Make the most of your Summer – Edition 2 (Grade 11 / Rising Juniors)

Continuing with the Game of Thrones references in our Summer Series (check out the last one here), 11th Graders and Rising Juniors, this second set of the Three Part Series on how to make the most of your summer is for YOU!!

College seems like next year’s problem, but now is the time to start! So get set, get ready, because summer time is here and we have tips for you on what you can do to be ready for college admissions.

1) University Visits

You probably JUST got done with Grade 10 boards and for a treat, your parents are taking you to (_____INSERT COUNTRY HERE____) Whether US, UK, Europe or Canada, use this summer to go visit colleges so you can understand them better. Even if you aren’t travelling far, venture to Delhi University or NID in Ahmedabad or Ashoka in Sonipat or the tiny college near your aunt’s place in New Jersey. It’s important to start acquainting yourself with colleges now, whether in person by visiting or virtually by checking out their website and videos. For tips on how to make the most of your college visits, check out an earlier blog post here.

2) ACT / SAT diagnostic

Once the college admissions process starts, you’ll realize that there are acronyms! Acronyms galore! But these two Acronyms – ACT and SAT – are super important standardized tests you need for the college admissions process. But before you just blindly follow what other people are doing (Sharma uncle’s son did the SAT….) take a diagnostic this summer. Figure out what you’re good at and then start studying for it. You should really plan to take your first attempt this fall (Oct / Nov / Dec for SAT and Sept / Oct / Dec for ACT). Need some help figuring out the tests, see this.

3) Summer Schools

While the reaction to Summer Schools ranges from “Aww man” to “Yay!” there is definitely value in them. How much? That calls for another, longer post. In short – competitive summer schools, like SUMaC are a valuable indicator of a student’s capability but non-competitive ones don’t help in admissions. They do help in other ways including helping a student understand and prepare for the college-level curriculum, explore their interests (and show admissions what they do to follow them) and learn about universities first hand! But no need to head to the most expensive summer schools money can buy, colleges are coming to us! Whether its Ashoka‘s High School Program, UChicago or MIT, they are here, so make the most of them.

4) Internships

I see this reaction a lot. In fact, there are times when I think about high school students getting internships and I think of the scene in Dil Dhadakne Do when the Aunty Brigade is gossiping away and Priyanka Chopra ticks them off – “GET A JOB.” And her aunt looks up: “Paagal hogayi? Kya hamein kaun job dega? (Are you mad? Who would give us a job?)” But an internship is a great fit for a student who is looking for more specific insight into a particular industry or company, who wants to figure out what it means to be an Engineer or a do Genetics research. To get the experiences that will help guide your education and build a network of people you may want to work with some time in your life. There are a few places that will hire high school interns, however, your parents or school may be able to facilitate shadowings as well.

5) Start a Blog

Whether it’s an interest in writing poems or commenting on the political world around you, or even cataloguing your fun chemistry experiments, a blog is a great way to share your thoughts with a larger audience. While grades and test scores are important, blogging allows you to document your experiences and demonstrate your interest in a particular field. But starting a blog in October of the year you’re going to apply is BAD. That signals that you just woke up and created an artificial interest for the sake of admissions. Instead, start NOW! Create your domain (WordPress and Blogger are great) and define your topic. Remember to stay regular. For tips and tricks on a good blog, stay tuned for an upcoming post.

6. Do Something different

Frank Bruni’s NY Times Article saying that Stanford took 0% Applicants was the scariest April Fools Joke (because it could be true in a few years!), but he brought up a good point. The article says – “In the stack of applications that I reviewed, I didn’t see any gold medalists from the last Olympics — Summer or Winter Games — and while there was a 17-year-old who’d performed surgery, it wasn’t open-heart or a transplant or anything like that.” While we don’t want you to use your brother as a guinea pig for surgery, use the summer to step out of your comfort zones. Whether its learning acro-yoga or organic farming or even working in sanitation, do something different!

7. Study

Grade 11 / Junior Year is NOT the time to slack off, especially if you’re applying abroad. While colleges in the US and Canada look at your grades across 9, 10, 11 and till your grade 12 midterms, Grade 11 is the last full academic year they get to see on your transcript and so it’s VERY IMPORTANT. Get ahead of class, or work hard on subjects that are tough for you. Pick up a book and study!