How much do college summer programs help with admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Totally depends on the program. The for profit ones that just rent out the college facilities, not so much.

If actually run by the college, it can show interest in a particular field or potentially demonstrated interest for a college. Some are for credit and can show your child can meet the rigor of a college course.

Some are super competitive to get into and can look good on an application.

Not a must do by any stretch and they tend to be expensive (although many offer financial aid). For both of my kids, they helped rule out a major that would not have been a fit (for one, it meant not choosing art school, so that was huge). It really just depends on the program and your financial situation. They are by no means a ticket into a particular school.

this is the correct answer, in my very recent experience. The PPs who claim that no college summer program matters to any AO (zip! nada! nothing!) are incorrect.

DS did two different summer things, both extremely competitive entry. One, at a T10 school, was an actual class where he sat alongside freshmen and sophomores and a handful of equally smart high schoolers. He decided not to ED that school, but when being interviewed by a different T20 school, the AO person asked him a lot of substantive questions about what he studied. He developed knowledge from that class that he turned around and used as background in some of his "Why us?" essays.

The other competitive entry program he did was, I think, competitive due to space constraints and having far more applicants than slots due probably to the prestige of the university/college (Oxford). Again, AO interviewers did ask him about curriculum there because it directly relates to his intended field of study and he was able to make that connection for them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of these comments are weird. It's way too extreme to say these programs have no value.

No one said they have no value.

The OP's question was WRT admissions. Read the thread title.

In admissions, it is the overwhelming consensus that they offer no benefit. What's weird is some people's refusal to accept that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these comments are weird. It's way too extreme to say these programs have no value.

No one said they have no value.

The OP's question was WRT admissions. Read the thread title.

In admissions, it is the overwhelming consensus that they offer no benefit. What's weird is some people's refusal to accept that.

A post that says "Zero - it's a money grab thing" is saying that these programs are a money grab without value. It's not like that post says: "Zero - but it has other value/benefits".


Asserting that they have value (sometimes a lot of value) is not the same thing as saying they help with admissions. What's weird is your inability to understand that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Totally depends on the program. The for profit ones that just rent out the college facilities, not so much.

If actually run by the college, it can show interest in a particular field or potentially demonstrated interest for a college. Some are for credit and can show your child can meet the rigor of a college course.

Some are super competitive to get into and can look good on an application.

Not a must do by any stretch and they tend to be expensive (although many offer financial aid). For both of my kids, they helped rule out a major that would not have been a fit (for one, it meant not choosing art school, so that was huge). It really just depends on the program and your financial situation. They are by no means a ticket into a particular school.

this is the correct answer, in my very recent experience. The PPs who claim that no college summer program matters to any AO (zip! nada! nothing!) are incorrect.

DS did two different summer things, both extremely competitive entry. One, at a T10 school, was an actual class where he sat alongside freshmen and sophomores and a handful of equally smart high schoolers. He decided not to ED that school, but when being interviewed by a different T20 school, the AO person asked him a lot of substantive questions about what he studied. He developed knowledge from that class that he turned around and used as background in some of his "Why us?" essays.

The other competitive entry program he did was, I think, competitive due to space constraints and having far more applicants than slots due probably to the prestige of the university/college (Oxford). Again, AO interviewers did ask him about curriculum there because it directly relates to his intended field of study and he was able to make that connection for them.

Competitive entry programs (actually competitive- not ones with an application just to make it look that way) aren’t generally considered pay to play. Especially if they’re free or discounted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these comments are weird. It's way too extreme to say these programs have no value.

No one said they have no value.

The OP's question was WRT admissions. Read the thread title.

In admissions, it is the overwhelming consensus that they offer no benefit. What's weird is some people's refusal to accept that.

A post that says "Zero - it's a money grab thing" is saying that these programs are a money grab without value. It's not like that post says: "Zero - but it has other value/benefits".


Asserting that they have value (sometimes a lot of value) is not the same thing as saying they help with admissions. What's weird is your inability to understand that.

What's weird is your inability to read the OP and the title of the thread.

Those answers are completely accurate, appropriate, and on topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these comments are weird. It's way too extreme to say these programs have no value.

No one said they have no value.

The OP's question was WRT admissions. Read the thread title.

In admissions, it is the overwhelming consensus that they offer no benefit. What's weird is some people's refusal to accept that.

A post that says "Zero - it's a money grab thing" is saying that these programs are a money grab without value. It's not like that post says: "Zero - but it has other value/benefits".


Asserting that they have value (sometimes a lot of value) is not the same thing as saying they help with admissions. What's weird is your inability to understand that.

What's weird is your inability to read the OP and the title of the thread.

Those answers are completely accurate, appropriate, and on topic.

