Identifying Summer Opportunities

Maximize your summer opportunities to boost your college applications! Join us for this special webinar co-hosted by TeenLife and CollegeAdvisor, where a former Admissions Officer will share insider tips on how to strategically shape your summer experiences to enhance your college candidacy.

During this 60-minute session, students will learn:

— What top colleges are looking for in summer activities and experiences
— How to identify meaningful programs and opportunities that align with your academic and career goals
— Strategies to effectively highlight summer experiences on your college applications
— Tips for finding internships, academic programs, and volunteer opportunities that enhance your profile
— How to use your summer to build essential skills and personal growth that admissions officers value

Perfect for high school students and families looking to make the most of summer break!

Date 01/21/2025
Duration 57:57

Webinar Transcription

2025-01-21 – Identifying Summer Opportunities

Lydia: Hello, everyone. My name is Lydia Hollon. Welcome to, “Identifying Summer Opportunities.” I’ll be your moderator tonight. I’m a senior advisor here at CollegeAdvisor, and I’ve been with the company for about four years now. And in addition to advising students, I’m also a proud co captain of our essay review team and a graduate of New York University.

In addition to my work with CollegeAdvisor, I’m an education consultant and a former high school teacher. To orient everyone with webinar timing, we’re going to start off with a presentation then answer your questions in a live Q& A. On the sidebar, you can download our slides and start submitting questions in the Q& A tab.

We’ll also be recording this session so that you can review the webinar again later. Now, let’s meet our presenter.

Joanne: Hi everyone, my name is Joanne Pluff. I I’m a former admissions officer and associate dean of admission at Hamilton and Utica College. I currently work at a large HBCU in Washington, D.C., where I serve as an associate vice president. I’m also a former admissions officer here at CollegeAdvisor, and I’ve been with CollegeAdvisor for three years.

Lydia: Great. So before we jump into the presentation, we’re going to do a quick poll to figure out what grade everyone is in. So you should have access to that.

And while everyone is filling out that poll, Joanne, I’m curious, how did you spend most of your summers when you were in high school?

Joanne: So I went to college to do public relations, and I also wanted to do like promotions and things. So my summers were, and I specifically wanted to work with not for profits.

So I did a lot of volunteering at, um, local organizations that ranged from a domestic violence shelter to the YWCA, YMCA, um, uh, walk for hunger, which is something that happens in Massachusetts every year. So I was pretty committed to outside organizations. I didn’t really do research. That wasn’t kind of my jam.

Um, I wasn’t going to study biology. So for me, it was getting more connected with the community. Um, so that I could look at different opportunities within other not for profit agencies.

Lydia: So looking at our results, we’ve got. 24 percent in 9th grade, 24 percent in 10th grade, 45 percent in 11th grade, 3 percent in 12th, and 5 percent in the other category, and oh, 3 percent in 8th grade. So we got a nice mix of participants here, but mainly juniors. So now that we’ve got those results, I’ll go ahead and pass it off to you, Joanne, to get us started.

Joanne: All right. So, um, obviously this is our opinion and I’m happy to take any questions. Just know that if you submit them directly to me, it’s likely that I won’t be able to see them until after the webinar is completed. So please make sure that you submit them directly to the Q and A. So I’ll get started.

Um, And I’m happy to discuss like anything more particular that you all have interest in, but I’m hoping that this information can guide you on your path, especially for our eighth graders that are just getting started with the process. Of course, for juniors and seniors, no time like the present, right?

So we can get started on any of this stuff right now, but I’m hoping this information can get you a jumpstart on your college process. So why are summer experiences crucial for college admissions? So if you haven’t taken a look at the Common App, if you have not started this process at all, you know that you have, if you’re using the Common App, and typically with Coalition and any of the internal applications, you have a space where you can enter any of your extracurricular activities.

And what’s important is we want to make sure that Even while you’re not interested or not, not going to school throughout the summer that you’re involved and engaged in something. So we recognize that you’re tired. The school year is tough. We really do want you to get a break. However, this can be a way to.

Beef up that application. So one of those things you can think about is when you’re selecting a summer experience, it can demonstrate your commitment to that, to that craft, to that art, to whatever it is. So like I was saying before, I wanted to work in a not for profit world. So most of my summer experiences were directly related to not for profit management, fundraising, and event raising, um, or event planning.

So, um, I specifically knew that those are the things that I wanted to do and I wanted to make sure that I understood. I gained a lot of practical experience and truly, um, it gave me the yes or no as to if I really wanted to do that stuff. Many times when we’re advising students, I have a couple of sophomores who Set out on the path that they wanted to be doctors.

We said, okay, perfect. Got them all situated with a internship at a local hospital or perhaps a research experience and come to find out by the end of the summer, it was not what they wanted at all. And that’s okay. You’ve got the experience on your resume. We appreciate it. We take it for what it is.

However, we have to pivot and figure out something else. So summer experiences are really good for your admissions. Like I was saying, it demonstrates your commitment. It helps you explore, you gain practical experience. And then of course, if you’re not able to do something that is hands on specifically, it gives you the opportunity to prepare for college level academics.

Most of you are probably in an area where you have access to community college. Therefore, you will have access to take those courses. Notoriously, it’s, um, at community college, summer courses are typically cheaper. So it would be an easy way for your parents to spend a few hundred dollars if you can swing it, um, on some college community classes.

