All work experience—even if it’s working in a convenience store—is life experience and involves responsibility. We value all of it…” Karl Furstenberg, Dartmouth College (How to Get Into the Top Colleges, Richard Montauk and Krista Klein, Prentice Hall, New York, p. 282)
If you have gained any kind of work experience over your high school years, broadcast it across all you applications proudly. Why wouldn’t you? Even if, as mentioned above, it is a menial job, it shows that you understand how to sell your service to others, have discipline, time management skills, a solid work ethic, and have learned something about the real world, working with people and solving—in some form or another—real world problems. Few schools discount such efforts; Dartmouth, we know, lauds them.
You should be even more emphatic about highlighting your work experience if you plan to major in an undergraduate business program, and a lot of students are: business degrees represented over a fifth of baccalaureates awarded last year. Among the colleges that should be pleased to note your work experience (even if you’re mechanically clicking away at a register in an In-N-Out Burger) include Wharton, Emory, UC Berkeley, NYU Stern(even though the last three don’t admit undergraduates into their business programs till junior year) Notre Dame, Lehigh or Babson…
Not to belabor the point, but how in the world could anyone dream of studying business as an undergraduate without work experience? How could you begin to understand marketing, operations, accounting, let alone finance or management, without at least a passing familiarity with how the world of work operates on a first hand basis? It’s comparable to wanting to be pre-med without ever having shadowed a doctor, participated in any sort of scientific research, or worked in some capacity in a hospital. Familiarity and practice usually spark true interest; rarely is interest spontaneous. If there is no connection between what an applicant claims of interest and prior pursuits—it will be hard for the admissions office to find such an applicant credible—and that is the death knell for any application.
For the high stakes applicant wishing admission into a highly selective school, there might be some hesitation if a work experience doesn’t hint of opportunities for personal growth. Then, however, the question becomes how many work experiences for high school students allow for growth and development once basic skills have been mastered, or avail them with contacts for future job prospects in a field of interest? Not many such positions exist unless your friends or family are extremely well connected. There are exorbitantly expensive internships that might avail an applicant some seemingly unique opportunities, such as a two-week micro finance project in Bangladesh, but many admissions offices will see them for what they are: parent financed and packaged college essay fodder.
Obviously, if you must work to support yourself and your family, then there isn’t a college in the world that will not acknowledge your situation and respect your efforts, regardless of whatever major you’re planning to declare. Moreover, if you’re working substantial hours, colleges will not expect to see much extracurricular activity on the application. The one thing, however, that you might try to do, in whatever job you have, is to see if you can gain any position of leadership. Even if you’re working at a MacDonald’s, possibly you can assist with scheduling, or close the restaurant, or help train. Rising from within the ranks indicates discipline, promise, and drive. Every college wants that type of person in its class.
Most jobs, certainly most jobs available to most high school students, will not be stepping stones for becoming the Chairman of Google, or even Yahoo. Most are tedious, dull, repetitive, or mind-numbing experiences. Honestly, even among the most dynamic adults, much of their work is dull and, at times, wearisome, but it must be performed and performed well—that’s why it's work. Don’t be afraid to mention your work experience on any of your applications accurately and honestly. It shows your character better than many essays and most recommendations ever will.