Ah, summer. The most wonderful of seasons. A time that frees up about seven hours a day for high school students to laze around and enjoy themselves by going to the pool, playing video games, or sleeping in until the clock reads PM. Definitely not the time to be thinking about college ...
OR IS IT?!
The fact of the matter is, summer is an essential time that should be used to students' advantage when it comes to preparing for the next phase of their lives. Although there are commitments that everyone has, such as a club sports team or family vacation, there's still so much more free time available to you than in the remaining nine months of the year, since you don’t have to be in a classroom from 8:00-3:00 five days a week.
Some of those freed up hours can be used to your benefit by the time the freight train that is the final semester of senior year pulls onto the platform to whisk you away to college.
Here are some things that students should consider doing with the rest of the summer:
PURSUE A PASSION
More than ever, colleges are interested in admitting students who are the kind of motivated, passionate individuals that will help a campus thrive.
That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be an All-State basketball player who can also perform Beethoven’s 5th on the violin, but admissions officers are searching for something that makes a student stand out.
Using your free time over the summer to shadow a Physical Therapist, intern at Pitt, or work on your art portfolio are the types of activities that will be looked at favorably on a college application.
Career Cruising should have given you an idea of some career paths that might interest you, so you can use that as a starting point when considering what you are going to explore this summer
RESEARCH SCHOOLS YOU'RE INTERESTED IN
With the power of the internet, you're able to learn a great deal about schools from the comfort of your air-conditioned living room, at no cost.
Using our "School Selector" tool on Career Cruising, you can compile a list of schools that fit your academic needs. You should then visit the schools' official websites, where you can learn everything (really, everything) else you could want to know, ranging from how many dining halls there are on campus, to what the male-to-female student ratio is, to the school’s motto. Some colleges even have interactive campus tours that you can take online.
Also, take the time to visit the school’s secondary sites, like the Athletics site, Student Newspaper, or Facebook page. These will give you an even better idea of the campus culture and whether the school may be a good fit for you.
KEEP YOUR MIND SHARP
Have you ever heard the phrase, “Your brain is a muscle, it has to be exercised to keep it strong?"
Everyone has had that moment where you’re sitting in your first math class after summer vacation and the teacher asks everyone how to solve for X and no one has any recollection of the steps involved to do so. Knowledge fades over time if you aren’t required to use it for anything.
However, if you use Method Test Prep consistently over the summer, you can keep your mind sharp so that when your teacher asks these questions on the first day of class, you can be the hero they always dreamed would walk through their door.
Method Test Prep is very helpful in preparing for the SAT and ACT, and everyone knows how important those are when it comes to getting a foot in the door at the school of your dreams.
The more time you spend on the site, the more familiar you will be with the content and format of the exams, thus raising you scores and your chances of being accepted to the right colleges. Seems like a no-brainer, right?
So, what will you do to make the most of your summer? Leave your comments below!
Jeremy, Data Specialist