So, um, Community college classes. They could be in English, they could be in math, perhaps a science class, um, just some general education classes to get your feet wet. Alrighty, so how can the summer activities impact a student’s overall application? It definitely makes them stand out. Um, the university that I work at, we get just over 39,000 applications per year.

So when you’re reading, it can get quite mundane. And we really want to look for students who are going to impact our community in a positive manner. And to help you stand out, can a way for you to stand out is to have a summer activity that really did help. influence your life. Um, and again, developing those skills.

So if you are a lab student, I was the opposite of that, of course. But if you’ve never worked in a lab, you can get prepared to take some of those lab practical courses at your university. And if you’re interested in a particular college and you get into a summer activity, just know that you’re starting that relationship.

If it is a school that looks at demonstrated interest, it’s an easy way for you to show the school and the admissions office that you’re interested in that. For those who don’t know what demonstrated interest is, Means demonstrated interest is you showing the college how truly interested you are in them.

Um, the reason some selective universities use it is to really ensure that they’re admitting students that want to attend to their college, attend their college in the end. So they track things like, um, if they call you. Text messages that are sent, mailers via mail or email, um, interview opportunities, and again, summer programs are a great way to get connected.

Alrighty, so what are the different types of summer experiences and which college, which do colleges value the most? So, I would say the top one is probably an internship. Internship opportunities are very readily available. And I think, thank you to COVID, there are a lot of virtual opportunities that students can engage with across the country.

So perhaps, you know, you have your eyes set on working with The biologists and bioinformatics at, um, I’m not sure, Stanford and you live in New York City, you’re not able to get there. Perhaps there is a way to engage with them virtually. Our university does have some virtual options for our students and a lot of people take advantage of them.

Research experiences are also excellent, especially if you’re looking at this That STEM field or perhaps even for the humanities, um, most students who are going to go on for a master’s and or PhD will have to engage in some type of research. So it’s a great way for you to get published, number one, or be tacked on with a professor that is getting work published.

I also love the pre college exploration programs, better known as bridge programs or summer programs. Um, there are great way one for you to get to feel what it’s like to be on a college campus. So for those of you who don’t know those summer bridge programs, um, pre college programs, usually it’s a couple of weeks spent on a university campus and you basically get to live like a college student with no true commitment to grades.

So you perhaps could take a class. Sometimes you do get credit for it. Um, but you do get to go to the dining hall, use their facilities. Do the research in their labs, work directly with professors, work with graduate students who will go on to be in the in the master’s classes that you may attend. So it’s a great, great opportunity.

The next thing I would say is if you are in a place you have not been able to find an internship, you can’t find a research experience. Or maybe your schedule doesn’t allow it because you’re committed to a sport. That’s totally fine. Check out doing those summer classes. Like I said, at a local community college, most universities will have summer classes.

Um, community colleges are typically cheaper. And then if you are a student who has passed your past, the research you’ve done the internship, maybe you’re ready to job shadow. Um, if you have never been in a hospital and you really want to be a doctor, you should do some shadowing hours. or maybe you want to understand more specifically what it’s like to be a lawyer day to day.

You should definitely do that. A lot of, um, your smaller scale one to ones. and one on one experiences will happen, um, if you’re doing that job shadowing. So it’s a great opportunity for you to ask somebody in the career that you’re hoping to, um, to land in what it’s like a day in the life for that person.

What are the benefits of internships, work, volunteer work, and travel programs? So internships, I think, uh, provide students with the tangible job skills. So again, if you have no idea what it’s like to be, uh, a radiology technician, and that’s what you want to do. How are you? Um, but a lot of hospitals, a lot of, um, like Amazon, larger corporations have a dedicated internship program where students can go take a couple of weeks and get on the job site.

skills, which is amazing. I currently have a student who’s interning with Disney, so she wants to work on their marketing team. So she’s in a corporate office. However, they were able to show her how to use Photoshop, um, learning how to read some of the data from her social media posts. So that stuff will go a long way.

And also it gives you some of that experience that when you exit college, um, different entities are looking for as well. Skill development, of course. So if you’ve never written an email, I met a student today who had never made out a letter to a person. If you fall into that category and you need those soft skills of working in an office or a lab or whatever the medium is, This is the place for you.

We love a good internship. I think it helps students grow. It gives you access and it gives you a real life experience. One of the funniest things my one of my senior said to me today was, you know, having that internship when I was in high school. It was super important because I didn’t realize when I left home that I would have to go someplace like college every single day.

So even just the act of getting up, getting dressed, it’s good job practice, because just so you know, we have to do that every single day. And then career exploration, of course, should be a given. Um, it allows you to Understand a little bit more about the job and the field that you’re interested in, which again, I cannot say enough.

If you have not done XYZ and you’re truly interested, you should do that. You should get that internship. You should check it out. Um, even if the internship is not paid, it’s still important to understand what that career entails. And then it gives you a different worldview. Um, when I was an undergrad, I was able to do an internship with a lot of other students from, um, all across the country.

So my internship was in Florida when I was just had to tie, um, outside of high school. I think this was my senior, yeah, my senior year. So I met people from all over the country, which was really interesting. Just knowing the things that how their days were different than ours. Um, just truly interacting with somebody from the South was different than speaking to a New Yorker.

