Things College Students Should Do During The Summer
During quarantine, I found myself with so much more free time than usual. And I decided put that time into growing my social media channels and creating content. Im working on my side hustle, which generates a small income for me. While, some of my friends were watching Netflix all day It made me realize two things: time is money & how important my side hustle is for me. Can you imagine how many things you could do if you limit your Netflix time to only a couple hours a week or if you stop endlessly scrolling through social media? Dont get my wrong, I love Netflix, but I also think it is a waste of time if youre spending multiple hours a day on it without learning much. So, here are 15 things you can do as a college student during the summer to further your career and set yourself up for success.
Honestly, I have no idea what I would be doing if I didnt have this side hustle it is pretty much what drives me. This summer, since Im not taking any classes, I have decided to take on 4 internships. Ill be writing an article all about internships, so stay tuned!
Figure Out Dorm Necessities
Most college students plan to live in a dorm over their freshman year. So its important to find out what dorm materials are actually necessary and arent going to just take up space. A good idea would be to make a list of all the dorm necessities you will need, and then cross them off when you get them and have them packed. There are a lot of items that people think they need, but end up just getting in the way. Some of these items include:
- Printers
- TV
- Over-the-top decor
While these items seem practical when you purchase them, they rarely get used over the school year. These items then just become extra expenses that didnt need to be purchased. However, make your dorm room your own its your home! If you are wondering what to bring and what you can leave behind, visit this article to find out more.
Do You Have A Plan For Applying To College
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As seniors acceptance letters pour in and they begin to make their final college decisions, the concept of senior year and all that accompanies it is probably heavy on many juniors minds. The late November to early January application deadline most schools impose is likely already looming large on juniors schedules, and while the prospect of being at the top of the social hierarchy is exciting, the additional responsibilities that accompany club or sports team leadership can be nerve-wracking.
Whether you feel like youre not quite ready to be a senior or that senior year couldnt come fast enough, theres no denying that it can be one of the most challenging years of students high school careers. Balancing college applications with the academic and extracurricular demands of senior year can be tricky, but its easier if you take steps over the summer to make sure you start off prepared. Armed with our list, youll enter senior year ready to take on the world.
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Practice Some Adulting Skills
College life means more independence and more responsibility for day-to-day tasks, like doing your laundry or getting the oil changed in your car. Take advantage of any extra time you have this summer to master these and other adulting skills. Youll thank yourself when you always have plenty of clean underwear.
Start Packing Your College Bags
When it comes to packing for college, it can be difficult to know where to start. How many outfits should you pack? What about shoes, sheets, and towels? Without a checklist, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. Even worse if you get to college and realize that you have forgotten something.
To prevent a packing disaster, start early. Make a packing list of everything you need, from your toothbrush to notebooks and pencils. This will ensure that you do not have to run around the first day itself looking for these essentials.
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Find A Tv Series To Binge Together
Of course, youll want to spend some quality time together before your child runs off for college. However, thats probably not your students priority. The summer before college is the traditional time to get in a much time with high school friends as possible so you might need to try to find a way to get in your quality time without imposing on the time with friends.
Why not try picking a show to binge and watch one or two episodes every night before your student heads out for the evening? Heres a great list of bingeable shows.
Tidy Up Your Social Media Presence
As long as youre getting a clean physical bill of health, you should also consider the importance of a healthy virtual presence. Were not suggesting your history includes anything stupid, embarrassing, or illegal, with snapshot proof posted online for the planet to see. But just in case, its time for an online stroll through your digital past. Perhaps youve got some deleting to do. Consult your Facebook timeline and Instagram history for anything a future professor, mentor, or employer might find objectionable, or even just worthy of open mockery. This is a good reminder, before you transition into the real world, that what you post publicly can and will be seen by everybody. Clean it up!
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Expert Tip #: Get Some Zzz’s
Effective preparation can truly set you up for success, but using every moment of your summer working tirelessly toward improving your college experience could potentially do you more harm than good. In fact, many of the experts we talked to had one piece of advice in common that’s important to reprint here, even if it isn’t the easiest thing on which to take quantifiable action.
What’s that consensus tip, you ask? It’s simpler than you might imagine.
Get some rest.
College life can be pretty strenuous for a first-year student, and if you constantly stress yourself out yourself preparing for it you might end up starting the semester already exhausted.
College life can be pretty strenuous for a first-year student, and if you constantly stress yourself out yourself preparing for it you might end up starting the semester already exhausted. You’ve got friends and family to spend time with and, chances are, plenty of self-reflection to do. While you’re preparing to become the best person you can be, it’s important to remember to take some time to care for the person you already are.
Things To Do The Summer Before You Start College
You’ve just graduated high school, and have been accepted at a college or university. You’ve worked hard, you’re savoring your accomplishments and summertime is at hand. You may feel like downshifting into a few lazy months before heading off for your first year of college. It’s tempting to spend most of your time hanging out with friends and family. But if you use the next three months wisely, they can make a big difference in getting your undergraduate career off to a strong start.
As a college president, I offer the following summer-before advice to rising first-years and their parents.
1. Read.
Make a reading list and start it now. Read for your own enjoyment. Take this opportunity to delve into worlds beyond you. Read a classic you neglected in high school or pick up some timely non-fiction. I recall being anxious about college, so I checked out all the library books I could find about college.
2. Organize your schedule thoughtfully and keep on track.
While it is wonderful to have a summer of “freedom,” college and work require self-discipline and time management. You may be working for pay or volunteering or both. That’s great. But remember to plan time for reading, exercising and hanging out. Start getting into the rhythms of independence now. That includes regular waking and sleeping hours. Come September, no parent or family member will be your alarm clock, scheduler or nudge.
