working at starbucks vs. volunteering at the hospital...summer options?

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
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<p>so if i don't get accepted into any high school summer program....</p>

<p>what "looks" better for college? in other words....what will give me the greatest boost on my app this coming november?</p>

<p>working somewhere non-academic like starbucks, american eagle, nordstroms, etc??? -->i would love doing this for the money and the job experience...plus the free/discounted products. and i can hang out with friends in my spare time.</p>

<p>or volunteering at the hospital or local food bank??--> i like helping ppl, as cliche as it sounds. makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside plus useful. also i might get local scholarships/awards for my work.</p>

<p>OR maybe paying a ton of money to take a college class at my local state university? -->i would do this cuz i like to learn and i want to take advanced courses in english and science (i've pretty much maxed out on the curriculum at my high school this year). it would also show me how comfortably i can really handle college coursework next year.</p>

<p>OR....paying a SIGNIFICANT CRAPLOAD of money to participate in a volunteering abroad program in argentina or india or china or something??? -->i love traveling, it would be great to meet new ppl from all over the world, and it would totally be a great enriching experience for me overall. plus it would make me a stronger, more worldly person and teach me to live independently in a new/foreign atmosphere...great preparation for going off to college all by myself.</p>

<p>so as you can see, i would love to do any of these things. i just can't decide. so i'm wondering now which of these summer activities would help me get into the most competitive colleges?</p>

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<p>To get into top, competetive schools, you have to be genuine in your summer interests.</p>

<p>That said, highly selective programs( that are, unfortunately already filled up and closed) like TASP, RSI, Clarks, SSP are often indicators of academic merit/scholarly ambitions,etc.</p>

<p>Volunteering at a hospital is something, literally ,EVERYONE does. It is not worth mentioning on an app and the only "thing" you can get out of it are many easily racked up hours of volunteering.</p>

<p>While something like a job at Starbucks or Abercrombie won't get you into college, the hard work and general normalacy of it is strangely endearing.
Top schools are readily seeing foreign adventures and volunteering abroad( building schools,etc.) as again, as something you put, just an easy way for students to pay a crapload of money and pad their resumes.</p>

<p>At this point, I hope you are not hoping for a ready made program that will ease your chances of admissions. Good programs require extensive applications which beging early, early in the process. Programs that are still open are worth considering but consider that these programs( that may require a lot of money) aren't going to get you into college. You have to shape that experience separate from that program itself. So, consider your interests and see if you can build something from there. If you are into biology, something like taking a course and designing your own innovative research project and then publishing in journals would be a noteworthy example( although many students do do this!). The point is, it requires a lot of creative thinking on your part to expand and develop your interests and exemplify it in a way that nurtures your passion as well as highlighting it to colleges. Something like reading 100 books is a great summer activity- unorthodox and shows that you did something within your domain of interest. Do what you want to do- in a challenging, fresh light.</p>

<p>Also, if you have to volunteer, pick World Bank over hospital- although extensive volunteering doesn't hold any weight unless you did something innovative like create a service project, hold a fundraiser, etc.</p>

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<p>^thanks, helpful post=) </p>

<p>and no, obviously i don't expect a "ready made" program so late in the game....i was just wondering which program would be the best option for me now after having been rejected from numerous other "prestigious" summer programs.</p>

<p>i want to go into pre-med though, so wouldn't the hospital be a better option? </p>

<p>thanks again for all your insightful info!!</p>

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<p>@ Scared4College:</p>

<p>with what authority do you make your post? are you already in college? if so, where do you go?</p>

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<p>do some research or something creative. Do volunteering but not only that.</p>

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<p>There's definely nothing wrong with volunteering at a hospital. Basically anything that shows that you didn't waste your summer is a plus. Especially if your interested in pre-med because you're either OK with being in a hospital or your not and its best to find out now</p>

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<p>I work at starbucks... and it's definitely a worthwhile experience..</p>