We’re notorious for being quick talking, fast moving, always on the go. Um, it definitely gives you a different worldview. So, uh, volunteer work, I think everybody goes without saying the social impact is super important. So a lot of the not for profits. that I worked for would not survive without volunteers.

I ended up being a volunteer coordinator right outside of college. And without the volunteers for the organization I worked with, they would not have ever been able to do any of the work they set out to do. So volunteer work is super important. If you’re a human, that’s all about social justice, making change.

Um, grassroots kind of organizations. I highly suggest it and know that it definitely will give you some of that like good juju that you need to go out through the world. Also give some, uh, personal growth for sure. Um, definitely a lot of grunt work was done, but definitely helped the people within that organization.

So I think that every student should have some kind of volunteer work. On their, uh, list of extracurriculars, typically, you know, typically, um, school districts require the seniors to do some kind of volunteering hour. So I really and truly hope that you all will do them and find them impactful to your life.

Networking is also super important at any of these three different facets. Um, but it’s kind of the name of the game. You kind of have to know the people to know a guy to talk about a guy to, to get that job. So, Volunteer work also gives you that opportunity. So maybe on a Saturday morning, you’re helping tutor young kids in math, and the volunteer coordinator happens to know a guy who works here.

That, you know, two hours spent will definitely impact your life positively. Travel programs are another great way to get involved, um, and to have some information to put on your list of extracurricular activities. So, uh, the number one thing, of course, you’re going to get out of it is cultural awareness.

So I’ll just say this with a caveat that, you know, you don’t have to go to an underserved country or third world country to have some impact. You can go to, you know, Albania or to Paris, whatever it is, just be conscious of what you’re bringing to that area. A lot of the travel programs will take you to places where you can build houses, um, work at schools, but.

They don’t all have to do with, um, just kind of grunt work. There are opportunities for students to take advantage of travel programs that will help boost your language skills. So if you are a senior or a junior rather, and you are taking, um, this is like your fifth year of French or Spanish, Portuguese, this is a great way to be.

completely immersed within some of those programs. Um, I took Latin in high school, so nobody spoke Latin, unfortunately. But the travel programs are an easy way for you to get 100 percent immersed in that, um, in that language. And then, of course, with the travel programs, because they do sometimes take you, mostly take you out of country, You do gain a little bit of independence.

I’ll definitely say, you know, my brother did a travel program when he was in high school. He came back a different person for sure, was a lot more independent, could do things without my mom, um, and didn’t need everybody kind of in his business every minute of the day.

All right, so work life balance, something we talk about all the time, especially for students who are super connected to their communities, do sports, extracurriculars, all of that good stuff. So we, I of course want every student that I advise juniors, seniors, rising seniors, sophomores, all of you to have a productive summer break, but also to get some rest and relaxation.

So it’s important to really set a career, a clear goal and make sure that you discuss this goal with your parents. Right? So whatever it is, whatever you decide to do, make sure that you tell them so that they know what the expectation is and they know, um, that you’re not just kind of like running all over the place or just sitting around.

Creative schedule was super important. So like I said, I did. work with a lot of not for profits and has specific days. So like Monday was this day, Tuesday was that day. Whatever you decide to do, prioritize it and then make sure you schedule yourself to have some downtime. I love to see students who are involved, but there’s nothing worse than a student trying to be an overachiever who is just spread completely thin and wasn’t able to take a rest.

So summertime is for you to rest and recharge because we have high expectations for you during the school year. Make sure you take time to do that. And then, of course, if you’re doing a summer program, think about how awesome it is that you’ll be able to learn while also traveling, um, volunteer in a different country.

Think about the, you know, the benefit of doing a travel program or program that takes you outside of your general area. If you enjoy traveling, this can be a way to, to kind of take two notches off your stone there. So if this is something that you’re interested, you can find a lot of information on those travel programs, but know that you’re able to combine the productivity and leisure all in one.

And then, of course, the best part of summertime is to take breaks and rest, uh, schedule your breaks. If you have a research project or you’ve gotten into a research entity, it’s important to rest. We want you to start your next year, not sleep deprived, not overwhelmed, but ready and refreshed to go back through.

And you won’t be able to do that if you haven’t rested. And I think it’s kind of what we, I talked about in the beginning with your goals and your schedule. So if you know what you want to do, do that. You don’t have to do 10 things. You can do, you know, one impactful thing and take a class. That’s not a lot of, um, a lot of pressure.

So weigh the pros and cons. Everybody is different. Every student is different. I have students that do. Two internships and they can take a class. I have a student who only does classes. Whatever that formula is for you as far as productivity, um, and exposure and networking and all the things you’re trying to accomplish, whatever it is, just do it and stick with it.

Lydia: Okay, so now we’re gonna do our next poll, which is where are you in the application process? And Joanne, I’m curious, in all your time working in admissions, what is the most interesting summer activity you’ve ever seen a student do?

Joanne: This is going to be a little weird. Um, so I had a student who was applying to do a pre veterinary program and she Over the summer, learned how to breed bunnies and she called them Floppies Loppies.

