This post may contain affiliate links. Please check out my privacy policy and disclosure policy.
SCHOOLS OUT FOR THE SUMMER!
Woo-hoo! You’ve moved out of your dorm room and are headed home for the next 3 months or so, or maybe living in town near your university to practice your independence skills.
Okay, so now what? You have 3 months to do….nothing?
No, a productive student will do something (or at least the nerd and resume-oriented person that I am did stuff!)
“What can I do? It’s the summer! I only have 3 months and the weather is so fun. Beach trips, right?”
No…well yes, do go to the beach and have some fun, but also get some productive stuff in.
This list of 5 things will help put some ideas in your head to keep your brain active (so in the fall you don’t struggle), boost your resume and help you have fun and be productive during the 3 months.
Please keep in mind, some of these you can’t choose to do last minute, so start planning in the spring, if not fall semester before the summer!
1. Internship
The big one for college students is to get an internship over the summer. These can range from being just a month to a 10-12 week internship. This will require a lot of planning on your part, or it can. First you need to find internships that are in your field as you generally don’t intern in other fields. Internships are like jobs and are a great way to boost your resume and get professional experience. A lot of internships don’t pay so you will need to plan how you will fund your travels to and from your work location. You will need to see how many hours are required from you each week. Some only want you for 10 hours a week while others may want a full 40 hours (generally those ones will pay because there’s laws ya know!).
You need to realistically think how much time you are willing to give up. Remember, the weather will be nice, your friends may want to do stuff and you need to rest too.
A lot of internships open the semester before they want you so you do need to plan in advance. You might be lucky and be able to find some last minute ones but these will require more planning on your part.
If your internship doesn’t give money, look to see if they will give you academic credit. You may be able to fill an elective or one of your required classes with your internship. But remember to see if you need to pay extra. Students on scholarships don’t generally get scholarships to cover in the summer so you may need to pay out of pocket. It may be worth it though!
2. Jobs
You can choose to either do a local job at like the ice cream place or restaurant to get some extra money, or you may want to look for a proper job. Freshmen to juniors in undergrad most likely won’t be able to get a job in their field, unless you have tons of extra stuff on your resumes. Even with seniors it can be 50/50. But of course it does depend on your field. Some are way more competitive than others.
No matter what kind of job you’re looking for, think about how much time you want to commit. Do you want to work full time? Part time? On-call (which means it could mess up your plans but some people like spontaneous stuff)? Night shift? Temporary (great if you just want to work for a few months and not commit for a long time)?
These are all things you need to consider when it comes to getting a job. There’s so many out there and it will take time to find some that get your attention. Or maybe just apply across the board and see what you get.
You may have to apply for quite a few before you hear back from even one (specifically for specialized job).
Check out sites like Indeed.com and ZipRecruiter as well as utilizing LinkedIn. You also may want to ask friends because sometimes they need someone to fill in while they go home!
3. Summer Classes
Maybe you want to take some summer classes and get actual academic credit for it. You may be able to go to your local community college at home to get through some of those annoying core classes like Math, Statistics or English! Maybe you want to take some classes on your college campus to get ahead. It’s definitely a good idea because you won’t be able to take a full load which means you’ll still have free time, but then your school semester may be lighter! A lot of seniors like to do thesis in the summer before their senior year because they can really focus on their writing. So maybe you want to do that, or if you have some crazy hard class you want to focus on. If it’s offered, go for it!
Just remember, if you have a scholarship, it may not cover you in the summer so you might need to pay.
4. Online classes
You might want to take online classes to learn something extra. You most likely won’t get credit for this but you can always advance your skills. This is for the really academic kids who would rather study than go out and club all night (totally me). It’s a great way to understand a subject, get a certification in something for your field or just to keep active. There’s great sites out there like Udemy.com or Coursera just to name two. You can either take a class for free and just learn OR pay and get a certificate for it. Then your tests and quizzes for the course will matter.
I personally have done this and loved it. I got certificated in a few things as well as got certification from prestigious universities that I passed their course. It’s a great way to keep active and to really boost your resume. Nothing says hard worker like a student who takes additional courses!
5. Travel/Study Abroad
If you have the finances available, studying abroad and/or traveling is amazing. A lot of these you will need to definitely plan in advance, specifically for studying abroad. Studying abroad is fantastic to go and experience a new culture, possibly practice your language skills, take classes and get college credit! How awesome is that! You can either do it through your university (as a lot of schools have dedicated programs and departments for that) or through outside programs. A quick google search will produce tons of results. Just remember to talk to your school and make sure your credits will transfer over.
If you really want to travel and can’t necessarily afford it, look for scholarships. There’s tons out there for specific courses, countries and more! Just remember, you need to apply far enough in advance.
Traveling is also great as well. You won’t get credits and most likely won’t take courses, but you can experience a culture. Travel to the region you study the language and practice, or go to the home of your major (like Art, maybe go to Italy and France and go to museums, just as an example). Or, go somewhere completely new. Being a worldly individual is a big thing for graduate school and in the work place.
6. Learn a new skill
Is there a skill that you’ve been dying to learn but haven’t had the time? Something not related to what you study? Calligraphy? Pottery? CPR? Coding? Instrument? (I needed a word in there that didn’t start with a ‘C’…)
This is the perfect time to learn something new. Jobs love rounded individuals, people who do other things besides just studying. There’s tons of online courses, your local community center or even something a few towns over. You have a ton of time so you might as well use it. Do something out of the ordinary!
7. Volunteer
I know everyone young wants to earn money but you can’t always get a job because you just can’t fit it in. But you can always volunteer. It could even be for 1 hour a week! Find something that interests you and go do it. Serve food to the poor, visit shelter animals or go play bingo at the retirement home! While you may not be able to earn money from your work, you can expand your resume and do something that keeps your mind active so you don’t go bored over the summer!
8. Plan Social Time
Summer is a busy time for everyone. People go home, travel with family or just get too lazy to go out. Make sure you plan some stuff with them. Some groups of friends are really spontaneous and can just drop a hat and go places, but some groups need a bit more planning. If you’re the latter group, start the conversations early so you can weed out when doesn’t work, when does, where you don’t want to go and all those small bits and pieces!
9. Relax!
If you’re an overachiever (like I was, and am), you can spend your entire summer doing stuff so that by the time the fall comes, you’re completely exhausted. Make sure you find time to relax. Taking a week off and doing nothing but sleeping in and sitting outside or watching TV is perfectly fine as well. Would I recommend doing that the whole summer? No. This isn’t high school so you should try and do some things to get yourself ready to work. However taking some time off to just be alone or do absolutely nothing is really healthy and should be done as well!
Now, I’m definitely not saying you should be spending your entire summer in a way that you are going to be boosting your resume. Some people spend their school semesters doing that or may not need to at all because of what they study. But living in the competitive world that we live in now, with the number of job openings and the number of people looking for jobs, any way that you can boost your resume and give yourself a step up is needed and going to do more good than not.
Take time to relax and recharge, have some fun, but also slip some other things in too. It’s so much more rewarding to say you did X, Y and Z over the summer rather than “I watched TV for 3 months.” We’ve definitely all been there. But college is the time to start getting ready for the work force, as much as you might not want to!
Be proactive, forge ahead and it will certainly benefit you in the long run.
The summer is also a good time to study for the GRE. But first, you need to decide if you have to take it!
