To the Editor:
“Why a Teenage Bank Teller May Have the Best Summer Job” (Your Money column, July 11) is likely to lead high school students, who ideally should be pursuing opportunities that help them explore their intellectual and academic interests, to stampede instead toward summer jobs at banks as a means of impressing colleges.
Contrary to what the article suggests, the most competitive colleges are still “wowed” by prospective scientists who pursue original research; artists who produce original works; caring citizens who perform significant community service, and humanists who delve deeply into philosophy, history and literature.
With undergraduate admissions to America’s highest ranked universities being the most competitive ever, and summer employment (as the article mentions) “at a record low,” it’s wrong to encourage young people to scramble for scarce bank jobs. Depending on a student’s background and intended field of study, so many other activities can be far more enriching, helpful to society and impressive on a college application.
ELIZABETH WISSNER-GROSS
Great Neck, N.Y.
The writer, an educational consultant, is the author of “What High Schools Don’t Tell You.”