Like it was a whole thing. She bred the bunnies, took care of them, and you know what? She was going to be a vet tech, so like that worked for her. Like, go, power to you! You wanted to do that? You figured it out and you found the person to help you. So the craziest thing, I would have never thought that, but my mind is also not there, but she definitely found a niche for herself and it was impactful for her application.

Cause I’ve never seen that before.

Lydia: Very interesting. I think I read probably in my career, a personal statement, not quite like that, but I’ve definitely read about students that have had, uh, Experiences like that. Whether it was, I think one was about a dog trainer, like a case, someone who had really gotten good at training dogs and it was an interesting essay.

So also interesting things that people do. Um, So looking at the responses, 36 percent have not started, 59 percent are researching schools, no one is in the working on essay stage, 2 percent are getting their application materials together, and 2 percent are almost done. So it seems like pretty much everyone here with us tonight is fairly early in the application process.

Joanne: All right, still have time to go.

Lydia: All right, I’ll go ahead and pass it back to you.

Joanne: All right, so how should students choose summer experiences that align with their interests and future goals? So the first thing, and I always tell my students to do this when we’re thinking about their list of extracurriculars, we typically start this around the end of first year, um, or wherever you are in the process, truly, is sit down with your parents and reflect and assess the things that you’ve done and what you need to do and how you can kind of amplify what you want to do.

So, Reflect, assess, identify your interests, and then clarify goals. So if the end goal is to be an optician and you’ve not done any shadowing internship, whatever, just figure out where you want to go. Um, because there’s nothing worse than not having a plan, but being very organized and knowing what you want to, what your goal is, will definitely help you in this process.

Consider your career aspirations. So if you Know what you want to do if you’re ready, if you’re past that, what skills can you develop? Who can help you development or develop them? Um, is there somebody in your community that can help you get a head start on your career via internship or, you know, even if it’s processing paperwork in their office, just to kind of take things in.

Think about how this summer experience can amplify your application. Next thing to look out for our students who are looking at research opportunities is many of them come along with, um, an internship. whether that’s in a lab or again, I’ve seen many different mediums where you’re literally researching and you’re not producing anything for the actual research product, or maybe, maybe you’re in a lab, whatever it is, do the research to find an opportunity that fits your need.

And sometimes just know that it comes along with no pay or just an experience. And that is fruitful itself. So it will pay off in the end. And then if you’re a student who truly has no idea what you want to do, um, Don’t be nervous. Most students change their majors at least once. Just be open to new experiences.

So if you know someone or you’ve connected with someone through volunteering or someone through school, take a chance. You never know what can come out of that experience and what you could gain. And again, while we do want things to pertain directly to the direction that you’re headed in life, just doing something new is also super important for your own growth and development.

Alrighty, so what should students consider when evaluating their opportunities? The depth of course, so does it have a specialization for you? Is there a very heavy time commitment? Is there networking potential? And is there always a, is there a long term benefit? So networking potential is typically, you know, almost always there for any of these different opportunities.

Time commitments are tough, so if you do Legion Baseball and, you know, You have to practice, you know, Tuesdays from five to nine and you travel on whatever day, just make sure that it’s not going to make you, um, too overwhelmed and you’re not going to be able to do what you need to, but also recognize that if you’re not going to play baseball in college, that maybe this experience would benefit you in the longterm.

And then the breath, of course, is do we have transferable skills? Is it more flexible? Does it give you exposure to the things that you want to have exposure to? So does it give you exposure to a skill, to a organization, to a specific person? Like what are you gaining from that experience? So to me, when I’m talking to students, I kind of look at depth more than breath, but they kind of go hand in hand.

It really, truly depends on the experience. So I typically look for. Look, support my students. I’m looking for the long term benefit, of course. So if I have a student who knows their specific career goal, knows where they want to be, I’m typically channeling things that go along with that career goal, because that can make their application look like a complete package.

If you have no idea, You know, transferable skills and being able to be flexible are two huge things. And so is exposure. So maybe or perhaps it’s finding a myriad of opportunities that allow my student to, you know, test out the waters for a different, a few different organizations. It truly depends on the student and depends on the case.

Every student is not going to have, I’m not going to give the same advice to, and every student is not going to have the same summer opportunities. And we also recognize that as colleges, I probably should have said this in the beginning, we recognize that not every student is going to have access, the means, the transportation, the ability to get to, you know, five different research opportunities every single year, including senior year.

We get that. We recognize that we own that, but we just want you to do what’s best for you. And the best for you is finding opportunities that fit within what you want to do and how you want your application to look. Alrighty. So what steps can students take Students take to ensure their summer experience to stand out in their applications.

So journal, I know this is super annoying, but I think that’s probably why, um, teachers do it, uh, when you’re younger is, um, documenting your achievements and responsibilities is super, super important. Give it to your mom, right? Like if you do a piece of research. And you have it documented and printed out, or maybe it’s a magazine, have somebody copy it, start a thumb drive.

We always tell students start an email your first year, freshman year of high school, and make it be your first name dot last name at Gmail or whatever medium you want to use and start sending yourself all of your different achievements and responsibilities so that you, when you’re ready to submit your application, you have a nice, easy full story of all the things that you’ve done.

