Lakeside School

In the back-to-school edition of Inside Lakeside, Ari Worthman, director of college counseling, wrote about the need to shift our culture away from focusing on awards, titles, and credentials, and retraining students to search for meaning in what they do. In January, Frances Nan, explained what constitutes a “good” activity list. Last month, Bonnie Singh shared strategies for parents and guardians to support their students in reflecting on their activities and finding the why instead of just the what. Below is the fifth piece in a yearlong series addressing how to change our culture around students’ engagement in co-curricular activities — a refresher on summer activities in the college process. 

Throughout this year, the college counseling team has written extensively about the activities section of the college application. We’ve dug into the importance of choosing activities about which the student is passionate, writing about activities in a meaningful and values-based way, and supporting students as they reflect on their chosen activities. Yet I anticipate a question that might still be on everyone’s minds: “But what about summer activities?” Between February and April each year, many Lakesiders submit a flurry of applications to various summer programs ranging from academic experiences at colleges and universities around the country, to internships through companies or nonprofit organizations to research opportunities in different settings. And it’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy of searching for summer opportunities that look “good” to colleges. Last April, I wrote a piece explaining how college admission committees review summer activities and here we will revisit that piece as part of the college counseling Office’s activities and student engagement series. 

My transition from reading applications for Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) to counseling Lakeside students through the college application process came with many changes. I now have the opportunity to get to know students and their families on a more personal level, help them find their fit at the many wonderful institutions around the U.S. and the world, and write recommendation letters to advocate for each of them (rather than reading thousands each year — phew!) But one thing has remained consistent between my time at both institutions: the inevitable question, “What summer activities do colleges want to see on my application?” With summer quickly approaching, I offer insights on how the activities list is reviewed and suggestions on ways students and families can think about the summer months. 

At most highly selective colleges and universities, applications are composed of the following components: high school grades, standardized testing (if applicable), recommendation letters, essays, and the activities list. The activities list is one piece of the applicant’s story that can help admission readers develop a fuller picture of the applicant. (If you’d like to learn about the different components of the application, including the activities list, please watch the college counseling office’s videos: Components of an Application and Extracurriculars & Personal Qualities). 

As an application reader, I didn’t dig into the granular details of applicants’ activities but instead tried to understand how they spent their time. I reviewed their full list of activities, taking note of the specific activities in which they participated, the way they described the activity, and, sometimes, the hours they spent per week. Their brief description of each activity was the most important aspect of this application component because it helped me learn why applicants enjoyed their activities, what lessons they learned through those experiences, and how they interacted with others. For example, reading an applicant’s description of their participation in Model UN could help me learn how passionate they were about understanding global policy, how they navigated differing opinions when writing policy proposals with their teammates, or how they desired to learn about the many diverse cultures around the world.

But you may have noticed I haven’t even mentioned summer. Never did I or the admissions committee read an application and ask, “What exactly did this applicant do over the summer?” We were always more focused on the applicant’s four-year extracurricular experience because that demonstrated how the applicant might find community and become involved at WashU. Of course, if a student pursued a particular activity over the summer, we saw that. But it was considered alongside all their other activities to help inform their larger story — not considered solely on its own. 

There are exceptions; for example, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University ask applicants how they spent their recent summers. But the vast majority of highly selective colleges do not ask this question nor consider this information in this way.

Even with this explanation, I understand that students and families still want guidance on which summer activities to pursue. Colleges and universities do not look for specific activities within applications nor do they value certain extracurriculars over others. Application readers recognize that summer is an optimal time for students to explore new activities or dive deeper into activities they already do — whatever those may be. When speaking with Allison White, assistant director of admissions at University of Chicago, about summer activities in the college application, she shared, 

 “Colleges want to see a genuine portrayal of you and your interests in your application, so pursue activities that you find exciting, follow your passions, and learn something new. Don’t pursue an activity for the sole sake of it seeming ‘impressive.’”

As a college counselor, I often hear from students and families who are eager to apply for as many internships or research opportunities as they can in hopes that something will come through. And these are great options if that’s how the student wants to spend their summer. But often the focus on finding these opportunities is due to a misperception that colleges view internships and research as the most valuable or “impressive” activities. This is simply not true. If a student is uninterested in pursuing an internship or research, there is no obligation to do so. They can and should feel empowered to look beyond those types of experiences and recognize that substantial personal growth, learning, and experience can come from pursuing other activities. Students should not undervalue engaging in service throughout Seattle, working a part-time job at the ice cream shop, babysitting their younger family members, taking up a new craft, traveling with their friends or family, self-studying a subject that excites them, or reading books on their “to be read” list. And the possibilities go on and on. Pursuing activities that genuinely interest students will help pave the road to building activities lists that are authentic and compelling to admissions committees.

So as many of you begin to think about how students should spend the short yet liberating summer months, you do not need to focus on planning the summer minute-by-minute or finding an “impressive” opportunity. I hope that Lakesiders can reframe the way they think about the summer break, finding power in the freedom to choose an activity that excites and interests them, aligns with what they deem important, satisfies their ravenous curiosities, or simply adds joy to their summer weeks. 

Erin Foster is an associate director of college counseling at Lakeside School. Reach her and other members of the team at info@lakesideschool.site. Read more articles about college admissions on Lakeside’s college counseling blog.