3. Work.
4. Make a budget.
5. Explore career paths.
6. Focus on healthy living habits.
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Start Your Sat Or Act Test Prep
Summer is a great time to explore the ACT vs SAT, practice for the PSAT, or ramp up your study schedule. Pick up a prep book, take an online prep course, or find a test prep tutor to help you manage your time. Test prep keeps your brain active so youre in tiptop shape to head back to school in the fall.
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Getting To Know Your Likes
You can get a better sense of what your interests are and what career paths you might want to pursue. Knowing these things early on will be very beneficial when it comes time for you to decide a major. Although it seems like a long way off, dedicating your time to work experience will help clarify what type of career suits you best!
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Get Smart About Your Extracurriculars
In general, when colleges review your extracurricular involvement on your college application, they are looking for deep engagement in a few activities. This means not simply participating in various clubs as the whim strikes, but rather selecting a handful of important activities and pursuing them deeply.
This might mean participating in the same sport for four years and eventually reaching a leadership position on the team. It could also mean being an active member of your schools honor society and organizing a major fundraiser for it your junior year. Or, it may simply mean engaging in the same service project each year and forming meaningful relationships with those involved.
The important thing is that your involvement in these activities is not superficial. You choose what is genuinely important to you and you dedicate yourself to it.
The summer before sophomore year is a great time to consider which activities youre involved in, and make a mindful choice about whether you should continue your involvement. Narrow your involvement down to three or four extracurriculars so that youll have the time and energy to pursue them with passion.
Make A Family Communication Plan
Whether youre attending school across town or across the country, the way you communicate with your parents is likely to change. For some families, a simple good morning text once a day, or every few days, is enough to stay connected, while others might talk or text multiple times a day.
To avoid conflicts and communication mishaps during college, consider talking to your parents now, about how and how often you plan to communicate with each other. Think about how much communication you might need to stay connected to your family, but also maintain your sense of privacy and independence. Ask your parents how often theyll want to check in with you. Parents may expect more contact with them during your first few weeks of school, as well as in certain situations, like if you get sick, if youre feeling homesick, or if youre struggling in a class. Some families even set up a communication contract to help define communication boundaries and expectations.
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What Not To Do Before You Leave Your Teen At College
1. Dont over insert yourself.
Let your graduate be in charge of class schedules ,roommate decisions, and other logistics. Offer your suggestions, but make sure they are just that: suggestions. Let their decisions stick. This is their experience, not yours.
No matter how much you want to hide the depressing cinder blocks with a cute gallery wall or throw 12 fuzzy throw pillows on their bed, this is their space. Sadly, its not an excuse for you to unleash your inner Joanna Gaines.But having said those things
3. Dont let them leave you out entirely.
Its a fine line between giving them the space and respect they need and still participating in their choices. Walk it carefully, like a tightrope, but still walk it. I mean, especially since youre the one whos paying for all of it .
4. Dont get too caught up in the checklists.
Make sure to take time to ENJOY things with your graduate this summer that have nothing to do with college.
5. Dont spend all summer worrying about how youll feel at drop-off.
Be present. Listen, you may cry buckets in August, or you may not: leave whatever emotions youll have for later or youll rob the days you have left.
6. Dont forget to make reservations for their Thanksgiving trip back home.
If they are taking the train or flying, reservations at this key travel time will book up quickly.
7. Dont leave everything until the last minute.
8. Dont sweat the small stuff.
9. Dont bring your graduate down.
Use Social Media With A Purpose
Social media can be so addicting, but it can also be a powerful tool to further educate yourself. For example, on Tik Tok there is so many fun videos, but there is also a lot of educational ones. Whether it is about fashion, skincare, finance or anything you want to learn more about. You can definitely gain insight from people working in the field you want to work in, in the future.
This seems ironic coming from me since Im a influencer. But, I go on social media with a purpose at least most of the time. I go on instagram to post a photo, post stories and to engage with those who follow me and to find new inspiring accounts. I dont like wasting time. Time is the only thing youll never be able to get back or get more of.
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College Life Action Items
This bucket addresses the foundation of your college life. Where will you live? Who will you live with? What sort of meal plan will fuel you? This is another time-driven section. Whether you live on campus or not, you will likely encounter competition for the most desirable living situations. In other words, youll need to act quickly!
- Secure a parking permit: If you plan on taking your car to school, your university will likely require that it be properly permitted and registered with the schools transportation office. Check your schools website.
Finalize Your Outstanding Payments
Make sure youre up-to-date with any outstanding bills.
Before move-in, make sure that any outstanding housing or tuition payments are made. You should start receiving these bills over the summer from most schools. Dont wait until the last second to pay, as your housing assignment could be jeopardized by late payment.
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Sign Up To The Orientation
The best way to introduce yourself to your institution is to go to freshman orientation. Because orientations tend to be dense with information, its a good idea to look into what campus life will be like and what extracurricular activities interest you before attending. Being active on campus is a great way to make friends freshman year!
Expert Tip #: Score A Short Internship
Studies have shown that between 60 and 80 percent of students change their major at least once while in school, and one of the main reasons why students make the switch is disillusionment â that is, the realization that the reality of the major they initially declared isn’t quite what they imagined it would be.
Taking on a short summer internship can give you a better picture of the professional side of your major, but the steps you need to take to get one may not be common knowledge.
Taking on a short summer internship can give you a better picture of the professional side of your major, but the steps you need to take to get one may not be common knowledge. Hans Hanson, national college advisor and co-founder of CollegeLogic, has some detailed advice for anyone who wants to try an internship on for size before their first full semester begins:
“Create a student-profile sheet, a brief introductory video, and a personal statement,” Hanson says. “This is a personal marketing package and it reflects serious intent. Do a Google search on companies related to the field of study, call the company direct and email them the personal marketing package.”
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