Of course, you want to highlight your transferable and technical skills. So if you were engineering or are interested in engineering and worked at an engineering firm and you learned how to, I don’t know, read those crazy architectural plans that they have. Cool. document that, write it down, make sure that you find a way to, um, to let us know how, what skills you have and how you’re able to transfer them to the university.

We also use this opportunity to craft a resume for you. So resumes for young people probably should not be longer than a page, page and a half. It should not be a front back kind of situation. Just know that it should be bullets, clear. And, uh, a very, you know, distinct sentence or two about what it is you did at the summer opportunity.

And you should develop a little bit of a narrative for each experience. On many applications, it will tell you to identify an experience that spoke to you, yada, yada, yada, in 200 words or less. Um, we’re like up to our ears in these type of supplemental essays, writing in the narrative now for each one of those.

is really important because then you don’t have to go back and think about it. I’m not saying that the finished product of this narrative your freshman year will be ready for your narrative to be submitted, um, for an application. However, it gives you a landing pace, a place. If your student is looking at the arts and or, you know, have a lot of cool things to show off, you can create a portfolio.

Portfolios can be an actual binder or it can be a collection or a Whatever you come up with, um, I think it depends on the type of industry, but know that you can start a portfolio, especially for art students that work on projects that they don’t get to keep. And then make sure that you’re highlighting any leadership, um, and initiatives that you did.

So if you were the senior volunteer for, you know, the Summer Opportunities Program of America, Make sure that you highlight that it’s super important. We love to see leadership on applications. We don’t want our student bodies to dwindle and we need student leaders to do that.

Alrighty, so how can students leverage their summer experiences to explore potential careers and majors? I think I’ve probably talked about this like a hundred times, um, You need to reflect on what you enjoyed most. If it’s something that you are just getting into and or you have a little bit of knowledge about, it’s a great opportunity for you to see if you really wanted it.

So what did you like about being in the hospital? Did you like touching patients? Did you not like touching patients? Were you really interested in surgery? Were there new skills that you developed? Um, what did you learn? Did you learn about taking notes? Do you like taking notes? Or did you go to the hospital and recognize that you wanted to be an x ray technician?

Whatever it is, um, just know that the experiences that you’re having are all pushing you towards your end goal. So you can use that to really figure out what you’d like to do. And you can evaluate the work environment. So I’ll never forget one of my best friends wanted to be a PT, uh, when we were in high school and she wanted to be PT at a hospital, she went, was super pumped about doing it until she realized that they just have patient after patient, after patient, it wasn’t like a, Hey, you know, you have a 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock or one o’clock.

It was just nonstop. And she’s like, that’s not what I want. I want to work. And. a slower environment. So she ended up working in a nursing home, right? So if that works for her, it may not work for you, but it gives you an opportunity to see what the work, work life balance is like. Um, networking and mentorship opportunities.

So, When you enter any of these programs, know that you always have a potential mentor. If someone that you clicked with, if someone you aspire to be, can definitely ask them to be a mentor. It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t make it weird. You know, people ask other people to be mentors all the time. So. But it really does give you an opportunity to find someone that you can connect with over the years while you’re getting ready for your college career.

And then perhaps, you know, like I said, you liked working in a hospital, but maybe you didn’t like being on your feet. Maybe you liked, you know, post op instead of pre op, whatever it is, it gives you, um, the, opportunity to see many different people in action and to see what it is you really liked about those different paths.

And then, um, one thing I love to talk about is going to graduate school and specialized programs. So I know we’re talking about you getting into college and that first four years seems really daunting. However, you do have to start thinking about the future, um, and this will also give you an opportunity to see what graduates of those programs are doing.

Alrighty, so are there any resources or tools you can recommend for finding impactful summer programs? So there are like a lot of general job and internship programs. Most universities call, use a platform called Handshake, which is open to I think I don’t believe you have to be in college to utilize Handshake, but they catalog, it’s kind of like a job posting for, um, for students who are in college.

So you can check those out. Universities always post their internships as well. If it’s an industry specific, obviously look to those platforms, but no, there’s a lot of opportunities just on LinkedIn. Many young people are using LinkedIn these days to, uh, promote themselves, but also to look for different opportunities.

I would also say look at different service organizations. So Teach for America, the Peace Corps, those are big, big ones, but you can find smaller programs within your areas. And then summer discoveries. So any of those summer bridge programs would come directly from universities and or if you literally just Google summer bridge program or summer program XYZ college likely something will come.

Lydia: Alright. So thank you so much for that presentation. Now we’re going to shift to the Q and a portion of the webinar. I hope that you found the information helpful. You can download the slides using the link in the handouts tab and. Just as a reminder, you can continue to submit questions for the Q& A. I’ll read them and Joanne will have an opportunity to answer them.

And as a heads up, if for some reason the Q& A tab isn’t letting you submit questions, just double check that you joined the webinar through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar landing page. All right, so the first question that we have is, Where is the best place to look for internship opportunities?

Is there a certain website or anything like that?

Joanne: So I would start small. Um, I think one of the bigger mistakes students think is like, I want to intern, I want to be a computer engineer, so I’m just going to look at Google. That’s great, but likely there is some kind of, you know, computer engineer firm. in your major city or a hub near you, I would start small.

