Well, it’s March and Spring Break is almost upon us! And you know what that means…time to start thinking about summer vacation!  For most teens, now is the time  they are starting to think about sleeping in, hanging out with their friends at the beach, and not worrying about their homework.  However, for a college-bound teen, now is the time to really start thinking about how you can make the most of this time off!

Today, that means Summer Camps!

I want you to to look at your summer through the eyes of an admissions counselor.  How do you spend your time off, and does this help to show what you are interested in?  What types of interests do you have? If you think that you have an idea about what you want to study in college, summertime is the best time to experiment! Summer is not the time to pad your resume with meaningless experiences just so you can say that you did them.  Summer is a time for you to really look into what it is that interests you!

Have you heard of the website Collegexpress.com? This is a great website for you to do some research on colleges: size, what majors they offer, athletic programs, ranking, scholarships, etc.  In addition, this website is a great place to start your search for a summer camp, near or far, for you to delve into an experience that will help shape your future, and your future college choice/major.

My son, JP, is a college freshman right now.  Three years back, he expressed an interest in Marine Biology.  I started my search at http://www.collegexpress.com/articles-and-advice/summer-programs/, looking for a summer camp experience involving Marine Biology. I checked out a few that were listed on this site, and then found a camp offered at Sea World.  This 5 night camp offered a hands-on look at Sea World jobs, which is exactly what he was thinking he would like to do.  He spent two summers at this camp. Listening to the trainers getting choked up explaining the criticism they have received really affected him, so much so that he used these feelings when writing his Common App essay to apply to colleges. I sent him to this camp to explore and investigate his interest, before he had to pick a major. The added bonus was being able to use that experience in his writing as well.

Sleeping in and recharging your “batteries” before the next school year is good too, but just know that you can’t get that time back.  See if there is a way you can spend some of your summer trying out something new!