Are You Putting Your Summer To Good Use?

Summer isn’t just for sitting by the pool. If you intend to go to college, how you spend your summer can influence your college options. Yes, by all means, have fun by the pool with your friends, but make your summers count, too.

Take note, soon-to-be freshmen, sophomores and juniors — there’s still time to make this summer count. Even soon-to-be seniors still have a few weeks to use your time wisely this summer.

Here’s a partial list of things to do during the summer months (and some can continue throughout the year, too)…

1. Volunteer. Help an organization in your community and give back.
2. Take a class. Learn about something for the fun of it rather than “because you have to”
3. Get a job. Make some money, gain some experience.
4. Start your own business. Why climb someone else’s corporate ladder when you can create your own?
5. Attend a summer program. If you struggle with a particular subject, then maybe immersing yourself in it could help make life easier when school starts.
6. Read, read, read. Read some of “the classics” but mix-in some fun. Try to find novels from authors who do their homework. Interested in science/anthropology? Read Jurassic 7. Park by Michael Crichton; Interested in forensics, read Patricia Cornwall’s Scarpetta novels.
8. Study for the PSAT/ACT/SATs. 1/2 an hour a day will do wonders for your scores.
9. Visit colleges. Before 11th grade, to get a sense of different types of colleges; 11th grad forward, you’re investigating potential colleges.
10. Learn about a career that interests you. Go beyond the surface and really get to know the realities of that career.
Start working on your college applications (soon-to-be seniors)
11. Learn something new - just for the sheer joy of it. Fascinated by King Henry VIII and his six wives? The French Revolution? Always wanted to learn how to fly fish or Kayak? Build a teepee? Play the drums?
12. Figure out what clubs or organizations at your school you could join— and plan to make a difference.
13. Go political. Join a campaign, volunteer for your favorite cause.
14. Visit the elderly on a regular basis – you’ll both get something out of it.

The important thing is to “just do it”. You don’t want to get to your junior year, realize you need stuff for college, and then try to do a bunch of things at the last minute — it looks exactly like what it is — “oops, I need stuff for my applications.”

If you do find you’re a “last minute annie” pick only one or two things and jump in with both feet. Get REALLY involved!

On the other hand, starting early and doing things consistently, yes, will help you build your activities for your college application; but, more importantly, you’ll ultimately be a better person for it!

Your Smart Plan For College Assignment:

Be sure to use your summers wisely — it’s the only time when you are not in school six hours a day PLUS have all the classwork and homework that comes with that fact. When I hear students say “I don’t have time” during the summer, I have to ask skeptically, “Really?”
You have a lot more time during the summer than during the school year, so get going.

Hey, if you’re not sure where to start or what steps are necessary to get your student in to colleges he or she loves and , then it’s time to take action and invest in a step-by-step college planning system that will feel easy and authentic to you.