By Dr. John Hight, BIM Student Advancement Manager

Students and parents ask all the time what they should be doing in the summer. The short answer is that students should use the summer to pursue their passions in meaningful ways. But don’t just take my word for it! Below, I’ve gathered quotes from admissions officers at schools from Duke to Yale to answer some of the most common questions about summer activities.

Question 1: What is the one thing a student can do in the summer that will best maximize their chances of getting into a top school?

I’ll let Mark and Hannah, the Yale admissions officers behind the excellent Yale Admissions Office podcast, answer this one:

“We have heard about parents who will turn their families’ lives upside down, and they might even throw money at people who claim to tell them what a student should do. So we want to try to keep things very simple and clear. You don’t need to do anything like that. Making yourself miserable, overextending yourself, spending your time doing things that you, as an applicant, don’t care about– it’s not going to help you get into college. In fact… approaching things with that kind of attitude will probably hurt your chances…

“Don’t make any decisions about what you do in high school based on how it’s going to look on your college application. We get most excited when we see genuine interest and excitement and commitment. Not when we see a particular formula or collection of activities…

“You should be active at the right level for you, doing what you like. That’s the simple advice.”

Question 2: But surely all summer activities aren’t created equal. Let’s say a student has multiple options for activities that they enjoy, how does that student decide what to do?

For all extracurriculars – whether in the summer or the school year – admissions officers are looking for the same three things. Richard Clark at Georgia Tech calls them involvement, investment, and impact. Or put a slightly different way by the Yale Admissions Podcast, “it’s about commitment, time, impact, even on a small scale.”

Let’s look at these one by one.

Question 3: Okay, sure… but if I had to pick ONE thing to maximize my chances, what should it be? I’ve heard you need to do scientific research to get into a top university. And maybe found an NGO, too. Should I do that?

For this one, I’m going to quote at length from Chris Peterson, an admissions officer at MIT, who writes their excellent Admissions Blog.

“There is nothing, literally nothing, that in and of itself will get you in to MIT.

“For example: A few years ago, we did not admit a student who had created a fully-functional nuclear reactor in his garage.

“Now, most students, when I tell them this story, become depressed. After all, if the kid who built a freakin’ nuclear reactor didn’t get in to MIT, what chance do they have? But they have it backwards. In fact, this story should be incredibly encouraging for most students. It should be liberating. Why? Because over a thousand other students were admitted to MIT that year, and none of them built a nuclear reactor!

“I don’t mean to discourage anyone from pursuing incredible science and technology research on their own. If you want to do it, DO IT. But don’t do it because you think it’s your ticket to MIT. And that applies to everything you do – classes, SATs, extracurriculars.

“There is no golden ticket.”

Question 4: What about summer programs at prestigious colleges? Won’t going to summer school at Harvard or the University of Chicago give me a better chance of getting in?

“[Students who attend our summer program] don’t have a better chance nor do they have a worse chance. We’ve had that policy in place for a long time. In the past, we did an informal study. The only thing I remember about it definitively was that the admission rate for summer school students was very similar to the pool as a whole.” —William Fitzsimmons, Harvard Dean of Undergraduate Admissions

“[Parents should] understand select summer programs vs summer experiences that have hefty price tags. There is no need to spend thousands of dollars on summer programs.” —Susan Semonite, Duke Associate Director of Admissions

In short: the more you spend, the less likely it is to move the needle with college admissions. At BIM, we regularly include quality summer opportunities in our college counseling newsletter. We are also happy to work with students individually to find ways to explore their area of interest.

Question 5: I’ve heard that colleges want students to have a focus for their application. I want to dance, but the focus of my application is on my desire to be a doctor. Should I make everything about that?

“Myth number one, Yale is looking for applicants who have a very clear plan for professional success after college.

“So if you spend your application space trying to convince us that you are on this vector towards professional success, we might read that and say, ‘Hey, great. Good for you. You could do that at lots of different universities. Nothing about that in particular, your success plan, actually makes it seem like you’re a good fit for our experience specifically.’” —“Inside the Yale Admissions Office”

Or, as Jeannine Lalonde, The University of Virginia Associate Dean of Admissions, puts it:

“Activities don’t have to be related to each other. Activities don’t have to be related to your academic interests. Activities should be rewarding, interesting, and fun. You shouldn’t be afraid to try something because it doesn’t fit into a strategy.”

Again: Students should do activities they are interested in and find rewarding. Period. That is the best strategy.

Question 6: I get that students should invest time in things they are interested in and try to make a difference, rather than doing things they think will look good. But do you have any specific advice for potential summer activities?

The Emory admissions blog has a concise, helpful list:

1. Volunteer in your community
2. Work: Internship or summer job
3. Learn: Take a summer course
4. Grow: Hone your skills

To that, I would add two more: visit colleges to get a feel for the sort of campus you like or do your OWN independent research.

And remember: if a student wants more guidance on potential summer activities, they can always reach out to the College Counseling department. It’s what we’re here for!

I’ll conclude with one more quote from Chris Peterson at MIT:

“Find what you love, and do it. Maybe it’s a sport. Maybe it’s an instrument. Maybe it’s research. Maybe it’s being a leader in your community. Math. Baking. Napping. Hopscotch. Whatever it is, spend time on it. Immerse yourself in it. Enjoy it.”

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