OP, please come back and explain NFP!

I hire for internships and post college programs. I love seeing kids who have worked at a real job - whatever that may be - restaurant, golf course, lifeguard, office work, retail. I am skeptical of any internship or lab experience or shadowing experience that they can't provide substance to the description. A real job requires showing up on time, doing what you are supposed to, working with people, and is a good predictor of how you handle working life. It also gives an appreciation for how hard some jobs can be.

A random summer PT job doesn't hurt but it also doesn't really help or make up for an inconsistent or low GPA or lackluster profile.

If two excellent profiles only differ because one worked PT at a front desk at a gym for a couple of months over the summer, it wont make a difference or act as a tie breaker.

It's just a nice to have.

It does not matter much as long as they use their summers for something. To be fair, most of our kids’ friends who were successful getting into ivy/T15 or wasp Lacs had multiple meaningful summer activities. Class of 2020 and class of 2023, my own attend/ed different ivies. One won a fellowship to an academic based summer program, and worked as head kid’s swim team coach, and volunteered for a local nonprofit. That was one summer, before senior year. Other summers were just the swim job but more weeks. Other kid did research with a PhD, 80-100 hrs getting the eagle scout with a local nonprofit they worked with the entire prior summer and in school year, and also attended a highly competitive academic governors school for a few weeks. They are 23 and 20. Their good friends did similar: multiple projects, competitive arts camp, and a job. From what we hear it is not any less competitive now. Once they are attending the ivy they meet people who have done similar or even more. Busy is a way of life at elites. AOs understand the kids and culture is intense and select from among the top-rigor, top-stat pool to get those who will thrive.

Working a normal teen job has always been a good idea, whether or not it has been a trend in the DMV. In other parts of the country, a teen job is a normal rite of passage, even for wealthy families. It's a good idea regardless of college admissions.

OP, don't worry about trends in admissions. Your kid should do what is right for their situation - develop themselves through a job or other activities. Be aware that some posters in this forum tend to over-focus on the impressiveness of activities, as if they are awards. They are not.

Anonymous wrote:Its not that easy to get a good internship. What's wrong with working? Mine work as lifeguards and get $18 an hour in HS...

Mine was a lifeguard and a waiter over the summers. Wrote his essay about fixing cars. Attends a top 20 university today. UMC family. I think colleges prefer the real world over the cultivated BS.

It was a trend for awhile as one more thing to put on a college app to show time management or responsibility, but I think the pendulum will shift again to doing meaningful work (related to what you are interested in, or ways to grow like theater/music or service to increase connection to your own community).

Part-time low-skill menial jobs or service in foreign countries are a dime a dozen. But service inside your own local community (your own town or city and less glamorous communities) will set you apart.