Northwestern is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois with 8,000 undergraduates and as many graduate students. The university is in the top 10 nationally, and is world-renowned for journalism and communications. Many students seek out Northwestern for just this reason, as they look to combine a journalism or communications course of study with secondary interests in STEM or the humanities. That isn’t the only journey you can go on at Northwestern, though — not by a long shot.
The Best Ways to Spend the Summer of Your Freshman Year
It’s finally over. The last ten months have been a whirlwind of new responsibilities and experiences, but now, you’re officially in high school now. With your freshman year behind you, you might think you have two months of rest and relaxation before classes start back up again. Wrong! Kinda! Like, you can relax, but you also need to explore some of your academic interests! It might seem early to think about college, but colleges care about what you’ve been doing since day 1 of freshman year.
9th Grade Summer Plans: Finance Major Edition
If you’ve been following our 9th Grade Summer Plans series on the blog, you probably realize that this is our third post on a seemingly related course of study after Business and Economics. Do we really need another, you might ask? Well, yes, actually, unless you want to be responsible for the next Big Short. Some of you were born during the mortgage crisis of 2005 (congrats), and we don’t want to test our luck here.
9th Grade Summer Plans: Politics Major Edition
Hello to the future policymakers, society shapers, and public-sector groovers and shakers who have found their way here. If you’re reading this, odds are you want to go into politics — maybe you’ll get a government or political science degree, or maybe you’ll go the philosophy and social work academic track and approach governance from a more creative path.
9th Grade Summer Plans: Econ Major Edition
While a bunch of students freshman year are interested in the world of money, not everyone who wants to go into business has a passion for economics. Rather than learning about human resources or corporate administration, economists study the creation, consumption, and exchange of wealth in the form of currency, goods, and services. As a soft science, it combines an understanding of human behavior and history with mathematics, statistics, and accounting. In other words, an economist is more likely to make financial models that project the impact of a national recession on global markets than to make millions running a lemonade stand.
9th Grade Summer Plans: Business Major Edition
Over the years, we’ve noticed that more and more students apply to the business major track when they’re preparing for college, and that’s great! But there are a few factors at play here — first, business is an incredibly broad field of study because it covers all of commerce, or, essentially, the enterprise of making money. As you can imagine, making and managing money applies to… every organization that exists, basically. Even companies that don’t aim to maximize their revenue for revenue’s sake (non-profits, for example) have to strategically finance. Marketing, finance, accounting, investment, micro- and macro-economics, management/administration, organizational psychology, and more all pertain directly to “business.”
9th Grade Summer Plans: Biology Major Edition
You’ve heard about the birds and the bees, but what about the biomes and the black holes? Sorry if that opener was misleading — we’re not talking about the reproductive cycle of the void today (although hold up while we file this away for future presentations #WelcomeToMyTedTalk). The point is there’s a lot more to ~the study of life~ than you’ve got time to cover in AP Bio. Whether you’re studying abyssery and starlight in astrobiology or learning about infectious diseases in microbiology, you’re falling under the biology umbrella in one way or another.
9th Grade Summer Plans: Political Science Major Edition
We hear from a lot of future political science majors early in high school. Maybe you’ve discovered your love of policy, diplomacy, and large-scale problem-solving by watching History Channel documentaries or dabbling in Model UN. Either way, the good news is that, as early as the summer after freshman year, you can start nurturing your poli-sci passion and building up your resume for a competitive edge on college applications.
9th Grade Summer Plans: Engineering Major Edition
Okay, freshmen, we hear you: you’re looking at the summer after ninth grade, and you can taste your freedom but it’s not exactly limitless. Let’s be honest — you have a curfew, you have chores, and most of you don’t have your driver’s permit. Heck, for all we know, you can’t ride a bike! (Hopefully, we’re wrong about that one, though).
9th Grade Summer Plans: Psychology Major Edition
Excellent news, aspiring psychologists! If you’re hoping to major in psychology, you don’t have to sit around and wait until college to dive right into dream analysis and criminology. You might feel like senior year is forever and a half away, but college application season comes quicker than you think, and you can spend the summer after freshman year building your resume, getting ahead in your field, and setting yourself apart from your peers.
