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.
As a soon-to-be rising sophomore, you are blessed with what feels like an eternity before college. But no, you can’t put preparing for college admissions off. You have an uninterrupted chunk of time to start identifying your niche–a.k.a. your intended major/passion–so use it wisely. Here are some ideas on how you can maximize your summer and start strategizing for college.
Read
“TKG, my family goes on a big international vacation for a month every summer. I don’t have time to do work.” Excellent, you sound like more of our clients. Do you know what you can do on those long-haul plane rides? Read.
Reading is one of the top ways to explore a potential niche. If you have no idea which topics to start with, think about which classes you’ve enjoyed the most at school. If it’s English, pick up some classic lit. If its History, find a book about a historical topic you liked learning about. If it’s Math, maybe find a book on economics or physics. Once you start reading, you’ll be able to identify if these topics are actually enjoyable for you, and then you can get more specific.
Online Classes
Now that you’ve cracked a few (book) spines, you probably have a better idea of what you are interested in, so it’s time to put those concepts to the test. Online classes are a great way to dive even deeper into your topic of choice and get a little more knowledgeable about the field itself. On sites like The Great Courses or Coursera, you can take college-level classes that introduce you to big topics in fields like Business, Film, Computer Science (which btw, if this is what you want to do, start learning to code. Like right now.), Politics, and more. Truly, anything you want to learn, you can do it online for low-to-no cost.
Summer Programs
If you want to get a feel for what college might be like, all while getting hands-on experience and making cool friends, a summer program might be the move for you. Top-tier schools like UCLA, Harvard, Brown, Duke, etc. all have pre-college programs that allow you to take a college-level course (sometimes for credit!), and they have a million classes to choose from. Well, maybe not a million. But at least dozens. There are also more specialized summer programs like the School of the New York Times or Wharton’s business-specific summer intensives. Just make sure what you pick fits into the niche you’re building. It wouldn’t make sense to do a STEM program if you’re trying to pitch yourself as the next preeminent scholar on Jane Austen.
Intern/Volunteer/Job Shadow/Get a Job
Colleges like to see responsibility! However, because of child labor laws, this one might be tough. It is hard to find a meaningful job or internship as a 14-15-year-old, but not impossible. You can also find an adult doing a cool job that you might want to do and ask to follow them around for a bit. Not like a stalker. Also, we’re generally not super keen on volunteering for volunteering's sake, but you could volunteer with an organization that fits in with your niche. So if you’re into Environmental Science, maybe you’re doing a weekly beach cleanup.
The summer is the perfect time to begin exploring your niche. As a current freshman, you have lots of time to explore interests and get even deeper into them, so take advantage of this big ol’ chunk of time! And if you finish the summer and realize maybe you don’t super love the niche you thought you’d like? You still have time to regroup and refocus.
If you need help navigating high school, developing your extracurriculars, or planning your summer, reach out to us today.