Whether it’s a four day weekend or a month-long break, free time is a crucial resource for students, particularly juniors and seniors. High school students rarely have large chunks of uninterrupted time that they can dedicate to something outside of school work. For students applying to colleges, these breaks are excellent opportunities to tackle certain parts of the process that can’t fit into their regular schedule. Be sure your child is taking full advantage of their holidays by keeping these to-do items and activities in mind:
1) Prepare for Tests and Exams
Students can either start or continue to prepare for the SATs, ACTs, SAT IIs, AP exams, or any other tests they have coming up. Encourage them to see studying over break as a way to build momentum. Their efforts should be adding to the even minor revision they were already doing. This is also a chance for them to study without constantly stopping to switch to another activity. They can spend mornings at the library without having to dash off to class or afternoons with a study group without being interrupted by sports practice.
If they’ve been seriously revising already, a break spent without cracking a single book or flipping through their notes can prove to be enough to empty a student’s mind completely. Don’t erase all the hard preparation a student has already done by taking too much of a break. They don’t have to commit their SAT practice test book to memory, but they shouldn’t ignore it entirely either.
2) Essays
Every stage of essay writing takes time. Over breaks, students can be outlining, drafting, editing, or spell-checking their essays without the distraction of other academic responsibilities. The hour a night that your student is currently dedicating to writing might not be what they need to move their work into a final stage. Encourage your student to stay ahead of the task at hand and have their essays done sooner rather than later. Leave time for writer’s block, frustration, spelling mistakes, and all the other inevitabilities and frustrations of the writing process.
Particularly for students that aren’t as strong writers or find themselves intimidated by the task, breaks are a great opportunity for them to sit down at their laptop and work at a more relaxed pace. Getting ahead of writing in this way will also save them the drama of leaving essay writing until the last minute and trying to finish their personal statement in between homework assignments and extracurriculars.
3) Work on Professional Skills
First things first, have your student write their resume. Most high schoolers, even seniors, don’t have a whole lot to be included, but writing the bare bones of a resume will teach them the structure. Students should understand what kind of information is relevant and learn how to speak to their different experiences. This exercise will also force them to meditate on their involvements and figure out how to explain them to a third party, a skill that can be useful in the college process. For example, a student on the robotics team will need to communicate the club’s purpose beyond “builds robots.”
If your student already has an up-to-date resume, have them practice their other professional skills and polish all the materials that a job/internship application may need. Draft a thoughtful cover letter. Practice writing a business email. Sit down with a parent and have a mock interview. Work on phone manners. Set-up a LinkedIn profile or a business appropriate email account. These are all important and necessary skills that will come in handy later in life. Mastering them now will elevate the rush of having to learn them later.
4) Apply for Future Opportunities
Students should use these chunks of free time to research and apply for internships, jobs, and other opportunities in their future. While they can spend a few hours on a Saturday doing this, breaks will give them more time to really dedicate themselves to finding a position that will both suit and benefit them. Otherwise, students may find themselves stuck searching for something last minute and having to take a position wherever one is open and not one they’re truly passionate about.
For summer internships, in particular, high schoolers typically need to turn in their materials in the winter. Most organizations have deadlines that require everything to be completed months in advance. The benefit of this is that students will know their summer plans before the school year is over, freeing them up to focus on other things.
5) Visit Colleges (Virtually during COVID)
For most high schoolers, prospective colleges are entire states and thousands of miles away. Even a student studying in-state usually has to go at least a couple of miles to get to campus. The logistics and sheer distance make overnights, tours, and on-campus interviews hard to fit into a regular two day weekend. Use long weekends as well as winter and spring break to travel to the schools your student is most interested in. Make the most of these road trips. Tie visits into travel plans the family already has or try to see more than one school in a region at a time.
Once there, give your student enough time to walk, not run around the grounds and get a feel of the school’s environment. They should have enough time to sit in on classes, talk to current students, or grab a meal at the cafeteria. It’s important to not breeze through these visits. Without these seemingly mundane details, a visit isn’t very different from a brochure. Make sure to do the things you can only do in-person and really take advantage of your presence on campus.
Of course, students don’t need to be busy every minute of every day but make sure they utilize the time to tackle the things they don’t usually have energy or space for. Allow them to also take a well-deserved break. Catch up on emails and favorite television shows. The goal is for students to return to school with a few less items on their plate and a weight or two off their minds.
If you are interested in speaking with one of our Advisors about utilizing breaks, visiting colleges, or preparing for tests, you can schedule a free consultation here.
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For additional information and insights, check out our blog:
Does My Child Need a Tutor? 6 Signs It May Be Time for Academic Help
How to Help Your Teens Manage Their Time
Meaningful summer activities that enhance college application
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