Looking for the most productive things to do in the summer for college students? Here are 21 suggestions!

One of the best parts about a four-month summer in college is that you have SO MUCH TIME to relax… but you also don’t want to waste all that time. If you want to stay productive and make the most of your summer, you’re about to hear 21 genius summer ideas for college students that you won’t wanna overlook.

Whether your summer is looking pretty busy or super boring, these are the most productive things to do in the summer for college students!

This post is all about summer ideas for college students.

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21 SUMMER IDEAS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS:

1. Do the thing you’ve always wanted to do but never had time to do

You know, the thing?

Listen, I can’t tell you exactly what it is because it’s slightly different for everybody. But if there’s something you’ve been wanting to do and you feel like you don’t have time to do it during the school year, start it up now!

For me, it was starting my blog. Yeah, that happened one summer. I know plenty of college students who have started businesses or side hustles in the summer. If that’s not you, it can be something way smaller, like learning a new language or taking a road trip.

The point is, you now have more time to do what you’ve been wanting to do! So, get really clear on that and just jump in!

2. Take free online courses

I know this might sound crazy, because who wants to take more courses than necessary?

I’m not talking about a full-on college course, though. Just a fun free online course on something you’ve always wanted to learn.

Maybe it’s a course to learn a new language, become a better baker, or learn social media marketing. It can be as simple as a one-hour webinar. But it’s so refreshing to get yourself back into learning mode with a short free course on something that really interests you!

And what could be more productive than that?!

3. Learn better financial habits

Whether you’re pretty good at budgeting or not good at all, everyone could use a little refresher on how to handle their finances.

How do you do this?

Read a couple finance books that will help set you up for success!

I am the BIGGEST lover of personal finance books. Here are a few that are super easy to understand and will set you on the path to success:

• Know Yourself, Know Your Money by Rachel Cruze
• Clever Girl Finance: Ditch Debt, Save Money and Build Real Wealth by Bola Sokunbi
• Clever Girl Finance: Learn How Investing Works, Grow Your Money by Bola Sokunbi
• Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey
• Unshakeable by Tony Robbins
• The Wealthy Barber Returns by David Chilton

4. Set or re-evaluate your goals

Take the time over the summer to set goals, or if you set goals earlier this year, re-evaluate them and revise them if needed.

I love doing this in the summer. You’re about halfway through the year, you’re winding down from a full year of school and preparing to start a new one. It’s the perfect time to do some goal setting and get clarity on what you’re aiming for in life!

If you’re going to do this one, you’ll want to check out our free goal setting printable that will give you the perfect formula to plan out your goals in absolutely every category you can think of!

5. Develop a better morning routine

I don’t know about you, but my morning routine always gets a little thrown off when summer starts.

You deserve a few days of sleep-in after all that hard work. But don’t let yourself slip into bad habits.

Re-evaluate how you can improve your morning routine. What was working? What wasn’t? Give yourself a few days of sleep-in, and definitely stay well rested. But then, try to get back into healthy and consistent sleep habits to keep your body healthy in those off-months.

6. Clean out your email inbox

I know, I know.

This is one of the summer ideas for college students that is really NOT exciting.

If I’m being honest, I desperately need to do this, too. You probably have multiple email addresses, and it can be hard to keep up. There are always spam emails or subscription emails that don’t require your precious immediate attention. But you WILL NOT have time to go through your inbox once school starts. So, as painful as it is, dedicate some time to getting it out of the way now!

7. Organize your closet

If you’re like me, you might habitually keep an organized closet, anyways. But despite this, when I sort through my closet I always manage to find a shirt I forgot about or a jacket I didn’t know I had. So there’s never any harm in getting organized and taking a look at what you’ve got.

After all, it’s important to know what you’ve got in your closet if you want to look amazing when school starts again!

8. Make a donation pile

This goes hand-in-hand with the last suggestion. It’s always a great feeling to get rid of clothes you don’t wear anymore!

9. Focus on your mental health

As much as we all hate to admit it, it can be easy to shove our mental health to the side during the busy school months.

So, the summer is always a good time to evaluate where you’re at and dedicate more time to taking care of your mental health. Do more therapy if you need to, see more friends if you can, eat healthier, sleep enough, exercise, journal, get some sunshine — the point is, take care of yourself!

10. Create healthier spiritual habits

Productivity experts say that it takes an average of about two months to form a strong new habit. That means this is the perfect time to start forming habits that you want to stick!

