The summer break is a long-awaited period to recharge and enjoy some time with loved ones. But, whether your students are returning for their next school year or are beginning their next chapter, it is also the perfect time to get ahead with their next school year or university preparations.
We’ve done some research and have found some interesting and creative ideas that will hopefully inspire your students over the summer! Let’s begin with our 3 top BridgeU tips to get them ahead for the next year:
- Are they registered on BridgeU? The summer period is the ideal time to kickstart their university and career exploration!
- Set a target to Shortlist a set number of universities. Whether this could be 3 or 5 (or 10!) shortlists, it would be a good exercise to explore universities, make notes and come back in the new year understanding their choices. It doesn’t matter if their choices change, the important thing is for them to start exploring and work on their research and independent study skills.
- Assign tasks. Whilst it’s great to take a break and enjoy some time off, it would be really beneficial for students to use some of the BridgeU tools, such as the Strategy Advisor, and update it with their experiences and accomplishments throughout the summer!
At the end of this article, you can find a resource that your students can use over the summer, to support them with using BridgeU and preparing for the new academic year.
Regarding new experiences, here are some resources for your students to check out to further enrich their summer break:
🧑🎓 Learn new skills and gain industry knowledge
Internships offer a fantastic way to gain industry knowledge and develop transferable skills, with the choice of in-person or online.
Ask students to create a list of skills they want to develop through their internship such as coding, communication, commercial awareness and share with them the option of learning these skills via online platforms.
Some great resources for online learning are:
The International Association for College Admission Counseling has also released a fantastic resource that lists International 2023 Summer Enrinchment programs, a full list of inspirational ways to fulfil students' time.
✍️ Take on a Research project
Summer research programmes and projects are a great way for students to demonstrate skills and their ability beyond what their test scores and grades reflect. Research projects allow students to further develop skills, such as critical thinking, analytical and evaluation skills to name a few!
Students can create their own research projects to show initiative as well as their willingness to take on a challenge which will help them stand out in university applications.
Join taster courses
Experience academic life and get an insight into studying a particular subject or subject area at university. These courses are offered either on campus or online.
- For taster courses at UK universities:
visit the UCAS website at Learn a Uni through a taster course website. - Visit the UniTasterDays website
Compare research notes with your friends
University research doesn’t have to always be an independent activity, it can also be teamwork; knowledge sharing is caring! Meet with other peers who are also doing their research and exchange your findings to get the most out of it.
📖 Read lots!
Reading is a great way to pass the time as well as develop their knowledge and creativity! Why not assign a task for students to create a summer book log using Goodreads? You can also encourage them to think critically about the books they are reading and post a review.
If your students are stuck for ideas on what to read, here are some great recommended books that are suitable for young adults from reputable sources, many of which we have read ourselves and enjoyed.
- The Time Magazine has a list of 100 Best young adult books of all time.
- Bill Gates has a blog where he writes book reviews, he recommends The Magic of Reality, A Separate Peace and The Catcher in the Rye and for young adults
- The Big Read is another excellent list of most loved books;
- And of course, Audible a great way to digest a lot of books if your students prefer audiobooks
📝 Build a CV & log experiences
As many universities require students to submit a CV with their application, why not have students get started sooner rather than later? The summer is a great time to reflect and write up their experiences which will help them stand out as strong university candidates. To provide your students with structure, BridgeU has a CV template readily available for them to use.
Students can also log their activities and experiences in the BridgeU Strategy Advisor. The Strategy Advisor helps students understand how to use these experiences to write application essays depending on the country they are applying to.
Learn a Language
Gaining or expanding your linguistic skills can keep you academically challenged during downtime but can be very useful to add on your CV/LinkedIn profile for the future! And if you can’t attend classes, there are lots of resources to learn online and many online platforms out there to support learning a language.
Add new experiences
Whether these experiences are relevant to your university research or not, any new experience provides the opportunity to gain both hard and soft skills, which can be beneficial in both academic and professional settings. For example:
- Volunteering: Not only is volunteering a rewarding experience, but you will definitely develop new skills such as organisation and planning, relationship building, time management and teamwork!
- Start a new hobby: Challenging yourself to start a new hobby can not only be fun, but it can also help with time management and self-discipline.
How have you been inspiring and advising your students on making this a purposeful and productive summer?
Please share your feedback by contacting your Customer Success team at hi@bridge-u.com.
We would love to hear from you!