Pre-college summer programs: which are high quality, merit-based, and not pay to play?

[Anonymous]

The how pay to play doesnt necessarily mean bad quality.

My son is at Princeton now and he spent 2.5 weeks at Sciences Po summer program. It was an amazing program and experience for him.
High Quality: check
Recognized by top schools: check
100% Merit Based? Not quite. Sure there is an application process, but I’m not sure it is very selective. The only 4 kids I know that went there were accepted.

[Anonymous]

Selective summer program applications start in the fall, so you may want to start researching for next year now. In Virginia, the governors school programs are stellar. MITES, RISE, SSP, techgirls. YYGS was mentioned, and it’s harder to get into than ever so still competitive, but probably not the best fit for competitive STEM kids even with their IST option, unless they are considering a more interdisciplinary study.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The how pay to play doesnt necessarily mean bad quality.

My son is at Princeton now and he spent 2.5 weeks at Sciences Po summer program. It was an amazing program and experience for him.
High Quality: check
Recognized by top schools: check
100% Merit Based? Not quite. Sure there is an application process, but I’m not sure it is very selective. The only 4 kids I know that went there were accepted.

dont you need to be 18 for that? how can you do it for two years in HS

[Anonymous]

Already mentioned but recommend CTech^2 at VT for girls. Price is very reasonable for quality. Help provided with the entire application process for VT. Advice is applicable for other colleges. EA admissions decision at end of September.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The how pay to play doesnt necessarily mean bad quality.

My son is at Princeton now and he spent 2.5 weeks at Sciences Po summer program. It was an amazing program and experience for him.
High Quality: check
Recognized by top schools: check
100% Merit Based? Not quite. Sure there is an application process, but I’m not sure it is very selective. The only 4 kids I know that went there were accepted.

What does “recognized” mean? What Sumer program would not be “recognized”?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking specifically for a 10th grade girl who is interested in science, math, healthcare and engineering. Strong student, ex-CTY but find their program quality and peer group have changed.

What peer group is she looking for?

[Anonymous]

My DD participated in Yale Young Global Scholars a few summers ago and loved it. She is at Yale now. Several of her friends from that program are also at Yale. Many others are at HYPS and highly-ranked LACs.

I'm not saying that YYGS is the reason for these college results and I would never recommend that someone participate in YYGS or any other college summer program in the hopes of getting in. However, these results do suggest that highly-selective institutions don't look down on YYGS.

I agree that YYGS is better for humanities-focused high school students than it is for STEM kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are near Baltimore, JHU has some great options.

+1 on this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame

typical pay-to-play again, isn't it?

You say this as if it’s bad, but if you can afford them, these programs can be great experience that broaden kids’ perspectives, introduce them to new ideas and directions, confirm interest on a particular career or major, or immerse them in a language or new setting. It’s true that attending one doesn’t get you into college, but neither does it keep you out. Most kids I know at very selective schools attended one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame

typical pay-to-play again, isn't it?

You say this as if it’s bad, but if you can afford them, these programs can be great experience that broaden kids’ perspectives, introduce them to new ideas and directions, confirm interest on a particular career or major, or immerse them in a language or new setting. It’s true that attending one doesn’t get you into college, but neither does it keep you out. Most kids I know at very selective schools attended one.

I agree that these programs may not specifically help for admissions based on their name alone, but I think they can make a kid more focused and confident in wanting to pursue a specific field or specific type of program/university and that alone can improve an application. It's hard for kids to really understand what a university or advanced studies in a particular field is like without experiencing it, so it's great that there are programs that provide a window into what's coming next.

[Anonymous]

Telluride Association Summer Program

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD participated in Yale Young Global Scholars a few summers ago and loved it. She is at Yale now. Several of her friends from that program are also at Yale. Many others are at HYPS and highly-ranked LACs.

I'm not saying that YYGS is the reason for these college results and I would never recommend that someone participate in YYGS or any other college summer program in the hopes of getting in. However, these results do suggest that highly-selective institutions don't look down on YYGS.

I agree that YYGS is better for humanities-focused high school students than it is for STEM kids.

Keep in mind that the dorms at Yale don't have A/C. It is awfully hot and humid in New Haven. My DC stayed in Pierson for YYGS. Other programs are more prestigious-the free, extremely selective ones. But YYGS was great and my kid enjoyed it a lot. Chose to go to HPS for college though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out the MIT programs.

Very competitive, but free of charge if accepted and I think like 50% of RIS participants are accepted by MIT.

https://mitadmissions.org/apply/prepare/summer/

NP. Thank you for this. Very helpful!

[Anonymous]

These are great suggestions. Thank you everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The how pay to play doesnt necessarily mean bad quality.

My son is at Princeton now and he spent 2.5 weeks at Sciences Po summer program. It was an amazing program and experience for him.
High Quality: check
Recognized by top schools: check
100% Merit Based? Not quite. Sure there is an application process, but I’m not sure it is very selective. The only 4 kids I know that went there were accepted.

What does “recognized” mean? What Sumer program would not be “recognized”?

NP. It's a polite way of saying the AOs are aware that Sciences Po is one of the most prestigious schools in France without having to look it up. It's a name brand place.

That probably was a big draw on the app. Because it's an elite marker. Random middle class bright American kids don't randomly decide to go abroad to Harvard-level foreign schools for summer programs. Because they and their parents haven't heard of them.

I only know about the school because I was a French minor and I took a class on comparative EU government in government. It's a school that French politicians graduate from. Most countries have schools like this.

AOs are more familiar with foreign schools because they have to be familiar to do their jobs.

It's nice of PP to share a tip about the school's summer program as some lucky and determined parent or kid may find out about it who wouldn't have otherwise known to look.