College Summer Programs for High School Students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC thought YYGS was a total waste of time. The classes were largely taught by young undergrads and the "global" aspect was largely undermined by cliques.

[b]


Well, my DS had a totally different experience. He loved it. It wasn't taught by undergrads. He was required to present his research in a class - which he had never done before. And to this day he is in touch with his YYGS classmates via their facebook page. He's now at Oxford.

[Anonymous]

I did one of these when I was in high school. Granted, this was 30 years ago. I went to Penn State's summer program for high school students the summer after my junior year of high school. I was from a nearby state but not PA. I think my program was six or eight weeks long. It was fantastic. We each took one college level class with real college students and we each took a class just for those of us in the high school program. It was a great experience for me. I loved being on the college campus and getting a feel for what college would be like. The summer experience was much more structured than college turned out to be (I attended a different college), but it was a great experience. A high school classmate of mine attended a similar program at Cornell.

[Anonymous]

The W&M pre-college American History program is well done. It inspired my unispired DS to get excited about going to college, and to W&M in particular.
https://www.wm.edu/as/niahd/precol/index.php

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown has a wide variety of summer offerings: https://summer.georgetown.edu/

My DS attended the 5-week Summer College program and had an absolutely amazing experience. Not only did he make a wonderful connection with a faculty member, but he got to live in the dorms and experience life has a college student. Highly recommend!

Does your DS go to GU?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would recommend to OP the Yale Young Global Scholars program (tied in nicely with Model United Nations). It's competitive and $$$ but DC really got a lot out of it. It did nothing for her to get into Yale (double legacy) but really set off her resume nicely and turned out to be an opener for other internships during the summers. She did it as a rising junior, which is a bit unusual. That led into lots of other opportunities.

Did/does DC attend Yale?

[Anonymous]

These are big profit machines for universities that in most cases have no bearing on college admissions. (A few exceptions exist.)
Sadly they often attract candidates who think they will.

Consider one only if you think it's just a super-duper program that your kid will love but not because you think there will be any boost in your DC's admission chances.

[Anonymous]

My DC is trying to figure out if a business major may be for them, so is looking for a two week ish program this summer to try it out and learn some of the basics (accounting, finance, marketing, entrepreneurship). They are a rising senior and need to figure out whether to apply to direct admit business schools for undergrad. UVA McIntire launched a program that is local and could be great for this purpose. Any other suggestions? Open to ideas near and far (a test drive of living away on a campus would be a worthwhile endeavor too).

[Anonymous]

FWIW my kid did Yale Young Global Scholars after his sophomore year. It was $$ but SO worth it. She learned how to lecture on world issues and the friends she made are still with her (she's now at Oxford, finished a MPhil and now working on a
DPhil). I cannot recommend the program higher. Especially for the contacts that the kids make. It is competitive but worth it IMHO. Happy to answer questions. No I am not Yale.

[Anonymous]

^^ And full disclosure, when DD did apply to Yale (faculty kid, and two legacies but no big gifts), she had the stats but didn't get in. So don't count on any of these programs to get you into the actual institution.

[Anonymous]

university de Montreal has a great french immersion program and it is cheap!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are older threads on this you might want to check out.
Several schools of thought.
For purposes of enrichment, esp for some kids who really crave that, they can be great.
For others, a taste of living away, on a campus, is appealing.
Some would tell you they are largely considered an indicator of privilege, frowned upon by admissions officers, and that your DC’s summer time would be better spent in other, non academic ways (summer job, EC’s).
Consensus seems to be the best ones are non-profits, not run by outside companies who run a lot of these as pay to play and while seeming like they are affiliated with the college are actually not. Some writers projects and arts programs are very highly regarded.
Just a heads up that some will tell you that if your DC indicates they attended for instance the Georgetown program, on their Common App, Columbia for example will yield protect DC, assuming Georgetown is where they would ultimately choose. That can hurt an application. Some disagree but fwiw…
There are articles you can research (pretty sure one in WaPo) about the proliferation of these programs and the financial incentive for those who offer.

AOs from 4 colleges at a recent panel confirmed this. Because not everyone can afford them they are not given a ton of weight. It's just one more thing to consider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are older threads on this you might want to check out.
Several schools of thought.
For purposes of enrichment, esp for some kids who really crave that, they can be great.
For others, a taste of living away, on a campus, is appealing.
Some would tell you they are largely considered an indicator of privilege, frowned upon by admissions officers, and that your DC’s summer time would be better spent in other, non academic ways (summer job, EC’s).
Consensus seems to be the best ones are non-profits, not run by outside companies who run a lot of these as pay to play and while seeming like they are affiliated with the college are actually not. Some writers projects and arts programs are very highly regarded.
Just a heads up that some will tell you that if your DC indicates they attended for instance the Georgetown program, on their Common App, Columbia for example will yield protect DC, assuming Georgetown is where they would ultimately choose. That can hurt an application. Some disagree but fwiw…
There are articles you can research (pretty sure one in WaPo) about the proliferation of these programs and the financial incentive for those who offer.

AOs from 4 colleges at a recent panel confirmed this. Because not everyone can afford them they are not given a ton of weight. It's just one more thing to consider.

But maybe it indicates the family is affluent and can afford full tuition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would recommend to OP the Yale Young Global Scholars program (tied in nicely with Model United Nations). It's competitive and $$$ but DC really got a lot out of it. It did nothing for her to get into Yale (double legacy) but really set off her resume nicely and turned out to be an opener for other internships during the summers. She did it as a rising junior, which is a bit unusual. That led into lots of other opportunities.

Did/does DC attend Yale?

No. She applied and got in for rising junior year. Yes, we paid a fee. Yes, it was competitive. Yes, it was worth every penny. No, not withstanding great stats and a relation on the faculty and two legacies (who had not given money = no one had), did not get in - deferred and waitlisted. So don't count on these programs to get you into the school. They are moneymakers. But I am glad of it. DD made lifelong friends (facebook pages help) and applied to east coast ivies where she also had legacy status (deferred) but picked UVA and is now overseas doing doctoral work. So I'm a big fan of Yale Young Global Scholars. But don't assume it will get you into Yale

[Anonymous]

Mine did the U Chicago Summer session twice, taught by U Chicago professors. The advantage was living on campus, knowing they could succeed in a class where there were U Chicago undergraduates. It became my DC's first choice school. We had no ties to the school, except he thought the courses were really interesting.

[Anonymous]

Colleges are not going to “yield protect” based on where a student did a summer program. That is one of the sillier things I’ve heard here recently!