Um, there are many job and internship boards, again, using LinkedIn, using literally Google, um, Handshake, Indeed. There are many different ways to get connected in and you should start with just Googling, um, a company that you’ve heard of to see if they have an internship. Most, I’d say a good majority of corporations and even offices, smaller, um, companies have some kind of internship program.

And I would say the more larger would have like bigger and they’re much more competitive, um, those internship programs.

Lydia: Got it. Um, another question that we have is, do you have any advice for students that want to pursue internships or research, but maybe don’t have the strongest academic record?

Joanne: Yeah, I mean, your academic record has nothing to do with your internship.

I mean, some may have a GPA requirement. I think that’s mostly at the collegiate level, but for high school students, we just want you to be excited and do it. We love having interns. We love having young people roaming the halls and things like that. My advice would be, um, just start early and be candid.

You know, don’t have any surprises. If they don’t ask for your GPA and your coursework, then you’re good. But I, in my experience, many of the, like, non competitive internships don’t typically require a GPA. So you, you may be okay. It may be just your passion that needs to come through to show them that you’re super interested in, um, in the internship.

Lydia: Um, another question that we’ve got is how can students best use summer to explore potential majors if they’re uncertain, and could it count against them if they spend their summer doing something that’s not related to their intended major?

Joanne: Nope, doesn’t count against you. We love to see you doing different things.

We love to see variety of things. So it doesn’t count against you at all. Uh, there’s a portion on the common application that you can say, you know, I think it lets you add any like small paragraph. That could be a way for you to talk about that or use your essay, right? Like I was, since I was three, was ready to be a doctor and I did my internship and realized I hated touching people.

That sounds like a good essay topic to me. Um, we don’t care about the wasted time. What I don’t like to see as a person who reads applications is just students that are not committed to anything. So did you stick with the internship? Did you sign up, follow it through? Did you get all the hours? Did you really engage?

Did you write the articles that they asked? That’s more important to me than um, whether or not it counts directly towards your major.

Lydia: Makes sense. Um, Another question we have is what are some ways to use this summer to prepare for college entrance exams, like the SAT or ACT?

Joanne: So we do have SAT/ACT test prep, um, right through CollegeAdvisor.

Um, but if you’re planning to use the summer to do that, it’s just about balancing. So. Truly, I am not the person asked about testing because I hated taking that exam and I’ll tell you that now. My test prep was only done for a couple of months and I had a private tutor. So if you can schedule the time to do your test prep as well as the internship, Do it, but also you should find some time to do something else outside of test prep, like that’s a terrible summer.

So parents, if you’re a parent that’s on here, your students should not be doing test prep the entire summer. That prevents them from doing something else. So I’m hoping that you’re able to balance something else, whether it’s a little part time job, maybe it’s like babysitting, something else you should consider that.

Lydia: Great. One question is what medical opportunities are available in the summer?

Joanne: Oh, I think medical field may be the one that has the vast majority of internship opportunities. Typically local hospitals have them, even your small county hospitals. Um, like my sister works at the children’s hospital, they have a year round internship program and they actually run one for students during every break.

So if you have access to a a small hospital, ask them. Ask them if they take you as an internship. They don’t have an internship program. Write yourself a nice little letter, send it off to them, or if you’re looking at a, if you’re in a bigger city, it’s more often than not that they’ll have a dedicated internship program through the hospital.

Lydia: And for students that are interested in pre med, would it count against them or could it hurt their application if they aren’t able to secure a shadowing or internship opportunity at a hospital or with a doctor?

Joanne: No, because most likely you’re, if you end up doing pre med in Um, college, there is a required amount of shadowing hours, like most health studies, health sciences, you know, bio pre med people have to do X amount of shadowing hours in any case.

So maybe you didn’t get them in undergrad, in high school, but you’ll be able to get them in undergrad. It’s no deficit. It just is what it is for some people.

Lydia: Um, Another question we have is, do summer programs at colleges look good on an application or are they considered pay to play and not have much value?

Joanne: So I think there definitely is some pay to play, um, but I think that we try to be selective and informative and make sure that the playing field is, um, level for all. So yes, I think that there are like those. Grab them, get them, you know, take all, whoever. But a lot of the college programs typically will teach you something.

So even if you did pay 200 to be there, it’s likely that you’re getting something from that experience. That’s what we need you to write about.

Lydia: Got it. Another question we have from the audience is, do you know of any programs that are good for the summer that are related to nutrition or someone who wants to be a dietician?

Joanne: So one I can think of, um, I think students, so go to your school district, right? So like the school lunch program has to have Somebody from a nutritionist overseeing it or the local community college, college, private school, state school. They all have to have a, um, a specific person working in nutrition to oversee what that lunch program is.

So I would start there. Another easy one quick one. I know students don’t love this. Um, nursing homes, nursing homes have to have nutrition. It’s a big part of their daily life. So if you’re okay with old people and you want to get involved with them, that’s another great way for you to do that. And again, hospitals, um, I know more of those, like, what’s the word I’m looking for?

Uh, coaching kind of, um, practices are popping up where it’s like, uh, nutritionist, a doctor, an OB, you know, all the different things that you would need. So look at smaller private practices. They may provide some opportunities there too.

Lydia: Got it. Another question we have is how difficult is it to shadow or get internship opportunities in fields that are not as popular as those like.

medical internships and things like that.

