Pay-to-play EC

[Anonymous]

With so many pay-to-play activities out there, can admissions officers at elite colleges tell the difference? Or do they not care because it shows the student is resourceful?

[Anonymous]

Which exactly did you have in mind? Ones where you can practically buy the win? If they're in niche fields, most college admissions officers won't even know they're pay-to-play.

Beyond those, I have to say, most extra-curriculars are pay-to-play to an extent.

[Anonymous]

The two biggest ones I see are:
* Internships
* Research experiences

[Anonymous]

What about summer programs on college campuses

[Anonymous]

It has to be at least somewhat selective to be meaningful. Even the selective ones are pay to play nowadays.

[Anonymous]

My daughter did a virtual summer "research" program. She had to apply and provide recommendation letters, but I strongly suspect they took anyone who could reasonably fill out the application and was willing to pay. Our college counselor said some of these pay to play programs may not be that impressive but it does show the student's willingness to commit to a long term project that hopefully aligns with their academic interests. Exploring a passion is never a waste of time, though some of the price tags sure make it worth a lot of deliberation!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With so many pay-to-play activities out there, can admissions officers at elite colleges tell the difference? Or do they not care because it shows the student is resourceful?

How does it show the kid is resourceful?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The two biggest ones I see are:
* Internships
* Research experiences

Genuinely curious but why would anyone pay for research experiences? So many university faculty that have NSF research grants would love to work with high school students and most universities have extensive high school research opportunity programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The two biggest ones I see are:
* Internships
* Research experiences

Genuinely curious but why would anyone pay for research experiences? So many university faculty that have NSF research grants would love to work with high school students and most universities have extensive high school research opportunity programs.

Faculty do not want to work with high schoolers.

[Anonymous]

All those grants have been defunded.

[Anonymous]

At this point, paid research opportunities are probably easy to spot. A quick AI search for high school research mentor programs brings up countless results — it's all the same playbook. I just wonder if admissions officers are still impressed by them.

[Anonymous]

It is also common for parents to fund nonprofits or startups for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Senate youth page prog is big for our non-DC and non-east coast private.

We are far enough away from Washington so that only two or three kids in the graduating class have it on their common app; its national level accolade so it matters - except when you realize that the kids doing it are the kids of big senate donors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The two biggest ones I see are:
* Internships
* Research experiences

Genuinely curious but why would anyone pay for research experiences? So many university faculty that have NSF research grants would love to work with high school students and most universities have extensive high school research opportunity programs.

Many university faculty barely work with undergrads. They certainly do not want to work with high school students.

I haven't found any free research opportunity programs at universities for high school students. Could you please provide a few examples?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The two biggest ones I see are:
* Internships
* Research experiences

Genuinely curious but why would anyone pay for research experiences? So many university faculty that have NSF research grants would love to work with high school students and most universities have extensive high school research opportunity programs.

Many university faculty barely work with undergrads. They certainly do not want to work with high school students.

I haven't found any free research opportunity programs at universities for high school students. Could you please provide a few examples?

DP: Ole Miss's Rebel Research Scholars / ARISE program. My son spent a month there at the Center for Graphene Research and Innovation. It was grant funded and cost us only some spending money. If we had needed it, there was also a travel grant offered.