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<p>I don't have any "authority" persay-I am just making suggestions based on information most 'college-crazy' people already know. There is nothing wrong with hospital volunteering but honestly, honestly, so many people do it- it's not even funny. I know so many, so many aspiring pre-med students who wished to consolodate their interest in medicine through hospital volunteering( as well as other activities) and to their dismay, got outright rejected from top schools, despite impressive academic records. Just look at it logically- simply volunteering doesn't show anything other than you can. Unless you shape the experience to demonsrate something impressive, it's an ordinary activity anybody can do- volunteering at a hospital won't show colleges that you can handle the rigor of pre-med curriculum or that you are deeply fascinated. I would suggest that if you do volunteer, supplement that with other activities or programs. And most students think that if you want to study pre-med, you should stick to strictly science/math related activities but don't be scared to look beyond that domain. However, this piece of advice is geared more towards students who already have an array of science/math/bio activities and need something to make them stand out. I think you perhaps need more bio/math/science activities. </p>

<p>If you are actively serious about pre-med, then consider creating your own activity this summer. You could certainly take classes. If you search around, you will notice that some places are still accepting applications and they are fairly easy to get into. Brown and Georgetown are two colleges still open, I believe. </p>

<p>My point is, if you want to impress colleges, hospital volunteer- no matter how many hours you do- will suffice. This isn't meant to diminish it's value- you can actually learn a lot! But it's a very ordinary EC. Try out for an internship or perhaps conduct research with a local lab....you have to think yourself!</p>

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<p>Starbucks is the best job for prospective chem majors, no? Or would i be better off at Jamba Juice?</p>

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<p>^lol bco09, are you being serious or playful??</p>

<p>scared4college, you DO make some incredibly insightful comments. sorry for sounding slightly confrontational. i'm surprised you're still just a junior (or at least that's what i'm assuming...)</p>

<p>just wondering, what are you doing this summer? i really like your whole go out and make your own opportunities idea...it's just really hard for most ppl to do.</p>

<p>oh yeah and just a thought in general for everyone...wouldn't working at abercrombie show you're super-well rounded? i mean you have to be really hot for them to hire you, (actual ability to work is optional, most employees can't even swipe a credit card), and if you have a 4.0 and 2300+ SAT to back it, you're in great shape! maybe that's just me though...lol. but all the ppl i see getting accepted to harvard these past few years are like mega ditz/preps who somehow manage to get amazing grades and test scores. a guy at my school who got accepted this year is on the football team and he sleeps in class everyday.</p>

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<p>@GamaPasa</p>

<p>Haha, thanks! I was afraid you were mad at me and thought I was completely off my rocker. LOL.</p>

<p>I totally understand that the 'get out and do your thing' approach is difficult- we're all trying to figure it out!</p>

<p>I can not mention my summer plans due to confidentiality but I will say that they are not specifically programs- I was actually able to shape my summer according to my interests but through my own musings. I feel that while my EC's in general are not up to par, my summer has been really well thought out and I am actually quite happy that I was able to apply 'my get out and do it thing'! I will say that I am going to be in the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa- but not through volunteer/cultural immersion/etc. programs. I'm so excited!</p>

<p>And Gama, I understand the whole 'Abercrombie' mentality- but don't let that fool you! I actually think it has to do with the whole upper crust notion. Students who have, in many sense, been bred for Ivies and such- many are legacies while others seem to symbolize the ditzy, but popular, pretty kids involved in football, student council,etc.</p>

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<p>haha like GOSSIP GIRL!!</p>

<p>blair wanting to go to yale, serena wanting to go to brown....LOL, it never ceases to amuse me how they all can go out and party and sleep with tons of ppl and get involved in so much drama and then still aim to get into ivies and know that they will get in.</p>

