Beyond the Ordinary: Top 10 Summer Activities for College Admissions

Life is all about striking a balance between learning and leisure. When it comes to students especially, as much as intellectual pursuits matter, one’s cognitive and creative faculties tend to stagnate if they are not complemented with recreational activities. Universities and colleges seek well-rounded students who excel in academics, display diverse extracurricular involvement and possess the adeptness to contribute to the campus community. Summer activities, volunteer work and other meaningful extracurricular work can make your college application stand out. This article highlights some impactful summer activities for college admissions that would showcase your potential and differentiate your candidacy from the rest.

Summer Activities for College Admissions – Choose what’s Right for you!

Participating in summer activities should be a meaningful affair. Having said that, one must enjoy the process too. Ascend Now recommends that instead of following the crowd blindly, invest your time in activities that kindle your curiosity. In terms of extracurricular activities for college resume, pursue something that piques your interest, as that would translate to exceptional results and boost your self-confidence.

Why are Summer Activities for College Admissions Important?

Experiences in various summer activities demonstrate a student’s character and leadership skills. Colleges look for students who are pro-active, passionate and self-motivated. Participating in summer activities shows that you are dedicated, responsible and mature enough to balance multiple responsibilities, outside of the traditional school setting. Colleges value depth over breadth. From volunteering to conducting research to participating in specialised programs, a student’s endeavour should be to demonstrate genuine passion in chosen field/s of interest.

Top 10 High Impact Summer Activities for Students

• Building something of your own
• Summer internships for high school students
• Volunteer work that impresses colleges
• Summer research opportunities for teenagers
• Arts and music camps for college prep
• Leadership workshops for high school students
• Learning a new skill to strengthen your profile
• Pre-college summer experiences or programs
• Summer jobs for valuable work experience
• Organising a community project

Summer Internships for High School Students

High school students must start applying for summer internships early during their winter break. Reach out to family, friends or other people in your field of interest and start applying. Summer internships provide real-world experiences and help you develop skills that cannot be replicated in classroom set-ups. They enable students to explore potential career paths and develop qualities like professionalism, communication, problem-solving, time-management and teamwork. To top it all, such experiences give you valuable material for personal essays, interviews and resumes during college admissions, along with a chance to get a powerful letter of recommendation from your supervisor.

Volunteer Work that Impresses Colleges

One of the most common summer activities for college admissions is volunteering for various kinds of nonprofit organisations that showcases your character and a willingness to help others. You will find several openings that look for teen volunteers for a variety of organisations related to healthcare, hospitals, nursing homes, animal shelters among others. Volunteer work helps you develop soft skills related to teamwork, communication skills, adaptability, compassion, decision-making and leadership. It’s a genuine way to show your commitment to giving back to your community. Such traits are valuable and are well-appreciated during the admission process.

Summer Research Opportunities for Teenagers

Students volunteering to participate in research studies demonstrate their interest in academia as well as their ability to take initiative. High school students can look for their subject of interest and participate in research projects by working in a medical lab to get hands-on STEM skills in the field of sciences, or participate in historical archival research, literary analytics, comparative literary studies, philosophy related ethical research and analysis, linguistic research, cultural studies, social surveys, policy analysis, economic data analysis, demographic studies, behavioral studies, cultural trends to name a few. Such exposure fosters intellectual curiosity, critical thinking skills, problem-solving and showcases dedication giving students a chance to build a strong profile for college admissions.

Arts and Music Camps for College Prep

Art and music camps during summers are a brilliant way to hone and demonstrate a student’s passion, dedication and a deeper sense of commitment to any form of skill and craft. Depending on the level of expertise in the student, students can mention them as extracurriculars or even for admission to competitive art programs. Such camps foster qualities like creativity and innovation, discipline and perseverance, teamwork and collaboration, communication and presentation skills in students.

Leadership Workshops for High School Students

Many universities/colleges and national organisations like NSLC (National Student Leadership Conference) offer structured leadership training and summer leadership programs for high school students. Non-profits and local organisations conduct leadership workshops that focus on community engagement and service. There are programs like the Bank of America Leaders Program that offer real world non-profit experience to high school students along with fostering their leadership skills.

Learning a New Skill to Strengthen your Profile

One of the most productive summer activities for college admissions includes learning a new skill, which is one of the best ways to spend your break. It demonstrates initiative, discipline, time-management, self-direction and self-motivation valued highly in students by colleges. Teach yourself new skills like coding, playing a musical instrument, photoshop, web designing, graphic designing, scuba diving, yoga, CPR & first-aid, lifeguarding and earn a certificate. It will not only keep you engaged in a positive way, but also add value to your resume during college admissions.

Pre-College Summer Experiences or Programs

With so many pre-college summer experiences or programs floating around, it’s crucial for a student to select a prestigious program to look good in their resume during college admissions. Many prestigious pre-college summer programs are fortunately, free of cost or not too heavy on the pocket. Participate in a program that reflects your interest, passion and commitment to the subject. Get exposed to college-level work and develop essential skills like critical thinking, research, writing and an ability to handle demanding academic work in future. Pre-college summer experiences strengthen your application as students can add valuable material in their college essays and applications based on them. Another advantage is networking or building a relationship with professors during the summer program or an opportunity for a strong recommendation letter from them.

Summer Jobs for Valuable Work Experience

Part-time jobs during the school year or full-time jobs during the summer break is a great way to develop your resume and demonstrate work ethic, maturity, time-management and commitment. Try and get a job that offers useful work experience in fields like retail (cashier, stocking shelves), food service (as staff like busser, server, host/hostess), recreation (camp counsellor, parks and recreation assistant), childcare or animal care (babysitter, petsitter, dogwalker), landscaping/yardwork (mowing lawns, gardening), tutoring (online, offline) etc. Any job will teach you essential life-skills like financial responsibility, adaptability, time-management, problem-solving skills, teamwork and help you gain self-confidence, communication skills and a strong work-ethic.

Organising a Community Project

One of the most noble summer activities for college admissions is organising a community project that would focus on social issues, supporting the homeless, the elderly or homebound individuals, promoting education and literacy, raising awareness about environmental issues, promoting sustainability by launching a campaign and the possibilities are endless. Such activities demonstrate your willingness to take initiatives, your leadership and organisational skills, passion, problem-solving and your ability to impact the community in a positive way.

Building Something of your Own

Whether it is designing and constructing a pet-house, a greenhouse, a boat, a book-shelf, a musical instrument or designing your own website, creating something of your own showcases your creativity, perseverance and problem-solving skills. Choose a topic of interest, do the necessary research, plan and execute your idea to make it a reality. The passion to create something tangible shows your initiative, dedication and patience, which look excellent on your college resume. If you are musically bent, start a band, write your own music, record them and perform at places. If you are into theatre, write a script, organise a play, direct it, act in it and showcase it at an event. These college readiness summer activities and experiences that not just showcase your creativity and talent, but also foster confidence, public-speaking, teamwork and leadership abilities.

Find Summer Activities for College Admissions with Ascend Now

Ascend Now believes that too much study without play may lead to intellectual dullness. So, we like to help students from 10th to 12th Grade build their digital brand, resume, cover letter and support them in networking and internship acquisition. We offer core skills training like data analysis, marketing and design skills that students can apply in various summer activities for college admissions. We use our network to teach students how to cold-email, connect and network. Ascend Now not just helps you build your profile and refine your resume, but also builds a LinkedIn profile for you to start networking.

More than 82 students have received internship offers through Ascend Now. Our students have interned at more than 16 industries and have successfully completed more than 2000 hours of work experiences. More than 55 of them have received return offers as well.