High school students have started their summer vacation, but for those pursuing higher education, it’s not always time to put your feet up and relax.
Experts say college students should create a summer experience tailored to their goals. This could mean taking extra classes, learning new skills or a language, or attending educational camps during your three months off from school.
It could be worth it in the college application process.
“When the admissions officer reviews an application, it goes through a two-step review process. The first step will be a review of the numbers, which will consist of the applicant’s high school record,” said Greg Kaplan, college admissions strategist and author of “The Journey: How to Prepare Kids for a Competitive and Changing World.” ”
The second step for the admissions officer will be to “read the essays and activity descriptions, and within those descriptions and essays, they look for three main characteristics: courage, leadership, and passion,” Kaplan said. for what children do in the summer, we encourage students to focus on either one of them, making sure their number is as large as possible, or two, they are developing their activities.”
How are students spending their summer?
Pew Research found that in 2021 more than 6 million teens had a paying job for part of the summer, another good booster of college applications. The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics found that last summer, 55 percent of young people ages 16 to 24 were employed.
“The only way to demonstrate courage, is not if you are athletic, is if you can deal with everyday challenges, and the way you show that, especially that you can deal with people, is a part – work part time. So summer is a great time to get a part-time job,” Kaplan said.
Other students will focus more on volunteering, with experts saying any type of giving back to the community can help showcase the qualities that college admissions officers look for in applications.
Some students decide to continue their education by taking programs or classes that enhance their knowledge on a particular topic, said Vinay Bhaskara, co-founder and head of strategy at College Vine.
Think Impact found that 97% of top universities offer classes or programs for middle and high school students.
While classes and jobs aren’t the only ways to get more education or experience on an application, experts point to summer camps they’ve seen students participate in, such as math camps or other educational or physical activities.
More than 16 percent of students ages 4 to 18 participate in day or overnight camps during the summer, according to data released by Go Camp in 2021.
Bhaskara acknowledged that some teens may want to participate in summer programs but have family responsibilities they can’t ignore.
“Students who have family responsibilities that they have to take on during the summer, so, frankly, in many cases, they are also doing a little more part-time during the school year,” she said.
Where should high school students focus their attention?
Options for teens are varied and broad, with options for academic enrichment or community-based experiences.
Experts emphasize that there is no right answer and that every teen will have a different experience during the summer.
“The key is to find ways to grow that make sense for your circumstances. And therefore, no one should feel less or ill-prepared because they don’t have the ability to accomplish everything,” Kaplan said.
Victoria Dimock, college admissions counselor at Ivy Wise, said students should focus on experiences that would be difficult to complete during the academic year due to time constraints.
“For example, if you are interested in economics, not everyone tries to take a course like that in high school, so you can enroll in a program at a college or university,” Dimock said.
“Similarly, if you have a deep academic interest in something, it would be a great time to conduct research, whether with a professor or a faculty member at a university or college,” she added.
In 2021, the Department of Education found that 34% of high school students were taking college classes. Dual enrollment has become increasingly popular, allowing students to earn college course credits before graduating.
Should summer be different for students applying to selective or Ivy League schools?
How a student spends their summer can also depend on their ambitions.
“If you’re applying to a less selective school that maybe doesn’t have as low an acceptance rate, maybe you can have fewer of those experiences,” Dimock said. “It’s still good to use the summer for the things that interest you, but the depth you need” isn’t as good as a person aiming for an Ivy League school.
When a student intends to attend a less selective school, they may spend some time volunteering, period. High school students who want to attend an Ivy League school may need to start as volunteers, then move up in the organization and take on higher levels of responsibility to excel.
“An applicant from Harvard or Stanford, when you write about the impact you’re making in your community, and the pool of applicants is very competitive, the greater the impact, the higher the test score,” Kaplan said, emphasizing that two people can have the same experiences, but those seeking more selective schools need to meet “higher expectations”.
Students who want selective schools may need to start thinking early in high school about how they would like to see their summers and what activities would stand out at their dream school.
“If you’re trying to get into an Ivy League school or the University of Chicago or Stanford or MIT, or one of those schools that are hyper-competitive in the admissions process, the unfortunate answer is that you probably need to start thinking about it already, first through second year summer,” Bhaskara said.
How competitive are these schools? Harvard has an admission rate of 3.2%, Yale 4.6%, and Dartmouth 6.4%. Outside of the Ivies, Duke’s 2024 rate was 5.1%, and the University of Chicago’s acceptance rate is about 5%.
But experts emphasize that it is more important that students take time to discover what they like and not feel tied to any plan.
“Everyone should feel inspired and empowered to make this process work for them and to pursue the activities that create so many options, and being thoughtful about how you spend your summer can only help lead you to admission,” Kaplan said.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
