It’s springtime, which means the country’s highest achieving students are starting to think about their summer. Whether they’re in 8th grade going to 9th, 9th going to 10th, 10th going to 11th, or 11th going to 12th, we get an influx of inquiries this time of year asking, “What should we do with our summer?” Today I’m going to tell you why, if you are a high achieving student or a parent of one, you should highly consider a self-created summer. It’s not for everyone. But seriously, it’s for a lot more students than you think.
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What is a self-created summer?
Before I dive into the three reasons, let me explain what I mean by a self-created summer versus a non-self-created summer.
Non-self-created summers
These are the typical paths most students take. Getting a job, everything from working at an ice cream shop to being a camp counselor. This is obviously more impressive than sitting on your couch playing video games, but it’s not different.
Something happened post-COVID. The amount of times we get reached out by parents saying, “Are you going to help with internships? Are you going to help with research opportunities?” is staggering. Our answer is the same every time: we will help your child get into their dream college. If internships are the path through which we think they can get there, then yes. But we want to help your child get into their dream college, not just get them an internship.
Internships and research opportunities can be great. But I hope you can understand: this is not different. This is not a self-created summer. In fact, it’s the opposite. A lot of students these days are getting internships and research opportunities.
Then there are pay-to-play summer programs. These days, summer programs can be $8,000, $9,000, $10,000 depending on the program. When you join one of these, you’re joining with dozens, potentially hundreds of other students. They’re running that program back year over year, or even week over week. Think about the hundreds, if not thousands, of students doing that same program.
Can it be valuable? Absolutely. Can it help tell the proper story? If a student’s interested in medicine and they get a research opportunity in the exact field they want to go into, absolutely. But it’s a common path.
Self-created summers
A self-created summer is when you create your own summer plan, stick to that plan, execute on it, and have a super cool, unique deliverable at the end.
By nature, that is as different as possible because you are the only one who’s done it. It’s yours.
Reason one: it shows high agency
Let me flash up the mission statements of some of the top schools in the country. Harvard. Yale. Princeton. Schools with sub-7% acceptance rates.
Notice a trend with their mission statements.
What top schools actually want
What they are looking for is the next students who will grow up, graduate from their college, and change the world.
There’s a reason why Harvard loves saying that they’ve had X number of presidents. They had Mark Zuckerberg. They love flashing this on the screen even though Zuckerberg didn’t even graduate from Harvard. Why? Because that’s the type of example they love to show: look at the type of students who are collaborating at our university, inside the grounds of our campus.
The parallel, the theme between all these mission statements, has to do with high agency. They want high achieving students who have high agency. They want 18-year-olds and 19-year-olds who are going to join their campus and can say, “You know what, I am going to actually think about what I want to accomplish at this university, make a plan of action, and go do it.”
The connection to self-created summers
There is no better way to show high agency and alignment with a university’s mission statement than having a self-created summer.
When you create your own plan, execute on it independently, and have something tangible to show for it, you’re demonstrating exactly what these schools are looking for. You’re not waiting for someone to hand you an opportunity. You’re creating one yourself.
That’s agency. And agency is what separates students who get into single-digit acceptance rate schools from those who don’t.
Reason two: it’s way cheaper
Parents, listen up. A self-created summer is way, way cheaper.
The cost comparison
These days, you’re looking at summer programs that are kind of pay-to-play. And don’t get me wrong, there are many summer programs out there that you can pay for that are extremely valuable, will help a student grow, and yes, can look good for college admissions.
But summer programs these days can be $8,000, $9,000, $10,000 depending on the program.
A self-created summer could be $0.
Simply put, it’s cheaper. Sometimes dramatically so.
The real investment
The investment in a self-created summer isn’t money. It’s time, creativity, and follow-through. Those are resources your student already has. And the skills they develop by planning and executing their own project are arguably more valuable than anything they’d learn in a structured program anyway.
Think about it: which is more impressive to an admissions officer? A student whose parents wrote a $10,000 check for a prestigious-sounding program? Or a student who came up with their own idea, created a plan, and executed it on their own?
The answer is obvious.
Reason three: it’s different
We preach in our program that it’s about telling your story to admissions. And we have a phrase we use often with our coaches and our students: Different > Difficult.
Different is greater than difficult.
Why different matters
Simply put, when you create your own summer plan, stick to that plan, execute on it, and have a super cool, unique deliverable, it is by nature yours. You are the only one who came up with that exact self-created summer that you did and executed on.
By nature, that is as different as possible because you are the only one who’s done it.
When you join a pay-to-play program, you are joining that program with dozens, potentially hundreds of other students. They’re running that program back year over year, or potentially even week over week. Think about the hundreds, if not thousands of students doing that same program.
Can it be valuable? Yes. Can it impress college admissions? Potentially. But on the different scale, a self-created summer is certainly much more different.
The admissions reader perspective
Remember: admissions officers are reading thousands of applications. They’re bleary-eyed on their fifth cup of coffee. When they see the same summer programs over and over, they blur together.
But when they see something genuinely unique, something that student clearly created themselves? That stands out. That gets remembered. That’s what gets them to put your application in the “yes” pile.
