Your summer vacation plans play a role in college admission
School may be out for summer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it's time to completely slack off. College admissions officers pay attention to what students do over the summer, which can have an impact on your chances of getting into the school of your choice.
Many colleges and universities offer summer programs specifically geared for high school students, but the costs of those programs can be prohibitive to some families. Additionally, such expensive measures may not even be necessary to improve one’s chances of getting accepted into a certain school, points out an article in Education Week.
“I often see families shell out money for a program that they believe is a fast track to selective schools, when the student might be just as well off flipping burgers at Mickey D’s,” Sally Rubenstone, a senior adviser for College Confidential and a co-author of "Panicked Parents’ Guide to College Admissions" told Education Week.
Instead, students should focus on summer activities that can provide them with valuable, character-building life experiences. Summer jobs, volunteer work and even traveling can have an impact on students and help them find direction in terms of the subjects they want to study and careers they might like to pursue. Education experts say students should keep track of their summer activities and reflect on the impact it may have had on their academic and career goals as that will be pertinent and useful information to provide admissions officers with in college applications and during interviews.