Spiritual habits are the most important habits we can form. Start making a habit of spending time in the scriptures everyday, praying every day, and spending time resting every day.

That way, even when the busyness of school starts back up again, you’ll have a strong habit of staying spiritually healthy.

[RELATED POST – Being Christian in College: 5 Tips to Grow in the Faith]

11. Go on a scholarship spree

There are still tons of scholarships open in the summer, so why not go on a scholarship spree and apply to as many as possible? This is probably one of the most worthwhile summer tips for college students!

12. Get rid of clutter

I’m sure you’re familiar with the feeling of getting rid of things that are taking up space and serving no purpose. It feels seriously so good!

So, go through that pile of papers, those trinkets you don’t really like, and anything else you have no use for. This is one of the most old school summer ideas for college students, but it’s popular for a good reason.

13. Read as many books as you can

Hey, even if this means just reading one book for you, that’s great.

I know that with the start of school comes a lot more reading than any of us want to do. But give yourself a sense of accomplishment by finishing a book. And make sure it’s a book that you WANT to read. Something you’re interested in.

Warm up your brain for study season, and best of all, learn something new or indulge yourself in fascinating fiction!

14. Visit a National Park.

What about fun things to do in the summer for college students?

Here’s a fun idea for you on that topic, too! Visiting a national park is a great way to get outside for some adventure.

15. Develop one new good habit

I’m sure we can all list at least one good habit we wish we had but we don’t.

Commit to that morning routine. Start drinking 2L of water per day. Stop eating fast food. Journal every day. Read the Bible every morning. Whatever that one good habit was that popped into your mind when you read the title of this tip, just commit to having that down by the end of the summer!

16. Create your university bucket list

What do you want the rest of your college experience to look like?

Do you want to start a sustainable side hustle before you graduate? Maybe you want to go on an ambitious vacation during spring break. Perhaps there are pranks you want to pull on friends or roommates. Or maybe you just want to plan out the simple things, like when you’ll start living off-campus and who you’re going to rent an apartment with.

Whatever the case may be, create that university bucket list so that you have something to look forward to about school starting up.

17. Create a (loose) plan for after graduation

You might already have an idea of what you want to do after you graduate, but flesh out the details a little more.

What does this look like?

Perhaps there are places you can volunteer that will help you build your resume. Or, maybe there are professors and peers that you want to develop strong relationships with so that you can stay connected to them professionally in the future. It might be as simple as finally creating that LinkedIn account. Or, if you’re in the arts, maybe you want to try a couple fun projects with your peers to figure out what direction to take once you’re done school. It’s never too early to start planning and goal setting!

18. Run a 5K at the end of the summer

Want to revamp your fitness goals? Summer is a great time to train for a 5K (or more, if you’re ambitious) and do it at the end of the summer.

This will give you such a huge feeling of accomplishment and will ensure that you’re back in shape by the time school starts up!

19. Create a fun and useful DIY

Doing stuff for the sake of creativity and fun is always a good idea.

Scour Pinterest for a DIY project idea you might like and get crafty!

20. Do a digital cleanup

This is one of the summer ideas for college students that I will definitely get behind.

What is a digital cleanup?

Well, this can happen in a few different ways. Here are some ideas:

• Clean up your social media pages to make sure they would look good to potential employers or new friends
• Organize the files in your laptop so they’re in the correct folders and everything is easy to find
• Back up your computer onto a hard drive (just in case)
• Delete photos and files off your computer that you don’t need
• Create a locked password file so you never lose track of important passwords

21. Learn a new language

Start learning a new language, even if you don’t think you’ll ever use it. It’s good for your brain and incredibly easy with all the apps we have these days.

And, I’m sorry to break it to you, BUT…

It’s better than scrolling through TikTok for way too long. It just is.

I’ve done this personally, and I LOVE the satisfaction and accomplishment that comes from learning a new language, even if it’s just a few new words per week!

22. Do some creative writing

The last of the summer ideas for college students that I have for you today is to do some creative writing. Even if you’re not a writer, it feels great to get creative and get some thoughts off your chest, even if you never show it to anyone.

23. Plan out what your dorm room or apartment will look like

Moving into a new dorm room or apartment when school starts?

Plan out exactly what you need. Make a budget, a plan, and look for the best deals online if there’s stuff you need to buy.

You can also download our free packing checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything!

Which summer ideas for college students are you going to try first?

This post was all about summer ideas for college students.

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