There was a summer when I was a teenager when my main activity was fishing. We had a summer home near a lake, and every day I went down to the lake to fish off a pier. It was magic. It is also about fifty years in the past. Today, college admission is more competitive, and the education system has just lost more than a year of learning due to the COVID Pandemic. Given these, let me suggest some approaches to using the upcoming summer to improve your student’s probability of gaining admission to the college of their – or your – choosing.
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Build the Student’s Resume.
Colleges make a great effort to “look at the entire student” when making decisions. So use the summer to build the student’s record beyond just school. Jobs, volunteer work, or experiences beyond the norm can all do this. For example, working in a Starbucks or Mcdonald’s is a great experience. Working there exposes them to a serious business and customer-focused system. They learn how to work for a boss and follow detailed rules. These are all good things. Similarly, volunteering in a hospital or for Habitat for Humanity do the same thing and may introduce the student to an environment that might be of career interest.
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Build the Student’s Character.
Other experiences that focus on helping others or being in challenging situations can help be a person’s character. For example, volunteering in a nursing home, delivering food to shut-ins, tutoring children in the hospital, or planting trees after a fire destroyed a forest can be life-altering experiences.
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Prepare for School.
If the student and parents feel that the student has fallen behind in key education skills such as writing or math, a summer program to build those skills and learn to appreciate them more might be in order. Let’s face it: “reading, writing, and arithmetic” help every student in almost every subject as their education progresses. The key is to find an engaging and motivating program that doesn’t just feel like a chore.
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Prepare for Tests.
As a student faces high school, key tests loom; PSAT, SAT, ACT, and state assessments are all key measures colleges will use to judge applicants. Time is scarce once the fall term starts, and taking such programs after school is very demanding and stressful. Perhaps it is better to get a headstart and work on these skills over the summer.
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Feed the Person.
The best advice I have ever given – or been given – is to feed your passion. Everyone should be able to find joy and fulfillment in their work. The summer is an excellent time to engage in activities that find the student’s passion. Of course, this idea has to come from the student: working in a science lab, volunteering in a veterinarian’s office, working in a gym, or building a new video game. It really could be anything. But whatever it is, it has to touch the students’ soul and stimulate their interests.
The bottom line is that some planning, self-reflection, and thinking about goals can lead a student to a summer activity that will help them gain acceptance to the college of their choice and – even more importantly — prepare for life.