<p>btw, Scared4College, your summer plans sound quite intriguing! it sounds a little to me like you will be working undercover for the CIA, or shadowing the president, or something wonderful like that...or like maybe researching nuclear power/weapons, like the manhattan project=) jk, apush has gotten the best of me lately... working at the mall or volunteering locally does sound a little lame compared to what you have hinted at though. just wondering, how much $$ are you spending towards your summer? or are you getting paid? or can you not answer my questions....?</p>

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<p>I would work at starbucks / american eagle / nordstrom, etc. It would give you an opportunity to earn money, as opposed to having to spend it -- a plus, obviously -- and it would also give you work experience, which is a great thing to have when applying to colleges. </p>

<p>(I have quantifiable proof of the above statement -- [url=<a href="http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/index.jsp%5Dhere%5B/url"&gt;http://collegesearch.collegeboard.com/search/index.jsp]here[/url&lt;/a&gt;] , you can see the list of colleges that consider work experience "considered," "important" or "very important in their admissions criteria. Also, anecdotally, last month I was at an info session for Brown University, and the admissions officer talked through the different parts of the application. She mentioned how they had one section to write down extracurricular activities, and another for work experience. Someone asked her why to bother having both boxes, when work experience could be listed as an extracurricular; she responded that they used to have only an EC box, and it led to kids who had work experience not listing it b/c they didn't think of work as "extracurricular." She added, "we think work experience is important enough that it merits its own space on the application.")</p>

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<p>Work at a gas station or a butcher's shop in your town. Get to know how a local business works and the mundane jobs that keep a community going.</p>

<p>Last year my son got into 4 Ivies with ZERO volunteering, ZERO community service, ZERO research. ZERO study abroad, etc.</p>

<p>He was serious about tennis, played varsity. Although very much math/science, he took an art history course in the summer of junior year. Had a local job at a drugstore.</p>

<p>The point: it has been said before but if you do what you are genuinely interested in, it will show but even if it does not you would have gained inner repose; if you get into a fancy college by engaging in stuff you don't care about, what a terrible loss: you would have gained the capacity to distort and ruined yourself for life irrespective of whether you get into the college of choice or not.</p>

<p>My son's first choice was Princeton and I believe he would have got in if he had indicated classics/Romance language interests since he won every national gold medal there is in Latin and gained 6th place in national French contest as well, not to say the usual AP 5 in both. But he was planning to study engineering and indicated it on the app though Asian Indian engineering applicants are plentiful but Latin scholars perhaps rare. He did not get into Princeton but is happy elsewhere.</p>

<p>Please, please, gain a life, do not try to make a living.</p>

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<p>^
I agree. You should do what you like and not what will get you into college, because frankly, the colleges want YOU, just as YOU are, with YOUR interests not the interests of 99% of the applicants. I think they look for people that know what they want and strive for it. If you want to travel, then do it. If you want to earn some money, then do that. All it matters is that you decide this based on what you believe and not what the colleges want.</p>

<p>P.S: I've seen topics like this all over this forum. You guys should stop worrying about college and begin to think what kind of person you're turning into... just for college</p>

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<p>Colleges can tell if you simply paid alot of money and volunteered. That's something very easy to do if your family has money, and shows nothing about how much work you put into it, and is NOT impressive. They can tell (Most of the Time)from essays, recs, interviews, other EC's. However, if you manage to do something innovative that really changes the lives of people in that area, then it's a plus to the resume. What most students do in the summer is a research/science/math camp, where they develop skills and take courses, or some leadership camp, or get a job, or volunteer, or some learning camp, or an internship. </p>

<p>Lastly, what grade are you in? Most students won't get in those really competitive camps that "help" your resume until like their junior year summer.</p>

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<p>haha i am going into junior year summer. last chance to do something.</p>

<p>equilibrium, what do you mean by "something innovative"?</p>

<p>and i'm not actually trying to change myself for college. hence my original post where i explained WHY i'd want to do each summer activity listed. seriously, i'd enjoy any of them, and at this point i can't really pick between them. but as long as i'm enjoying myself, i should make sure i'm doing what will benefit me most in the future, right?</p>