"The Pre-College Racket"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know if any of them are offered for college credit but I think they all purport to be at the level of a college class.

Well if that had been the point you responded to, and the point of the OP, then your post would be well taken.

Unfortunately it is neither.

Cool story bro

[Anonymous]

My kid went on a program at WPI.

It was pricey. He ended up not applying there but enjoyed himself. He got a ton out of the program -- mostly about what he wants and doesn't want to study within engineering and also about what kind of school would make him happy. They had a college fair, which gave him a chance away from his pushy mom to learn about some schools we weren't considering (including one that ended up his #2 choice).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did NIADH at WM this summer and took a graded 200 level class for college credit through the history program. I do not expect it to prop up a college app. At most, it’s a small nudge because it’s a show of demonstrated interest, which WM cares about. .

But, my kid loves history is looking at SLACs. And WM topped his list late junior year. The three weeks on campus made them more comfortable with the idea of college and helped them focus in on what they did and did not want. After NIADH, my kid is still apply to SLACs, but WM is more like 3rd or 4th choice. They said that there were great things about the school, but also things they were less excited about.

So money well spent.

But no, I doubt it would be the deciding factor on WM’s side. It might be a deciding factor for my kid though.

Thanks for explaining it so nicely.
Personally, I don't think I have enough money for that kind of discovery, but we'll see.

It was expensive. More expensive than I would normally consider. But this particular kid is 2E, and finding a good college fit and giving them the confidence that they could navigate a college campus is turning out to be extremely important. They inherited money from a great grandparent, which has been set aside for college. I let them dip into it for pre-college, because I think launching this particular kid is going to be a challenge. If they end up with a bad match and flunk out or need to transfer, that’s a lot of money lost. So, there was a cost-benefit Assessment, not just blindly writing a check.

My other kid is very different. I’m not sure I would send them to a pre-college program unless it was very specialized and specific. But, I would let them withdraw some money to spend some time in an overseas program one summer. For various reasons, I think this would be great for them.

Do your children use the pronoun "they" or something?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know if any of them are offered for college credit but I think they all purport to be at the level of a college class.

Well if that had been the point you responded to, and the point of the OP, then your post would be well taken.

Unfortunately it is neither.

Cool story bro

Yah the original "my kid took a college class and gotted an A+!" is the CSB in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did NIADH at WM this summer and took a graded 200 level class for college credit through the history program. I do not expect it to prop up a college app. At most, it’s a small nudge because it’s a show of demonstrated interest, which WM cares about. .

But, my kid loves history is looking at SLACs. And WM topped his list late junior year. The three weeks on campus made them more comfortable with the idea of college and helped them focus in on what they did and did not want. After NIADH, my kid is still apply to SLACs, but WM is more like 3rd or 4th choice. They said that there were great things about the school, but also things they were less excited about.

So money well spent.

But no, I doubt it would be the deciding factor on WM’s side. It might be a deciding factor for my kid though.

Thanks for explaining it so nicely.
Personally, I don't think I have enough money for that kind of discovery, but we'll see.

It was expensive. More expensive than I would normally consider. But this particular kid is 2E, and finding a good college fit and giving them the confidence that they could navigate a college campus is turning out to be extremely important. They inherited money from a great grandparent, which has been set aside for college. I let them dip into it for pre-college, because I think launching this particular kid is going to be a challenge. If they end up with a bad match and flunk out or need to transfer, that’s a lot of money lost. So, there was a cost-benefit Assessment, not just blindly writing a check.

My other kid is very different. I’m not sure I would send them to a pre-college program unless it was very specialized and specific. But, I would let them withdraw some money to spend some time in an overseas program one summer. For various reasons, I think this would be great for them.

Do your children use the pronoun "they" or something?

It's called normal speech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did NIADH at WM this summer and took a graded 200 level class for college credit through the history program. I do not expect it to prop up a college app. At most, it’s a small nudge because it’s a show of demonstrated interest, which WM cares about. .

But, my kid loves history is looking at SLACs. And WM topped his list late junior year. The three weeks on campus made them more comfortable with the idea of college and helped them focus in on what they did and did not want. After NIADH, my kid is still apply to SLACs, but WM is more like 3rd or 4th choice. They said that there were great things about the school, but also things they were less excited about.

So money well spent.

But no, I doubt it would be the deciding factor on WM’s side. It might be a deciding factor for my kid though.

Thanks for explaining it so nicely.
Personally, I don't think I have enough money for that kind of discovery, but we'll see.

It was expensive. More expensive than I would normally consider. But this particular kid is 2E, and finding a good college fit and giving them the confidence that they could navigate a college campus is turning out to be extremely important. They inherited money from a great grandparent, which has been set aside for college. I let them dip into it for pre-college, because I think launching this particular kid is going to be a challenge. If they end up with a bad match and flunk out or need to transfer, that’s a lot of money lost. So, there was a cost-benefit Assessment, not just blindly writing a check.