Yeah god forbid we provide additional context-- like how a summer program was helpful-- to a poster deciding whether to send her kid to one. No one ever does that. That's never useful
Also, my post, that you quoted, also said that these programs are "certainly no ticket into college". Convenient how you left that off for your critique.

Not saying your posts are off topic. I'm saying they are not showing the whole picture, are extreme, and leave out crucial data points.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They don't.

But status seeking parents, who are easily parted with their money, somehow think it gives them a leg up.

The schools depend upon that type of parent for mucho dinero.

I disagree with your snide comment about status-seeking parents. Your generalizations are ridiculous.

OP, pre-college summer programs will not help with admissions; rather, they offer your student the opportunity to see what the school is like and somewhat showcase in front of the faculty (if the program has faculty teaching it). My DD is a music student and attended several different summer programs. She worked directly with faculty, learned a great deal, and came back a better music student. She’s also got to see what it was like living on campus and actually made some decisions about those colleges (decided not to apply to one of them) based on her experience. That is the value in the summer program.

I would agree. Also had a student who did some summer programs. Another benefit would be the connections with the professors. If applying for an audition based program, students will sometimes do trial lessons w/ professors, so having some relationship from the summer workshop can be helpful.

[Anonymous]

Okay, so what are the competitive summer programs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these comments are weird. It's way too extreme to say these programs have no value.

No one said they have no value.

The OP's question was WRT admissions. Read the thread title.

In admissions, it is the overwhelming consensus that they offer no benefit. What's weird is some people's refusal to accept that.

A post that says "Zero - it's a money grab thing" is saying that these programs are a money grab without value. It's not like that post says: "Zero - but it has other value/benefits".


Asserting that they have value (sometimes a lot of value) is not the same thing as saying they help with admissions. What's weird is your inability to understand that.

What's weird is your inability to read the OP and the title of the thread.

Those answers are completely accurate, appropriate, and on topic.

Yeah god forbid we provide additional context-- like how a summer program was helpful-- to a poster deciding whether to send her kid to one. No one ever does that. That's never useful
Also, my post, that you quoted, also said that these programs are "certainly no ticket into college". Convenient how you left that off for your critique.

Not saying your posts are off topic. I'm saying they are not showing the whole picture, are extreme, and leave out crucial data points.

What is this, bizzarro world? YOU were the one who criticized posts. All I said was the posters you criticized were valid and on topic.

OP didn't ask for "the whole picture". Want that? Start a new thread.

I repeat: the posts you criticized were 100% accurate, appropriate and on-topic, that these programs don't help at all in admissions. That's my point, end-period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so what are the competitive summer programs?

MOSP and TASS for examples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so what are the competitive summer programs?

List:
https://blog.collegevine.com/most-prestigious-summer-programs-for-high-school-students/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so what are the competitive summer programs?

MOSP and TASS for examples.

IOWA, Kenyon, for another. Their writing programs helped my DC tremendously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of these comments are weird. It's way too extreme to say these programs have no value.

No one said they have no value.

The OP's question was WRT admissions. Read the thread title.

In admissions, it is the overwhelming consensus that they offer no benefit. What's weird is some people's refusal to accept that.

A post that says "Zero - it's a money grab thing" is saying that these programs are a money grab without value. It's not like that post says: "Zero - but it has other value/benefits".


Asserting that they have value (sometimes a lot of value) is not the same thing as saying they help with admissions. What's weird is your inability to understand that.

What's weird is your inability to read the OP and the title of the thread.

Those answers are completely accurate, appropriate, and on topic.

Yeah god forbid we provide additional context-- like how a summer program was helpful-- to a poster deciding whether to send her kid to one. No one ever does that. That's never useful
Also, my post, that you quoted, also said that these programs are "certainly no ticket into college". Convenient how you left that off for your critique.

Not saying your posts are off topic. I'm saying they are not showing the whole picture, are extreme, and leave out crucial data points.

What is this, bizzarro world? YOU were the one who criticized posts. All I said was the posters you criticized were valid and on topic.

OP didn't ask for "the whole picture". Want that? Start a new thread.

I repeat: the posts you criticized were 100% accurate, appropriate and on-topic, that these programs don't help at all in admissions. That's my point, end-period.

DP. Your posts are rude and unhelpful. Just so you know

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so what are the competitive summer programs?

MOSP and TASS for examples.

IOWA, Kenyon, for another. Their writing programs helped my DC tremendously.

Agree. These are well respected programs. As far as those that are not respected by AO's - I can think of a bunch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay, so what are the competitive summer programs?

MOSP and TASS for examples.

IOWA, Kenyon, for another. Their writing programs helped my DC tremendously.

So did DC go to Kenyon?