Joanne: Yeah. I mean, I think the great part is if you have a field that you want to get into and you have a local organization that does that, we’re always looking for interns. People never turn down interns. There’s never a time in my life when, uh, you know, a PhD grad student is like, Hey, I would love to.

And I’m like, yes, perfect. We’ll see you on Tuesday. There are spaces for everyone. Um, So while I definitely talk a lot about, you know, the STEM field and the medical field, because typically that’s where most of the internships, um, opportunities are, there is an opportunity for everyone in every facet.

Like I said, my major was public relations. I knew that I was going into not for profit management. I didn’t, there was no internship program at the local domestic violence shelter. I just went and I said, Hey, this is what I’m really interested in. And I said, okay, if you’re mature and you can handle it, Cool.

And this was like back in the middle of the 2010s. So I know at this point, the internships have exploded for some of those smaller corporations and entities that need support from the outside.

Lydia: So we’re just going to take a brief break from the Q& A to remind you all that CollegeAdvisors team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts are ready to help you and your family navigate the college admissions process and one on one advising sessions. We’ve already helped over 6,000 clients in their college journeys and after analyzing our data since 2021, we found that CollegeAdvisors students are 3.6 times more likely to get into Stanford. 4.1 times more likely to get into Vanderbilt and 2.7 more times more likely to get into Harvard. So increase your odds and take the next step in your college admissions journey by signing up for a free 45 to 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team using the QR code on the screen.

During this meeting, we’ll review your current extracurricular list and application strategy, discuss how they align with your college list, and outline the tools you need to stand out in a competitive admissions world. All right, so getting back into the questions, uh, one question that a student had is, how can volunteering or community service in the summer impact a college application?

Is that seen as more valuable or less valuable than working or doing an internship?

Joanne: I think they all just kind of carry their own weight. Um, I personally love to see volunteering because it’s a part of our campus community. So it’s something that we specifically look for. So I don’t know that it carries more weight.

I just think it’s it holds its own. And, um, I think that every opportunity that you are able to get outside of your high school and to engage with somebody else, not your teachers on a daily basis will is meaningful to your future in your career.

Lydia: Got it. Another one is, how should students decide between a traditional summer job, like working at an ice cream shop, and a more prestigious summer program?

Joanne: Oh, I mean, I think like, if you’ve worked at that ice cream shop for six summers in a row, I can understand why you would want to continue working there your last summer. That makes sense to me. And again, you know, just make sure that somebody talks about that. Like you were the pillar of the summer crew and sold X amount of ice creams for the entire summer.

Like that’s really important. I’m, you know, we didn’t really touch on jobs. Um, they’re important. They help you save money for the future. So if that’s where your priority is, that’s where your priority is. We are not saying that You have to do summer experience. We’re saying it’s suggested, but if you already have a commitment, go with your commitment.

And if you can schedule to take a class online while you’re working at the ice cream shop, do it. That works too.

Lydia: Got it. So I know a lot of, Opportunities like summer jobs and summer internships tend to have a requirement even shadowing or interning at a hospital. A lot of them require that a student is at least 16.

Do you have any guidance for students that are freshmen or even as young as eighth grade? What should they be doing for the summer?

Joanne: Yeah, so that is a great question. And I think that they would be looking at mostly those volunteer things for now. So volunteering with a church group. Um, when I was a sophomore in high school, I used to read and help with math to the kids in the elementary school.

So I did that after school. I worked at a summer camp or not worked. I volunteered at a summer camp to help little kids. So there are still. Opportunities for students who are younger. There may, they may not be as official as you want, but they definitely still count. Anything that you do counts. It’s important.

Lydia: Another question that we have is for students who can’t afford expensive summer programs or unpaid internships that can’t afford to not be paid for their time. What alternatives would you recommend that can still make their application competitive? Thank you.

Joanne: Yeah, I mean, make the job work for you. So if you have a job that you’re getting hands on skills, whether it’s customer service, it’s answering emails, if you’re a cashier, can you count money?

Those are skills that we look at that you need in college that you need to be able to do. So if you have a job, power to you, do that job. And if you can volunteer throughout the year, do that too.

Lydia: And when a student is planning out their summer, is it? Better to look at a program that maybe is six, eight, ten weeks long and is more intensive, or is it good to consider maybe multiple shorter experiences that are only a week or two?

Joanne: I think that really depends on the student to be honest, like one of my students is we tell her she has adjustment disorder.

So like for her, we had to find an internship that was six weeks because doing something every week was not for her. It was not productive. She didn’t feel settled. It’s not the experience she wanted. So in her case, she’s like, I want something from July to the middle of August. That’s it. That’s all I want.

And then on the other hand, you have students who are like, Ooh, I can do four different things. Cool. And that works for them. So I think that question truly depends on the student.

Lydia: Got it. Do you have any advice for students who try a summer experience, whether it’s an internship or shadowing or volunteering and it’s in what they thought was their intended field, but they end up not liking it at all?

Should they still include that in their application or leave it out?

Joanne: I think they can, but they don’t have to rank it as high in their list of extracurriculars. Like, power to you for doing it and realizing you didn’t like it. You stuck it out. Like, you did it. So it still counts as something official you did, but you don’t have to rank it as high.

