4. WORK EXPERIENCES
Every college application will have a separate space for students to identify what their work experiences have been during high school and summers. As with other activities, the choice of work doesn’t really matter; just about anything from babysitting to delivering newspapers to waiting on tables to camp counseling is legitimate. One suggestion is that you try to work in an arena that taps an interest or talent.

For example, if you are really into science, getting a job as a research assistant is consistent with your interests and makes sense. If you want to be a designer, then working for an architect, even a furniture store or a builder, is consistent and makes sense. If your heart’s desire is to be an entrepreneur, then working for any kind of business, significant or not, makes sense. Let’s say you want to be in the entertainment business: clearly your having a job as a “gofer” for a production company, as menial as it might be, really makes sense.

And it always makes sense for students to identify that they have spent time working in their family business whether that be a farm, an ice cream shop, a law firm, or a manufacturing plant.

Colleges pay a lot of attention to why you say you work. Some useful reasons include something as simple as “wanting to see what it is like to have a paid job,” or “looking for exposure to a possible career,” or “wanting to learn something or do something that you have never done before.”

5. SUMMER EXPERIENCES
Colleges are very interested in knowing how students spend their summer vacations. In fact, the farther along in high school you are, the more interested they are. What you do with the summer before your senior year seems to be especially important to college admissions officers. Once again, the specific activity you choose is not important, but the quality and rationale behind choosing it is. Also know that it doesn’t hurt to pursue one interest (such as working in a lab) for more than one summer.

adMISSION POSSIBLE® TIP! Any indication that you have done nothing with your summers but watch TV, get a good tan, or hang around at the mall will surely hurt your admission chances, no matter the college. However, don’t overload yourself with too much to do, or spend the entire summer working. After all, sum- mers are also a time for you to relax and enjoy yourself so that you can do your best during the regular school year!