<p>Would having summer courses from an Ivy League Institution on a Resume impress Grad schools/Employers. I'm thinking about taking summer courses at UPenn but was wondering how much Grad schools/ employers would care about them. I'm not think about about applying to improve my admissions at Upenn, but increase admissions at another institution or employer. Money is not much of an issue, but I still wouldn't want to spend it if it was completely worthless. Would summer classes at Upenn be more impressive than classes taken at Community college? Also do you think that It would somewhat replace volunteer service done in summer, such as soup kitchens, etc. Not that I'm not planning on doing them, but if I take summer courses, I would do less volunteering.
I'm currently a college sophomore.
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>You don’t say what field you’re in. For almost all graduate programs (notable exceptions: medical school, social work degrees), volunteer service means nothing. It has no place on the application. Graduate programs are interested in admitting scholars. Period. You should be doing that kind of activity because you want to give back to the community, not because you hope it will get you into graduate school.</p>
<p>Next, courses taken at four-year colleges/universities almost always trump those taken at community colleges simply because community colleges do not aim to prepare their students for graduate study. The courses generally are neither as advanced nor as in-depth as those needed for graduate programs. But it doesn’t matter whether you get those summer courses from an Ivy or a state university. </p>
<p>Last, if you really want to get into graduate school, then you should find a way to do research with a professor during the academic year and over the summer instead of taking extraneous courses. (Obviously, if you need to make up deficiencies, then you need to take the courses.)</p>
<p>I’m currently majoring in Chemistry, but I will be transferring to Penn State to major in Mechanical Engineering next fall. I am behind on Organic Chemistry I&II so I plan on taking it during the summer. I’ve been asking this question for a while and many responses are saying that it’s [not] very worth it/have the same benefits as a state school so I think I’ll follow that advice. Thanks :)</p>
<p>Sorry I meant “Not worth it”</p>
<p>Taking a needed summer school course at the college you will be attending in the fall is a good idea as it will get you familiar with the campus, any prerequisite course will cover subject matter that school finds relevant and the course will count towards your gpa and degree there. Taking courses at a 4 year college trumps a 2 year college for the reasons above. However, if you can get the credits much more cheaply (including room and board costs, et al) do so at another 4 year college. The chemistry sounds like a prereq but not in your major so get it done in the easiest way. Another consideration is how you think your Penn gpa will be affected by taking the summer course/s there.</p>
<p>Note that the replies are ignoring the Ivy League status of the school.</p>
<p>UPenn’s grading is notoriously hard from what I have heard from the few friends that went there. I also heard something similar from my academic advisor when I wanted to take some summer courses there (My home is very close to UPenn). </p>
<p>I am not sure what your future plans are, but I highly doubt a class or two from Penn is going to sway an admissions committee.</p>