Hopefully, you already have some great summer plans that will help build your extracurricular profile. The summer is a critical time to go in-depth on one or more extracurricular activities. How are you taking advantage of yours?
If you don’t have anything lined up – don’t worry.
Here are 5 ideas for last minute summer activities:
Idea 1: Summer Job
Summer jobs are a great way to demonstrate initiative, responsibility, maturity, and consistency. It’s also nice to make a bit of money if possible!
Don’t think that it isn’t worth it for you to work if you’re not doing an internship at a fancy company. Working in any capacity is something highly valued by universities. You could work as a waiter at a local restaurant or as a cashier at your neighborhood supermarket. What’s important is that you are consistent in your work and that you do it well.
For those of you out there that need to work to help out at home or to support yourselves, you will be able to make note of this in your applications. Colleges respect this – don’t feel that you’ll be left behind because you couldn’t take on an unpaid internship.
Idea 2: Volunteering
Is there a cause that’s important to you? Donating your time and energy to helping others is an excellent thing to do at any point in your life, but it will also certainly help with college admissions.
Think about what causes are important to you. Maybe there’s a place you’ve already done some volunteering for in the past. Reach out to whatever organization/individual you need to, and let them know that you’d like to volunteer on a regular basis over the summer.
The idea here is to do something substantial, something that will actually make a difference. You also want to make sure that you’re spending a good amount of time on your volunteering activity. One hour per week isn’t going to do much for anybody.
If you can commit to coming in for at least a few hours each weekday, you’ll make a larger impact on your community (and definitely on your college applications).
Idea 3: Independent Research Project
Is there a subject you’re particularly passionate about? Something you can lose yourself in for hours at a time? Some burning question you want to answer?
If so, you might want to dedicate yourself to an independent research project over the summer. Start by figuring out something very specific you want to spend your time looking into. Don’t make it too broad, or you may lack focus and overextend yourself.
Once you’ve decided on a specific question/topic, use the internet to begin your research. You can search for scholarly articles using services like Google Scholar. You can also pull information from more “normal” and popular sources like news websites, as long as your sources are reliable. Be sure to keep a clear list compiled of all the information you’ve gathered.
Use your research to begin coming to some sort of insight or conclusion. You can then begin writing about your findings in a way that is clear and organized. This doesn’t always have to take the form of a paper exactly. You may consider splitting your research process up into a series of blog posts, where you document each step of the journey and how your thinking has developed.
Eventually, you can link to your blog on your college applications. This will give admissions officers an insight into the way you think and your intellectual curiosity.
Idea 4: Passion Project
This is somewhat similar to the independent research project, but not exactly. A passion project doesn’t have to result in some sort of written research. This could be a creative project, a community service project, an academic project, or any combination. The options and outcomes are a lot wider here.
If you’re dedicated to the arts, let’s say painting, you might consider spending the summer creating a series of paintings on a similar theme. Then, you would post them online and write blog posts about the interpretation of each of them and the creative process. This is just one idea of many possibilities.
The point is that you can come up with effectively anything you want, as long as it shows positive qualities about you, like your creativity, your thoughtfulness, your dedication, etc. It’s critical that whatever you do, you closely document it and put it in a format that is easily presentable, like a series of blog or social media posts. If you’re truly committed to the project and thoughtful about it, it may help you substantially on your applications.
Idea 5: Online Course
Is there a subject you’re interested in and want to be further exposed to? Consider taking an online course of the summer. There are plenty of universities that offer free online classes to high school students. This can be a great way to brush up on your skills and get ahead of the curb. It also shows your commitment to your academics, your intellectual curiosity, and your motivation.
You don’t have to attend an in-person course at a university. Those can be very rewarding, but if the deadlines already passed and you’re not sure what to do, look for something you can do online in your own time.
MIT OpenCourseWare is a great resource for STEM oriented students. For other programs, Google will be your best friend. You can simply search: “online [subject] course for high schoolers” and see what comes up. Make sure that whatever you choose, you’re on a reliable platform. If it’s offered by an accredited university, you should be fine. Other good resources are Coursera and Khan Academy.
If you have the time and energy, take more than one! As long as the courses are substantive, they will help you on your college admissions journey.
Need help figuring out what you’re going to do over the summer? Don’t let this important time slip away. We can help you make a unique plan that will maximize your chances of admission. Reach out to get started today.
All the best,
American College Counselors