Summer Ideas for a Future Consultant?

​I'm in an unfortunate situation and have yet to land a summer internship offer in consulting. I am approaching my senior year of college (I am graduating next spring but need to stay an extra semester regardless to finish my second major, perhaps I can take another crack at summer interning this upcoming school year?). I am still applying for positions and am still waiting on a decision but now is a better time than ever to establish Plan B. What are some non-traditional things I can do this summer in order to look good and productive to a Consulting firm? An idea I had was to become more well versed in Equity Research and write articles for the website SeekingAlpha.com (and possibly get paid). This way I can provide firms with physical proof of my work this summer upon request. Although, I don't actually want to be an ER analyst and hope they don't look at this too unfavorably. What are your thoughts on this idea and are there any other popular things other consultants have done in the past? Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!