<p>lets say i work in a grocery store over the summer
will colleges consider this as good working experience?
im also volunteering, but still</p>
<p>I think the point that you dont just sit on your butt all day playing video games or reading or something its what colleges are looking for.</p>
<p>My employer told me that when he went to college, work experience was highly recommended, but that has changed.</p>
<p>Still, making a few bucks this summer isnt a bad idea. Also, having any work experience at all is good =D </p>
<p>Just make sure you have fun. I’m sure that it will not give you a huge edge or a hook during admissions, but it will help you out a bit</p>
<p>thanks for the comment
im just worried that the only paid job ill find is at this grocery store and am not sure if colleges liek that</p>
<p>bump bump :)</p>
<p>Personally, I think many colleges like to see their applicants work hard, glamourless jobs. It shows your willingness to work hard. It also shows that you’re a real person. My ex was accepted into Yale this year. His summer job was working in Starbucks. It didn’t hurt him, obviously.</p>
<p>haha nice^
cool i think i will take a job working at a small grocery store lol
jw, ru supposed to get a recommendation or sum paperwork to prove you really did it?</p>
<p>bumbump :)</p>
<p>Basically any work experience is good…and it’s not like colleges expect that you’ve held a job in an office for the past 2 years that pays $12/hour.</p>
<p>“My employer told me that when he went to college, work experience was highly recommended, but that has changed.”</p>
<p>That hasn’t changed. Real work experience --particularly work that involves hard, ordinary work like what one does in a grocery store – is still highly respected by admissions officers, and counts as a strong EC. Such work is valued more by admissions officers than are “internships” that are comfortable do-nothing positions gotten through family contacts. Of course the rare real internships that are competitive such as those NIH offers are impressive, too.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about paperwork. They expect you to be honest on your application and it’s not such a huge component that they worry about it.</p>
<p>Ditto on the willingness to work hard. Not that all minimum-wage jobs are difficult, but none of them are glamorous. Just from a life experience standpoint, even if you have no need to work at all, I would highly recommend getting some sort of entry-level high school job, even for one summer. If anything, you’ll understand why college is such a great idea.</p>
<p>thanks for the comments
any more?</p>
<p>I hope youre right Northstarmom =)</p>
<p>But the guy I talked to is like 50ish years old…</p>
<p>The way he told me… it was like if you didn’t have any work experience…it decreases your chances of getting into college by a LOT.</p>
<p>Like today… I bet you that at least 70-80% of the students at Ivies have probably never ever ever worked manual labor and such. </p>
<p>But anyway, I’m not trying to argue, I’m trying to hope that you are correct! =D</p>
<p>I’m in my 50s. I have been an alum interviewer for Harvard, and have personally talked to Harvard’s admissions officers.</p>
<p>“The way he told me… it was like if you didn’t have any work experience…it decreases your chances of getting into college by a LOT.”</p>
<p>Not true. Most students who apply to college haven’t had a job. Most colleges don’t care at all about ECs, work, when it comes to making admissions decisions. Most colleges have a hard time finding enough applicants with the academic background and stats to qualify for admission and to be likely to not flunk out.</p>
<p>The few colleges that do care – are ones like HPY that consider ECs, work, various other factors. That’s because such colleges get an overabundance of high stat applicants that other colleges would accept in a heartbeat, but HPY and similar schools have the luxury of selecting from those students the ones who’d best contribute to a diverse and active student body. Very few students in their admission pool have done hard work such as working for a grocery store, so doing such work would make a student stand out.</p>
<p>Are we talking about just working over the summer?</p>
<p>What if you work 10-15 hours a week through the school year (two jobs) ? Does all work experience look the same, or does it look better if, say, you’ve been working an average of 10 hours/week since freshman year?</p>
<p>Of course, someone who has worked during the school year and summer – while keeping grades up – would be demonstrating to adcoms an impressive level of responsibility, maturity, motivation, and organizational ability. If you’ve also gotten some promotions, that also would be impressive. For instance, there are high school seniors who have done so well on the job that they are supervising other employees at fast food places. That’s even more impressive than being a club officer because admissions officers know that it’s possible to do nothing as a club officer, but employers aren’t going to pay your or promote you unless you’re doing a good job.</p>
<p>How about starting a business? Would that count as “work” experience? I’m starting a SAT tutoring program where I, and other high achieving high school students, tutor other students for the SAT at a much cheaper rate with flexible scheduling. I’m getting a lot of interest at this point and it looks like it could be quite lucrative. My parents wanted me to get a job, but I decided to try this instead because SAT prep is so expensive.</p>
<p>I just wanted to thank you for your informative input Northstarmom =)</p>
<p>It is very helpful to me!</p>
<p>I’m just finding things that help make me stand-out when compared with other people with similar grades/test scores.</p>
<p>Sorry to butt into this thread.</p>
<p>So I’m applying to highly selective colleges, and I know they want to see work experience. But what if I can’t find any jobs? I’m either not old enough for most jobs, or don’t get a response after I’ve applied for jobs. I really do want to work somewhere though.</p>
<p>Highly selective colleges don’t want to see work experience. They just want to see that you’ve done something major beside studying. That something could be a sport, club in your school, major community service, major activities with your place of workshop, being active in community theater, etc. It also could be doing major work at your family business or farm or having major responsibilities for taking care of sibs such as if you have to supervise them daily while your parents are at work.</p>
<p>Exactly, there is never any make or break piece of your application that you NEED to have. Clearly, academics are far and away the most important and the first thing to focus on, but beyond that, applications are generally reviewed holistically. Go do something you love to do and do it well. Try something new and grow from it. Then tell your colleges about it.</p>