For thousands of high school students, summers offer more of a chance to perfect their resumes for college and less of a chance to simply lay by the pool. In fact, for many students, it’s become almost as stressful of a time as the academic year.
If your student is considering going abroad, there’s good news: universities overseas have a much more reasonable set of expectations when it comes to how to spend a summer, and are quite focused on mental health. That’s not to say that they aren’t interested in making sure that your child isn’t just wasting time on social media, but they get the importance of a break.
For that reason, we put together three of the best things that a student can do to set themselves apart from others with their international applications, as well as the two things we wish students would stop doing.
Great Idea #1 – Get a Job
As a parent, you might think that I’m playing to you in suggesting that your child get a summer job, but the fact is that international universities love to see students who have work experience. In fact, the British UCAS application doesn’t have a place for extracurriculars on the application, but it devotes a whole section to work history.
Any job works; the skills and responsibility learned from having a job are a winner no matter what. But for those who really want to stand out, find a job in something that they’d be interested in studying or doing as a career. Even if it’s just opening mail and getting coffee, seeing how the work is done can greatly enhance their application.
Great Idea #2 – Read
This one shouldn’t be much of a surprise; international universities place a huge emphasis on academics and independent study, so they love to hear that students are reading about their prospective fields during their time off. Whether it is reinforcing concepts or just trying to get ahead, this works wonders. In fact, some Oxbridge colleges even provide reading lists that they encourage students to pick a few titles from before applying.
Additionally, because universities know that you can do anything during the summer, they love to see the self-startedness and passion evidenced by reading outside the curriculum. Devoting a part of your personal statement to this will make sure that you stand out.
Great Idea #3 – Get Ahead
I’m a big believer in mental health and taking time off, as are international universities. However, sometimes it can be to a student’s advantage to take a course to get ahead. The classic example of this is for students looking to take either a foreign language course or math course to get access to an AP level class.
This can, like reading above, be a great opportunity to demonstrate interest in a field of study. It also puts other fields into reach; for most engineering programs, for example, students will need Calc BC. This allows students to master Calculus AB concepts over the summer.
Bad Idea #1 – Doing Too Much
Now let’s look at the bad ideas. Unlike American universities, overseas universities largely don’t care about extracurriculars. Packing your child’s schedule just results in burnout and fatigue. There’s nothing wrong with making sure that they aren’t just sitting at home doing nothing, but students need down time.
Instead of loading them down, focus on helping them find meaningful activities that they will enjoy, especially those that will either engage a different part of them than the normal academic year, or let them explore something that they are passionate about.
Bad Idea #2 – Pay to Play
This one frustrates me to the core. A number of providers offer summer enrichment courses, with the ones that I’m most frequently asked about being at Oxford or Cambridge. While these can be fun and can help a student determine if they like Oxbridge, they are not an authentic college experience. Additionally, admissions readers won’t be impressed.
If your student is interested in something like this, look for other alternatives. Contacting a local professor can be much more cost effective, and can also result in a better outcome.
No matter what your student decides to do this summer, make sure that they have time to recharge their batteries and have a relaxing, though not boring, summer. As always, if you have any questions, or think that going abroad is a great choice for your child, we’re happy to help!