College Admissions: Last-Minute Summer Strategies
Monday, June 06, 2011
Take a Course
Volunteer/Intern
There are dozens of opportunities to build your community service resume or try out a career. Check the local volunteer boards like www.volunteermatch.org . Recent postings include environmental volunteers, museum guides
Do College Applications
The time for rising seniors to do college applications is in the summer, NOT in the fall when they are deluged with coursework and sports. Admissions officers can spot a rushed application from a mile away, and truly great essays go through multiple revisions before they are ready to be submitted. Spending a few hours a week in the summer writing essays, filling out apps, preparing your brag sheet and creating a website if you are an athlete, artist or musician—will really pay off at acceptance time.
Find Your Passion
Ask a college admissions person what differentiates top candidates from the rest of the pack, and they will usually tell you that it is a demonstrated passion for something. It could be music, theatre, a political cause, the environment, history, sailing, mountain climbing, animal rights, or anything else. But hanging out with your friends is not considered a passion. So, try something new this summer - take a sculpting class, learn to sail or row crew, work for a political campaign or go to theatre camp. Choose an activity that you have always wondered about, but that your friends or school have prevented you from experiencing. Just get out there and try something new that you have always wondered about, but that your friends or school have prevented you from experiencing.
Summer is a time to have fun and wind down, but just a few hours a week pursuing a couple of the activities above can really help you be a more attractive candidate for colleges. Don’t be the student who is stumped when they are asked in a college interview, “So, tell me how you spent your summer this year and last year?”
Cristiana Quinn, M.Ed. is the founder of College Admission Advisors, LLC which provides strategic, college counseling and athletic recruiting services for students. www.collegeadvisorsonline.com.
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