
<p>I'm assuming this is only for domestic american students. Some people in other countries are entirely unable to work, and also lack the "cool" EC's.</p>
<p>I think for someone to be in a place where work is scarce and then have no work experience would be an entirely different situation. Thus I'd say this does only apply to applicants in the US, since almost any kid can get a job in this country. </p>
<p>So you're saying there's no job opportunities for you in Germany? I didn't mean to offend.</p>
<p>Correct. As I am only a German resident I do not possess a work permit, and also with the current unemployment situation even if I was allowed to work it would be very difficult.</p>
<p>Not having a job will not hurt you as long as you've done other things to fill your time other than studying.</p>