Summer

How to Make an Impact During Summer

With twelve weeks of summer, summer is a wonderful opportunity to explore potential majors, make a lasting community impact, and find inspiration in the world. Many high school students are unsure how to spend their summers. While colleges value students who engage in meaningful activities during the summer, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. What’s important is that the time is spent in a way that aligns with a student’s genuine interests and goals.

Here are a few ways students can spend summer, listed in no particular order:

It’s essential to note that not every week of summer needs to be packed with structured or productive activities. The summer break offers an opportunity for students to explore and deepen their passions, whether through academic enrichment, work experience, or personal pursuits. The key is to choose activities that are authentic to the student, helping to grow their passions both personally and academically.

  • Summer classes

  • Online courses

  • Paid work

  • Volunteering

  • Independent research

  • Internships

  • Traveling

  • Pre-college programs

  • SAT ACT test prep

How We Can Help

At Thompson College Consulting, we help our students strategically plan summers based on their personal interests, strengths, and goals. During freshman and sophomore summer, we encourage students to explore interests and passions, whether it is volunteering at a summer camp or taking an online course. During junior summer, we help students identify their academic interests and potential majors for college, and find summer programming that aligns with their academic passions. Regardless of what year a student is in school, we will help them find meaningful and genuine summer engagements that align with their interests.