June College Search Guide

The road to college

By May S. Ruiz

Seniors are about to have their virtual graduation or haverecently done so. Having spent the last semester of their high schoolsheltering in place, these teenagers have been looking forward to the looseningof the lockdown orders so they can finally get out of the house.  

Businesses, though, are taking a cautious approach toreopening and there will be limited options for these young people on how tospend their summer months. In the past, teenagers went to summer camps, foundinternships, or joined organizations like Habitat for Humanity or DoctorsWithout Borders to do service work in impoverished areas of the world.        

Those who had been anticipating to land summer jobs aregoing to be very disappointed. The coronavirus pandemic upended entire countries’markets and wiped the economic expansion we had been enjoying here. Experts worldwideare predicting a recession that’s deeper and lengthier than what we saw duringthe financial meltdown of 2008.   

While we don’t need Challenger, Gray & Christmas to tell us that teen summer jobs outlook this year is pretty grim, I’m including the report they recently released:  

“Teen employment skyrocketed during the summer months of2019 to the highest number of jobs added since 2001, according to an analysisof non-seasonally adjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics by globaloutplacement and executive and business coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas,Inc. However, the global pandemic of COVID-19 has changed everything and totaljobs added for teens may fall well under 1,000,000, according to one workplaceauthority.

“A month ago, we would have predicted another summer ofmassive teen hiring. We had one of the tightest labor markets on record,historically low unemployment, and high consumer confidence – the perfectrecipe for companies that traditionally hire teen workers, like retail andentertainment venues, to beef up staff,” said Andrew Challenger, Senior VP ofChallenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.

“Everything has changed. Many of these venues have stoppedoperating as non-essential businesses with reopening timelines in question.Grocery and department stores that are on a hiring binge now come with aninherent risk that did not exist before the outbreak. If we are able to weatherthis crisis and get businesses back up and running by June, we may see a surgein teen hiring then, however, teen workers, as well as any job seeker, may bemuch more wary of accepting public-facing roles,” he added.

Last summer saw 1,737,000 jobs gained by teens, 25% higherthan the 1,388,000 jobs gained by teenagers in the summer of 2018. This was thehighest number of teen jobs gained since 2001, when 1,742,000 jobs were added.

However, many companies are in a holding pattern andthousands of others are not open for business at all. A recent Challengersurvey found 37% of companies have instituted hiring freezes. Another 11% haveimplemented permanent layoffs and 49% are likely to in the next three months.Meanwhile, 4% report they are revoking internship offers for the summer, manyof which tend to go to older teens.

Nearly 10 million workers have filed initial jobless claimsover the last two weeks. Challenger predicts job losses in the Leisure sectoralone could top 14 million.

“The teen summer job is the first step in people’scareers. It is vitally important to helping young workers gain valuable skillsthat they will draw upon later in their jobs. Many employers want to see somejob experience from even their entry-level workers,” said Challenger.

“The year with the lowest summer hiring since 1998 occurredin 2010, during the recovery from the Great Recession, when 960,000 teen jobswere added in May, June, and July. This year may see even fewer as conservativeestimates suggest businesses will likely still be closed for much or part ofMay,” he added.

FRESHMAN

The sheltering-at-home order caused an upheaval in allstudents’ regular schedule. It was tough for 9^th graders who werejust getting used to high school and the workload associated with it. Remotelearning, although helpful in providing continuity in students’ education,could not replace what they would get in the classroom. However, I hope yourchildren were able to keep up with their curriculum.

Some schools may have eliminated final exams and given pass or fail grades in lieu of the letter grades, which must have been a disappointment for straight-A students. But that shouldn’t deter them from continuing to get excellent grades because the student’s GPA is the single, most important component of their transcript. And with the UC system’s decision to drop the SATs and ACTs from their requirements, students’ GPAs have become ever more significant.       

If your children can find summer enrichment activities, theyshould definitely pursue these. They also need to do a lot of reading to helpthem prepare for all the essays they will have to write when they start sendingout their college application. 

SOPHOMORE

Your children’s end-of-year marks in 10^th gradeshould have improved over last year’s if they didn’t do well in their freshmanyear. College admissions officers want to see students who continue to betterthemselves. 

While the UC system has dropped the standardized testrequirement, not all universities have. So your children need to take the virtualACT or June SAT subject tests. This year the College Board eliminated the essayportion and the testing time has been shortened.

JUNIOR

The school year that just ended was a pivotal one for yourchildren as it would be the last full year that college admissions officerswill see on your kids’ application. It should reflect your children’s effortsat getting the best marks they could muster, and an improvement over the firsttwo years of high school. 

This is going to be their busiest summer with standardized tests like the ACT, SAT, SAT IIs, and APs. If they have not seen the schools they are considering applying to, they might consider taking virtual tours.

Your children should start thinking about their essay topic;checking in with their school counselor to make sure they have taken all therequired courses for graduation and college; and lining up teachers they wouldlike to ask for recommendations.   

SENIOR

It was a disappointing last year for students who were notable to properly say goodbye to their friends and teachers and didn’t get theopportunity to walk across the graduation stage. But I hope you watched theirvirtual commencement ceremony and celebrated at home with your graduate.       

Your children have accomplished a major milestone – successfullycompleting high school and getting accepted into a college or university! Thisperiod in their life will never again be repeated, so let them revel in whatthey have achieved. Give yourself a pat on the back while you’re at it, you’vebeen a major influence in whatever path they choose to take from here.

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