College-Admissions Experts Differ on Value of Summer Employment

When it comes to getting into college, admissions experts differ on the value of summer jobs compared with that of academic programs, unpaid internships, foreign travel, or other activities designed to look good on a college application.

Bari Meltzer Norman, the director of www.mycollegecounselor.com , tells the story of a high school student she once helped apply to college. The girl’s parents paid for an expensive program in London, where she was placed in an unpaid marketing internship.

“She gets there, and there’s no work for her,” said Ms. Norman, a former admissions counselor at Barnard College in New York City. According to Ms. Norman, the girl spent the summer in an office with so little work that she spent most of her time surfing the Internet. “She would have been so much better off working at her favorite store and getting real-work...