pre-college programs- which were good experiences for your humanities focused child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're getting a lot of (a) it's only a cash cow and (2) it's useless for boosting admission chances so why bother.

Well, there absolutely ARE programs like that, but if you are actually seeking a program for content that your kid will find enriching and interesting, and you're not just seeking something to stick on college applications--there are programs like that too. You are wise to be looking around carefully but this site may not be your best resource because there is SO much focus here on "will doing X help my kid's admission chances" rather than on "Is the program content of good quality and will my child have a good experience with what's learned?" (Not just living on campus---actually, will the kid get a good educational experience that's interesting.)

I've heard the William and Mary program mentioned above was very good content and well designed but we don't have personal experience with it.

See if you can search around online for mentions of programs of interest to your kid -- maybe posts by kids or parents of kids who have done programs that look right for your student. College Confidential used to have some things like that but alas they seem to have dried up and are all about "here are my stats, 'chance me,' can I get into school X" stuff. We used CC to find out more about creative writing programs when my DC was in high school and it led us to the fantastic summer program at Denison University, for instance.

I would say a general rule for any program is that if it's all pay to play, it's likelier to be a cash cow than if the student truly has to compete for a slot to enter. It can be hard, of course, to tell if applying to enter is truly competitive and they turn people away or if they just say they do....You might have to do some deep dive internet searching to get to comments by "been there, done that program" students and parents.

And some PPs above are correct that if a third party is running the program and the college is really just the location -- it might be more of a mere cash cow. You really need reviews from those whose kids have done those programs.

I mentioned state Governors' Schools above and still think they're a place to look, too. DC's friends did humanities there -- one did Latin, one did history, and both had good experiences (VA).

I would not approach this as "Can this increase my kid's chances of getting admitted to the host school." NOT saying you're doing that, OP! Just noting that it comes up here. Do it because your kid wants to do it as fun and enrichment, and the living on a campus is a good plus. But it would be a huge investment of many summer weeks to do these programs just in hopes they might boost a kid's chances of admision at the host school or elsewhere.

Mom of the skidmore program kid here. We chose it because of the class selection, the duration (5 weeks), and the fact that the students take actual undergraduate classes alongside skidmore undergrads instead of watered down classes tailored for high school students.

[Anonymous]

NP. Does anyone have experience with the summer programs at Brown? Looks like they are returning to in person this summer.

[Anonymous]

Look into Medill Cherubs @ Northwestern. I know people, no lie, who still rave about the program.