Boston.com / News / Education / Higher education / The scoop on summer jobs and your future: "For students whose family budgets mean they're going to spend the summer flipping burgers or scooping ice cream, it can seem like a big worry: Will their applications still be taken seriously if they feature three months spent in a Brigham's uniform?
The good news is that college admission officers say yes, even if more teenagers appear to be saying no. The number of 16- to 19-year-olds entering the job market last summer slid to just over half, or 53.6 percent , the lowest percentage since 1964. The percentage of teenagers choosing to work in the summer has been largely declining since a peak of nearly 72 percent in 1978. That trend is partly fueled by a rise in teenagers enrolling in summer school, from 14.5 percent in 1989 to 37.9 percent last summer. But college admission officers say a summer job, even a menial one, doesn't have to be a drag on your application."