9th Grade Summer Plans: Computer Science Major
Everyone thinks of summers spent in the great outdoors — and we sure hope you’re doing cannonballs into the lake and eating ice cream every night — but if you’re an aspiring computer science major you’re probably going to want to spend some quality time inside, too. Actually, scratch that — you can go frolic in a meadow if you bring your laptop and a hotspot with you.
9th Grade Summer Plans: English Major Edition
Remember 1972, when rock legend Alice Cooper infamously sang, “School’s out for summer! School’s out forever!?” Well, while we love the liberatory spirit and undeniably sick electric guitar backing this song, we are here to be the voice of reason and say: No, Alice Cooper, that’s not true. Think of the children! School’s out for summer — but school is not out forever.
Impressive High School Internships in Entrepreneurship
We work with our clients to get ahead of the competition by building impressive resumes. Part of this requires cultivating a highly specific brand centered around a niche academic area. Entrepreneurship is a great specialty to pursue throughout high school. We recommend aligning your classes and extracurriculars around the area and then applying directly to programs and majors that are a natural extension of your specialty. One way to strengthen your resume is to land an impressive internship.
Best Summer Ideas for 9th Grade
School’s out, you’re ready to lounge around the house and do nothing. But, if you’re here reading this blog, you’re probably an ambitious student with dreams of top-tier colleges. And students who want to go to top-tier colleges know they need to start preparing for the college admissions process now. We know summer is the time you don’t want to think about school, but thems the breaks, kid.
Summer Ideas for Juniors in High School
The end of junior year is on the horizon, and visions of sleeping in until 11 and watching Gossip Girl are running through your head. We know you worked hard this year, and you want to just do nothing, but this is also the last year of your college admissions journey. You gotta push through!! Summer is the largest chunk of uninterrupted time you’ll have before the full weight of senior year is upon you, and you need to use this time wisely.
Summer Plan Ideas for High School Students
Need help planning your summer? That’s crazy, because that’s like, a big part of what we do. And no, we’re not going to suggest a cool international vacation or a sports camp or a mission trip. We want you to use your summer to build out your niche so that when you apply to college they know exactly what you’re about.
Summer Ideas for Freshmen in High School
Summers are amazing. Not for beach vacations or road trips, although those are fun, but because it’s your largest chunk of uninterrupted time to explore any and all interests you might have. We know, you’re mad we’re telling you that you gotta do work during the summer. Too bad!! You have Ivy League aspirations, you can’t slack off!
Ideas for Summer Plans for Sophomores in High School
You’re like, officially a high school student now. You are about to finish your sophomore year and become a *rising junior* and all that entails. You know, from your older friends and family scaring you, that junior and senior year get intense. There’s something more serious… more dignified… about 11 and 12 that 10 just doesn’t have. And so in preparation for this more challenging year, you might be tempted to take it easy this summer. Relax. Do nothing. Terrible idea.
Best Behavioral Economics Summer Programs
Taking a summer session is a great way to explore an academic topic you feel passionate about. Summer Pre-College programs also allow students to learn more about a topic that they may not have access to at their normal high school. If you are hoping to study Behavioral Economics and want to take a summer program in it, you have a couple of options. Two caveats: these programs can be expensive so make sure you check their price tags and many are not behavioral economics specific. While many of these cover topics in and related to behavioral economics, they often cover other economic topics as well.
Best Undergraduate Colleges for Investment Banking Internships
If you’re someone who knows at the age of 17 that they are dead set on making a lot of money, investment banking is probably a good path for you. But it’s not for the faint of heart. Being a first-year analyst at a major bank can be beyond grueling and many people burn out or decide they’re unfulfilled along the way. Those who stick it out are rewarded in ~dividends.~ So, if you’re looking forward to the luxurious life, you might want to consider applying to one of these schools that feed some of the nation’s most competitive I-Banking internships.