If your student is struggling to figure out what makes them different, start with my free Saturday Morning Test. It helps students discover their authentic interests, which is the foundation for any great self-created summer.
The critical factor: follow-through
There is one critical factor to a self-created summer that most students actually struggle with. Our students don’t, because our students are ultra high performing and given our curriculum, our framework, our structure, they follow through.
But that word is everything: follow-through.
The honest assessment
A self-created summer that is not followed through on is meaningless.
So if you’ve got a student right now, I need you to seriously think: if there was an 8-week plan that they put together week by week on how to accomplish their goals in a self-created summer, would they over the course of 8 weeks actually do it?
If the answer is no, a self-created summer is not for them. It’s not going to be effective. In fact, they should definitely go with the non-self-created summer option.
But if you say, “Yeah, my student’s such a high achiever. My student has high agency. My child, if there was an 8-week plan, would actually do it week in and week out,” then a self-created summer could be for them.
What follow-through looks like
Following through means more than just doing something. It means documenting your work. It means tracking your progress. It means creating a deliverable you can point to and say, “Here’s what I accomplished.”
That’s what turns a self-created summer from a nice idea into a genuine differentiator for college admissions.
Real examples: Massimo and Emily
Let me give you two real examples of self-created summers that worked.
Massimo: dirt bikes to Cornell
Massimo worked with us and was considering many options for his summers. He said, “You know what, I want to be an engineer and I really enjoy dirt bikes. I’m going to create a plan over the course of summer to tweak multiple dirt bikes, build multiple dirt bikes in my garage, and actually keep track of very particular engineering-based stats with each dirt bike.”
He said, “I’m going to have fun doing it. I’m going to run diagnostics. And at the end I’m going to be able to present: here’s how many dirt bikes I built, here’s the torque on them, here’s the leverage,” and so on.
That’s a self-created summer.
Here’s the thing: he followed through. He built multiple dirt bikes. He kept track of his endeavors.
Was it as time-intensive as getting a full-on internship? No. Was it more fun? Yep. Was it different? Yep.
Did he have below-average grades and test scores for his dream school of Cornell, an Ivy League school? Yep.
Did he get into Cornell? Yep.
Emily: a seatbelt patent to Notre Dame
Emily’s dream school was Notre Dame, which has about a 14-15% acceptance rate. She joined our program and was considering, “Should I do internships? Should I join this program? Should my parents pay $5,000 for this?”
After assessing exactly her dream goals, we said, “Hey, if you’re willing to put in the work, self-created summer.”
She was really into tinkering on projects in her garage. She ended up building a seat belt to help her grandparents get in and out of the car better. Then she submitted a provisional patent for that seat belt design.
Not only did Notre Dame accept her, they wrote her a handwritten note saying how impressive her self-created summer and her provisional patent was.
The common thread
Both Massimo and Emily did something genuinely them. Something that aligned with their interests. Something they could follow through on. And something that showed high agency.
Neither of them paid thousands for a program. Neither of them competed with hundreds of other students for the same internship. They created something unique, and it worked.
The bottom line: different beats difficult
Are self-created summers for everyone? Absolutely not.
Can self-created summers drastically help the country’s top performing students actually stand out when they’re applying to single-digit acceptance rate schools? Yes.
The vast majority of the country’s highest performing students, which are the students we work with, would benefit from absolutely considering a self-created summer or having a brainstorming session about what one could entail.
Because it shows high agency. It costs parents much less. And it’s different.
Different > Difficult. That’s the framework. A self-created summer is the embodiment of it.
Ready to take the next step?
If you have a high performing high schooler in 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th grade, and you want help figuring out whether a self-created summer is right for them and what it could look like, book a 100% free college planning strategy session with our team.
We have a 4-year all-inclusive College Confidence program designed to help the country’s highest performing high schoolers reach their full potential. It is not for everyone, but it is for those students who want to achieve their very best.
And if you want to start right now with discovering what your student’s self-created summer could be, take my free Saturday Morning Test. It’s the first step to uncovering the authentic interests that could become the foundation of a standout self-created summer.
Frequently asked questions about self-created summers
Is a self-created summer right for every student? Absolutely not. If your student wouldn’t actually complete an 8-week plan on their own, a self-created summer isn’t for them. They should go with a more structured option. But for high-agency students who follow through, it’s a game-changer.
What if my student doesn’t have a clear passion or interest? That’s actually a great time to do the discovery work. Start with the Saturday Morning Test to uncover authentic interests. A self-created summer doesn’t have to be elaborate. It just has to be genuinely yours.
Can a self-created summer be combined with other activities? Yes. A self-created summer doesn’t have to consume the entire summer. It could be a focused 4-6 week project alongside a part-time job or other activities.
What makes a good deliverable? Something tangible you can point to. Massimo had the dirt bikes and his engineering logs. Emily had her prototype and provisional patent. It could be a website, a research paper, a product, a community initiative, or documented results of an experiment.
Will colleges know it was self-created? Yes, if you present it correctly. When you write about it in your essays or activities section, the self-directed nature will be clear. And that’s exactly what makes it impressive.
What grade should students start thinking about this? As early as the summer between 8th and 9th grade. The earlier you start thinking about self-created summers, the more runway you have to develop something meaningful over multiple years.