When we talk to our students, we always think about the order that we put the list of extracurriculars in. Um, and if it’s something that they did, but it wasn’t super impactful, we just put it towards the end if, if we still have space.

Lydia: Another question we have is For students who are interested in multiple fields, would you recommend having focused summers that stick or focus on one specific area or trying different experiences each summer or even in one single summer?

Joanne: Again, I think that question also depends on the student. Um, I mean, if you, if you can get three different experiences because you truly don’t know, and you’re okay with doing three different things.

What I don’t suggest is like hopping around from thing to thing to thing, just for the sake of doing that, I would say pick one or two things. You know, three max and go with those. Don’t do, you know, three weeks here, two days here, a day there. That’s not helpful to your growth.

Lydia: And how do admissions officers view self directed or self started summer projects like starting an unofficial small business or pursuing an independent research on their own compared to doing something through an actual organization or program?

Joanne: Yeah, I mean, I think it takes a lot of guts to start your own business or to like, start your own club or not for profit.

So to me, I think it looks good. Um, I always think though, it’s important to start that at a point in your life where you can carry it on. So like, that would be something to start freshman, sophomore year. Starting something your senior year, when you’re about to leave, may not really be as impactful because we don’t know if it can carry on.

But if you start it early enough in your high school career, it’s something that you can see for the next couple of weeks, months, years. That’s super awesome. Um, I think it’s cool. I mean, I never had the guts to do it. So power to you if you can. And then also recognizing that when we talked to, when I talked a little bit about COVID, you know, it was the fact that not everybody has access to do an official internship.

So we do have to give some, not some, we have to give credit to those students who are trying to kind of make it happen on their own. So power to you.

Lydia: Got it. Um, And another question that we have is, can you share any specific examples of a student that maybe did something seemingly ordinary, like had a regular summer job or even spent the summer watching their younger siblings, but was able to talk about that in a really compelling way in their application?

Joanne: Yeah. I mean, talking about babysitting your younger sibling, that’s a big Pretty huge responsibility for a young person, right? That is leadership. You, if you’re able to take your little brother or sister to the mall and help them to pick out a toy and go to a movie, that’s budgeting, that’s planning. So think of it a little bit differently.

Like out of the box. While, yes, you’re just watching a younger sibling and maybe they’re just watching TV, but you to plan out a day, not everybody can plan a day of activities for a young person. Not everybody can be responsible to hang out with the young person. So we have to kind of pivot that thinking that only the official kind of activities count and they don’t.

They, they count towards, of course, but we want to make sure that if you are a person that’s not able to do any of that stuff that know that you still are getting credit for what you’ve done. So think of a way to connect that essay with lessons that you’ve learned while, while, while watching that younger sibling or things you’ve experienced.

Those are all different ways to connect back to your application and your essay.

Lydia: Got it. And the last question I’ve got for you is what are some red flags or common mistakes that you’ve seen students make when talking about their summer experiences in their college applications?

Joanne: I would say not being super specific is always the thing.

Like, we want to know exactly what you did, how you did it, when you did it, how you felt, and what you learned. I think, um, just because you have some fancy internship doesn’t tell us what you did and doesn’t tell us what you learned from it. So you can name drop all you want, but unless you can put into words.

What you’ve gotten from the experience doesn’t really matter. So that’s what I was saying about keeping the journal. I know it’s annoying. Take like five minutes after every day and just jot down some information about the things that you did so that you can recall when you’re writing. Your internship experience should be awesome.

It should be exciting. Hopefully it’s fun. Um, so it should come to you very easily to, to reflect on.

Lydia: Oh, and I missed one other question that someone submitted, which is how are summer experiences weighted in comparison to Things that you do throughout the school year. Are they seen in the same light or is it not as important if you have a very low key summer if you’re engaged throughout the school year?

Joanne: That’s a great question. I think if you have a low key summer and you’re really engaged throughout the school year, that is awesome. You know, you’ve, you’ve been engaged. You put the pedal to the metal from September to June or July or May, depending on where you go. Um, so I think we can all recognize that.

And if you, again, the application is your way to tell us a story. So if you need to update us on something as to why you did it, why you didn’t do it, just tell us, right? Like say my summers were really spent just kind of vegging out and reading and getting caught up on my podcast because you. During the year, I participated in these things for this amount of hours, but here’s what I learned about, um, you know, self care during the summer, right?

Like, there’s definitely a way to spin that and, um, explain why maybe you took the foot off the gas for a little bit, and that’s okay.

Lydia: And on the flip side, can A really impressive summer experience help or save a student who is not as engaged during the school year.

Joanne: Yeah, I mean, if you’re not able to get something through the summer, I’m sorry, through the school year, but you can find something.

We just love to see that you did something truly. So if it only ends up being, you know, most of July and August, that’s okay. We recognize that you may have some other commitments during the school year that don’t allow you to get out and do the things you need to. Maybe you only have those six weeks of summer to do it.

It’s cool. It’s not a big deal, but um, try to do something if you can. If you’re not able to do it during the school year and you need something big in summer, then do it and do it big.

Lydia: That includes, that concludes our Q& A. Thank you so much, Joanne, for answering all of our questions. We had a really great time telling you all the audience about identifying summer opportunities and hopefully you’ll join us again later this month. Bye. Bye.