How to actually use this summer if you're planning to study abroad
Summer just started, which means you're probably feeling two things at once: genuine relief that school's over, and a quiet little voice somewhere reminding you that you said you'd "get started on uni stuff" this summer.
Good news — you don't need to spend your summer buried in spreadsheets and deadlines. But a few focused hours a week, spent on the right things, can put you months ahead of where you'd be if you wait until September. Here's how to actually do that without losing your summer to it.
First: this is not about working all break
Let's get this out of the way: nobody benefits from a 16-year-old spending their entire summer "on brand" for university applications. Admissions tutors can tell the difference between a student who did one meaningful thing and a student who crammed five activities into ten weeks to look impressive. The second one usually doesn't read as genuine, because it isn't.
So the goal here isn't "do everything." It's "do a few things well, and protect the rest of your summer for actually resting." Both matter.
If you have 2-3 hours a week to give it
Start a research list. Not a final decision, just a working document. Three to five countries or university types you're curious about. For each, jot down: roughly what it costs, what the application process looks like, and one thing that excites you about it. This single document will save you weeks of scattered research later.
Read one or two personal statements from students who got in somewhere you admire. Many universities or student blogs publish examples. Notice what makes them sound like an actual person rather than a list of achievements. You're not copying their topic but you're noticing their voice.
Pick up one book or do one course related to what you think you want to study. Doesn't need to be intense. A free online course, a documentary series, a book your future course might actually assign. This gives you real material to write about later; "I read X and it changed how I thought about Y" is a far stronger personal statement line than anything generic.
If you have a bit more time and want to go deeper
Go deep on the one thing you actually care about, not five things you think look good. If you've been doing debate for two years, this is the summer to take it further; maybe a regional competition, a leadership role next term, anything that shows growth rather than just attendance. Depth beats breadth every time in admissions.
Look into a summer school or short program if it genuinely interests you not because it's a magic admissions ticket (it isn't, and admissions tutors know that), but because spending a week immersed in a subject you love gives you real stories and real reflections to draw from later. Many of these have rolling availability over the summer, so it's worth checking even now.
Draft (just draft’) your personal statement opening. Not the whole thing. Just one paragraph about something you're genuinely curious about and why. You can rewrite it ten times later. The hardest part is always starting, and doing it now means September-you isn't starting from a blank page under deadline pressure.
If you're aiming for the UK, look at the actual UCAS timeline for the year you're applying. Knowing now that the personal statement system is changing format (UCAS introduced new structured questions for the 2025/26 cycle, replacing the single free-form essay) means you can prepare with the right format from the start, not rewrite everything in October when you find out the format changed.
What to actually skip
You don't need to take five online courses this summer. You don't need a part-time job specifically because "it'll look good”; if you want one for the money or the experience, great, but don't force it for your application. You don't need to visit ten university campuses. None of this moves the needle nearly as much as one or two things done with real attention.
A genuinely useful exercise - try this one evening
Set a timer for fifteen minutes. Write down, without overthinking it, three moments from the last year or two when you felt genuinely engaged, not impressive, just genuinely interested. A conversation, a project, a class, a random rabbit hole you went down online. Don't filter for "does this sound good." Just write what's true.
This list is often where the actual personal statement topic hides. It's almost never the thing students think they're supposed to write about.
You don't have to figure this out alone
If you want a second pair of eyes on your research list, your draft paragraph, or just want to talk through what's actually worth your time this summer versus what's noise - that's exactly the kind of thing we help with. No pressure, no overwhelm, just a clear sense of where to focus.