Summer is the time that students look forward to all year. The months-long break allows students to relax and have liberty in how they spend their time.

Ambitious students prepare for college over their summer vacation, especially for rising upper-level students who prepare for standardized tests, revise their college essays and work on completing college applications.

Summer is a perfect time to take college trips because once the school year starts, there isn’t enough time to travel.

Some current juniors shared their summer plans and how they are going to prepare for the school year ahead.

Taking courses at some of the nation’s top colleges seems to be a popular avenue for many.

“I’m taking a biomedical ethics class at Wash U [St. Louis]” junior Ben Rodgers said. The course will be conducted online and will span over a few weeks.”

Washington University in St. Louis is one of the top colleges in the country, especially for programs in the natural sciences and STEM.

Courses like the one Ben describes are a great way to concentrate on a specific area of study that is unlikely to be offered at high school.

Similarly, junior Molly Newell will take part in a summer program starting this June. Molly says she “will be attending the NYU pre-college on Zoom at home.

“The NYU pre-college program is a summer school for the NYU students opened to juniors and seniors in high school across the country.”

Working and learning among actual college students introduces a unique and special chance to gauge college-life experiences, even if that experience may take place on Zoom.

Molly is using this opportunity to gauge how she likes the “learning style” and “environment” of NYU and if she can see herself at the school as a college student.

Demonstrating an expressed interest in a college is one way that admissions officers can understand the extent to which a student wants to attend their school. Participating in a program lead by that college is a prime method of communicating interest.

Rising senior, Jack Shiebler, shares his summer schedule, which will consist of a “civil engineering course at UCSB” that will be “a mix of both [online and in-person learning].”

Jack said that this summer, he will “be studying for the ACT and writing college papers.”

Although challenging, summer presents an excellent opportunity to invest time into SAT/ACT preparation while working hard on college applications and essays for college admissions.

Since there is no distraction from other school work during the summer, it is a prime time to take advantage of and start the college application process.

Whether participating in programs over zoom or in person, immersing oneself in extracurricular activities of some kind during the open months of summer distinguishes students in the large pool of applicants to highly selective colleges and universities.