My other kid is very different. I’m not sure I would send them to a pre-college program unless it was very specialized and specific. But, I would let them withdraw some money to spend some time in an overseas program one summer. For various reasons, I think this would be great for them.

Do your children use the pronoun "they" or something?

It's called normal speech.

No, it's not. It's called grammatically incorrect speech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid did NIADH at WM this summer and took a graded 200 level class for college credit through the history program. I do not expect it to prop up a college app. At most, it’s a small nudge because it’s a show of demonstrated interest, which WM cares about. .

But, my kid loves history is looking at SLACs. And WM topped his list late junior year. The three weeks on campus made them more comfortable with the idea of college and helped them focus in on what they did and did not want. After NIADH, my kid is still apply to SLACs, but WM is more like 3rd or 4th choice. They said that there were great things about the school, but also things they were less excited about.

So money well spent.

But no, I doubt it would be the deciding factor on WM’s side. It might be a deciding factor for my kid though.

Thanks for explaining it so nicely.
Personally, I don't think I have enough money for that kind of discovery, but we'll see.

It was expensive. More expensive than I would normally consider. But this particular kid is 2E, and finding a good college fit and giving them the confidence that they could navigate a college campus is turning out to be extremely important. They inherited money from a great grandparent, which has been set aside for college. I let them dip into it for pre-college, because I think launching this particular kid is going to be a challenge. If they end up with a bad match and flunk out or need to transfer, that’s a lot of money lost. So, there was a cost-benefit Assessment, not just blindly writing a check.

My other kid is very different. I’m not sure I would send them to a pre-college program unless it was very specialized and specific. But, I would let them withdraw some money to spend some time in an overseas program one summer. For various reasons, I think this would be great for them.

Do your children use the pronoun "they" or something?

No. There were only 100-120 kids who did NiADH this year. Most were out of state. I’m trying to not out my kid by making it less obvious who they were. Of 20 were from the DMV, it’s a pool of 20, not 10.

Don’t be an a—hole.

[Anonymous]

I think a lot depends on what you're using the precollege program for. In our case, it was for our daughter to get a little taste of the major she is considering and one of the schools that offers it. She was interested in Computer Animation and did 2 weeks of summer workshops in Figure Drawing, 2D Animation, 3D Animation and Motion Design at SCAD this past summer (before Junior year). It helped her hone in on what she responded to most positively in the tastes they gave her. It also let her try out the SCAD campus for a couple of weeks, and gave her and I the opportunity to talk with the instructors in more detail about industry opportunities. Coming out of those 2 weeks, she has decided to shift her focus to a BA/BFA in Visual Effects (CGI), which is a different major than the Computer Animation major she had intended before those 2 weeks. This coming summer, before her senior year, she will do 3 weeks at another school she is considering, again to try out the major and another school before her application push that fall.

Will the precollege weeks help her during the admissions process? Who knows. I would have to think that trying to get exposure to your intended major at a college you're thinking of applying certainly wouldn't hurt. I also would think that for that particular school, the student being able to express specific reasons they want to attend the school, which they learned from their experiences living on the campus, would certainly help. But we're mainly using the precollege programs to help our daughter choose a major and schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will the precollege weeks help her during the admissions process? Who knows.

Everyone. And it won't. Not even a little.

But it sounds like the kid has her stuff together and will thrive so who cares?

[Anonymous]

Outside of donating a million bucks, nothing demonstrates interest more than the selective summer program. Most kids loathe the thought of school during the summer, so it shows some real motivation to want to be at a specific college, get the vibe of campus, learn from PhD/masters candidates, and meet some motivated peers who also dream of going there. Also makes those "why college x" essays more genuine.

Only folks who rail against this are those bitter they're too broke to send their kids away or value the travel sports racket over academics.

[Anonymous]

Our kid did a "test in" summer program this past summer. It was hosted at a "top 10" school. They are not planning on applying to the school or the sponsoring program (another "top 10" school) - that said, the experience of living on campus, living a collegiate schedule, the dorms, cafeteria, gym etc was invaluable in honing what they decided appealed to them about different campuses and schools that they are considering.

It would never have occurred to our kid or us that the program itself would provide any sort of "advantage" in the application process itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Outside of donating a million bucks, nothing demonstrates interest more than the selective summer program. Most kids loathe the thought of school during the summer, so it shows some real motivation to want to be at a specific college, get the vibe of campus, learn from PhD/masters candidates, and meet some motivated peers who also dream of going there. Also makes those "why college x" essays more genuine.

Only folks who rail against this are those bitter they're too broke to send their kids away or value the travel sports racket over academics.

No that is not true, Everything you have posted above is untrue. And articles from experts were posted showing the opposite.

You do use the word "selective" and that was also pointed about above; in fact RSI and TASP were mentioned by name.

Pay to play summer programs: They. Do. Not. Help. End. Period.