Planning your summer
There's hope ahead. If you're staring out the window at fresh snow, but summer is just a few months away and planning now will allow you to have some fantastic experiences. Here are some options to consider.
Work - Colleges love this, it shows dependability, great habits, motivation, and the ability to interact with multiple constituencies. Work can be anything -- waiting tables, working in a gallery, apprenticing with an artist, or teaching. A film student spent part of her summers as a JV Water Polo coach, she was just accepted at Dodge College of Film and Media Arts with a $20,000 a year merit scholarship, so yes, colleges love students who work, and it doesn't have to be in your art. If you are applying for a job start preparing your resume now. A few other bonuses: some jobs can provide you with your spending money at college, work experiences are great for college essays, and you may want to return during college to keep earning money.
Pre-college programs - These programs, held by colleges nationwide, allow students to have experiences unavailable to them during the normal academic year. For seniors you may have the opportunity to focus on your portfolio or audition materials needed for your college applications. The programs may also allow you to:
Try classes and media that might not be available at school. There are programs for photographers to try darkroom work, fashion designers to try performance/costume design, musicians to work with filmmakers, all opportunities you may not find during the academic year.
Meet other students with similar interests who are at your creative level. Lifelong friends and collaborators can be found at these programs, they will share your enthusiasm and help bolster your spirits as you write your applications.
Experience being on your own in a college environment. This allows students to see what type of environment they like, you may think you love being around actors 24/7 but learn you miss being able to discuss business or psychology.
Acceptance into some pre-college programs may be as competitive as their associated college programs, and may require submitting portfolios or audition materials. One caveat, attending college programs does NOT extend to being admitted to that school, most schools are very specific in this regard. Read more about pre-college programs at our blog and see our list of programs students have attended and loved here.
Don't discount remote options, while you may be sick of online classes, a benefit is that they can provide an opportunity to attend a program and work, or attend two programs from different schools, so while the valuable component of in person education is missing, this is a silver lining. Programs without the residential component are often much less expensive as well.
TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND RECHARGE - we really can't stress this enough, especially for seniors who will have an intense first semester of juggling academics and applications. Bring your sketchbook to the beach and practice your still life technique, or bring some watercolors and try some landscapes. If you know you'll have monologues to perfect read some plays, filmmakers, watch some movies you haven't had time to watch. Build some down time into your summer schedule and you will thank me in the fall.
If you need help planning summer activities, set up a meeting today, here's our calendar.