Does going to a summer program help show Demonstrated Interest at Top 20/30 (but not Ivy) schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if the kid is interesred in topics of summer course at say Duke for example and is trying to see if that is in an area she wants to major in. Can't hurt. But does it look like pay to play? It could be a way to meet faculty and speak more to it in admissions.

Do an online Coursera class. The Duke pre-college class is no more valuable to an AO than a free Coursera/EdX.

My kid put multiple Coursera/EdX in Addtl Info section last cycle that matched the humanities major. DC had internships and participated in competitive national sports during the summer, so DC couldn't afford the expensive pay-to-play summer program. Got into 4 T20 in RD.

[Anonymous]

I have two kids that both did summer programs at intended school. One got in and one didn’t. I don’t think it is the weight of admission.