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Make Your Summer Count: Smart Way to Plan Your Break
Anastasia Mordovskaya
6/15/20263 min read
When the last day of school before summer is over, it’s tempting to think of the next several weeks as just a giant pause button. While you definitely deserve some time to recharge, summer is also a massive, open-ended opportunity.
Colleges aren't just looking for students with good grades; they want to see who you are outside the classroom. They look for traits like commitment, hard work, and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone. The best part? At this stage, you don't need a fancy, expensive internship to impress them. To help you get started, websites like TeenLife are packed with excellent databases full of summer opportunities waiting to be explored.
Here are five excellent ways to plan a summer that is both rewarding for you and a major boost for your future college applications.
1. Get a Summer Job (Any Job!)
You might think that if you want to major in biology, your summer job has to be in a science lab. Guess what? It doesn't.
Whether you are helping out with a family business, working at a local coffee shop, flipping burgers, or doing some gardening, colleges love summer employment. The nature of the work matters much less than your level of responsibility and enthusiasm. Working a regular job proves you can show up on time, deal with customers, and handle real-world pressure.
Why This Matters for Applications: When it’s time to write your college essays or build your resume, you won’t just say "I sold coffee." You’ll focus on what you learned, how the experience shaped your personality, and how it helped you develop.
2. Give Back Through Volunteering
If finding a paid job isn’t an option, volunteering is just as powerful. Giving your time to a cause shows leadership, empathy, and a strong sense of community.
Look for opportunities that match your interests. You could help out at a local charity, organize a summer reading club for kids at your local library, or even start a weekly youth chess club in your neighborhood.
Why This Matters for Applications: Pursuing volunteering activities adds up to the commitment, leadership, and responsibility that colleges always look for. Doing something entirely on your own initiative proves to admissions officers that you don't wait for things to happen; you make them happen.
3. Explore Your Passions with College Courses
Curious about psychology, coding, or ancient history, but your high school doesn’t offer a class on it? Summer is the perfect time to explore.
You can take online courses offered by universities through platforms like Coursera and other open-academy sites. This lets you dive deep into topics you might want to study in the future, entirely at your own pace.
Why This Matters for Applications: Taking these courses shows genuine intellectual curiosity and a desire to expand your knowledge. It tells admissions officers that you love learning so much, you're willing to do it even when you aren't getting a high school grade for it.
4. Experience Campus Life Early
Many US colleges and universities offer specific summer programs designed for rising juniors and seniors. These programs do require a bit of early research and an application process, but they are absolutely worth the effort.
Attending a summer program gives you a first-hand taste of the college environment. You get to live (or study) like a college student, work with university faculty, explore academic fields at a deeper level, and make new friends from all over the world.
Why This Matters for Applications: It allows you to explore a college environment first-hand and demonstrates a proactive interest in higher education. It shows you are ready to transition into a university setting and handle advanced topics.
5. Master a New Skill or Hobby
You don't need a formal classroom setting to grow your mind. Summer is a clean slate to dive deep into a skill you’ve always wanted to try. You could teach yourself a programming language like Python, practice until you are conversational in a foreign language, learn to play an instrument, or train to run a half-marathon.
The key here is choosing something that requires real effort, patience, and consistency over those summer weeks.
Why This Matters for Applications: Committing to a self-guided goal highlights incredible grit, discipline, and personal growth. It shows admissions teams that you know how to set a long-term goal, break it down into daily practices, and stick with it entirely on your own—without a teacher grading your work.