Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York is a small liberal arts school just a short train ride from the center of Manhattan. At , you can be sitting in a lecture taught by a leading professor in a field you love in the morning, and then hop on the train to catch a concert in the park in the afternoon. For many students who want a small school experience, but who also don’t want to be isolated in the woods somewhere, Sarah Lawrence is a perfect fit!

The college is very focused on writing, and all students graduate not just as experts in their field of interest, but also as effective communicators of what they know. The campus is home to about 1,500 undergraduates from around the US and the world (53 countries!), and share in like Late Night @ The Barb, Winter Carnival, and the Sarah Lawrence College Poetry Festival, the largest free poetry festival in New York.  

One of the things we love about Sarah Lawrence is that they offer a unique experience in a beautiful setting, and at an approachable acceptance rate — We recommend Sarah Lawrence as a foundation school for high-performing liberal arts-minded students who are in the top third of their high school class, and as a target school for similarly creative and humanities-driven students who are in the top half of their class. Sarah Lawrence is a place where many students who performed well, but may have faded into the background a bit, in high school find their footing and really come into their own.

In this post, we’ll break down how you should be spending your summers if you’re considering applying to Sarah Lawrence, from additional coursework to summer jobs.

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What does Sarah Lawrence want to see from your summer?

First, let’s talk big picture. The number one thing Sarah Lawrence wants to see from your summer is you. They want to feel like what you are doing over the summer months is indicative of who you are, not just some cookie cutter assembly-line style summer someone told you is what you ‘must’ do. They also aren’t impressed by summers spent entirely on your own reconnaissance with nothing to show for them. They want to see exploration, adventure, discovery, and, importantly, outcomes.

Augment Your Academics

There are minimum academic requirements that applicants are required meet to be considered for admission by Sarah Lawrence (as far as what classes you take, at least), but they are really minimal. and make sure you’ll exceed them easily — but it shouldn’t be something you are required to address over the summer.

This tracks with the overarching academic ethos of Sarah Lawrence. They that “students should be in control of their education,” so they want to see you taking control of your own education through your academic pursuits over the summer months. This could include taking courses at a local college, or accredited courses online. It could include an internship with a local expert in a field you’re interested in (either an academic or a business leader), or even independent research with the goal of publication or presentation. Most of all, they want to see you experimenting, exploring, and seeking out new ideas and perspectives in the fields you find interesting.

But what about the SAT or ACT?

A very small percentage () of accepted and enrolled students submit SAT or ACT scores. For this reason, we don’t recommend stressing about standardized tests if they aren’t your thing. Spending time over the summer trying to master the SAT or ACT is a bit of a waste of time, especially when you could be doing things that really make your application stand out for Sarah Lawrence. 

Expand Your Extracurriculars

During the school year, Sarah Lawrence expects any competitive applicant to be involved in a few clubs, maybe play a sport or two, and to have at least one leadership position (like being elected to student government or leading a club). Over the summer, you’re able to show where you passion truly is through how you spend your time.

Now, one of your passions may be laying out by the pool — but that’s not what we’re talking about here. However, if you are passionate about the pool and community, you could get a job as a lifeguard. This would let you do what you want (i.e., pool time) while also showing Sarah Lawrence that you have the tenacity to become a lifeguard, the commitment to hold down a summer job, and the care for your community to make sure they don’t drown.

This same methodology can be applied to nearly anything you like to do, transforming a hobby (say, video games) that doesn’t improve your application into an asset (say, through getting an internship with a game design company, working at a tech camp, or designing a game yourself). It’s a simple matter of applying what you like to a job, volunteer opportunity, or structured project that you can point to and say, “look, here, I did this!”

While there are so many ways to expand your extracurriculars without having to get a job, we encourage all aspiring college students to get a structured summer job where you have a supervisor and set hours at least once. It doesn’t even need to be for the full summer, but working — even if it isn’t in something you love — will illustrate character traits that Sarah Lawrence is looking for in applicants and will go much further to strengthen your application then, say, doing a third expensive summer program.

Summer Programs

Which leads us to the topic of summer programs. There are amazing summer programs available to high school students. Some are academic, others are athletic or cultural. Some are education-focused, and others are pure fun. Some are expensive, and others are scholarship-driven. We know how powerful a summer program can be in helping high school students clarify and focus in on their passions. They can also be helpful in gearing up for what it will be like to live independently in college, especially if you haven’t been away from home before.

However, most summer programs aren’t actually all that great for your college apps. That doesn’t mean you should immediately write them off, but you shouldn’t think of them as these big gold stars you’ll be able to point to when you are applying.

One exception is when a college a) has summer programs and b) takes demonstrated interest into account. Sarah Lawrence . Doing one of their summer programs does not at all guarantee that you’ll get in as an applicant. It may not even improve your chances if you do not excel in the program, form relationships with faculty, and otherwise totally capitalize on the experience while also having the academic and personal profile they look for in undergraduate applicants. But it might.

Let Them Know How You Feel

Sarah Lawrence like the Hudson River Ecology Course offer upper-level high schoolers access to a for-credit college learning experience that is immersive and intensive. What they are most well-known for, though, is Writers’ Week. For over 25 years, Writers’ Week has immersed students in writing and theatre workshops lead by artists who are practicing their craft professionally — not simply teaching it. This is an astonishing opportunity to learn and grow as a creative. The program is available virtually and in-person. And, while it isn’t cheap, it is far cost-wise than most other summer programs.

We recommend Writers’ Week to many high schoolers who are passionate about writing and are interested in studying the humanities in college, whether they are interested in Sarah Lawrence as their potential undergraduate home or not. They’ve also introduced !  

Since Sarah Lawrence takes your in Sarah Lawrence into consideration when reviewing your application, this means that they track any program you enroll in (and how you do, any info sessions you go to, your official campus visits, communications with admissions, and more. So, we want you to make sure that they know that you love them.

If Sarah Lawrence is on your college list, there are easy ways to make your application more attractive by tailoring your summers to hit on what they love to see. Most of all, though, you need to be true to who you are and what you are excited about. For Sarah Lawrence, that’s the most important thing of all.

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