Reply to Unhappy With Summer Pre-College Program

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm sorry, OP, but why on earth would you send a kid to a month-long "pre-college" program when they're gonna be in real college before you know it?  [/quote]

OP here. It's just a term that's used for academic programs held on college campuses. They sort of give high school students a little "taste" of college. Some people do them thinking they will help with college admissions, which they almost always don't (with a few exceptions). We did it as a way to:

1. Give our kid a little independence. (Force a little independence...)
2. Help her think about what kind of college she'd like to attend. (Did she like a campus experience? Would she rather be in a city? Big? Small? Just thinking about what she liked and didn't like when she starts more seriously considering schools next year...)
3. Meet some nice people.
4. Take an interesting class. There was also a research component that was interesting to her for what she thinks she wants to study.

If you have the money, they may or may not be worth it as an experience. But as some people pointed out, they are far from a necessity. I had very good experiences with then when I was in high school, and I made some cool friends and broadened my horizons--which is what I am hoping for with my kid. I do need to think about that first reason and realize that even if I'm not thrilled with the program so far, this does foster independence, and I should try and let her work through that. [/quote]

I'll rephrase:  why on earth are you having your kid do anything academic in the summer at all?  [/quote]

Not OP, but presumably because her child wanted to. The kind of child who signs up for CTY enjoys learning and academic challenges.[/quote]

Yea, she really seems to be enjoying herself . . .

Besides, OP has said nothing to suggest that "her child wanted to."  It sounds like the mother signed her up because SHE did it in high school and liked it.  And the whole CTY thing is rarely, rarely child driven.

If I were a college admissions person, not only would I view spending summers doing this not to be an advantage -- I'd hold it against the applicant.  Doing things like this with your summer does not a well-rounded and interesting person make.   [/quote]
Shut up. You’re not helping. (Not OP, btw)[/quote]

Sorry.  I happen to think the whole thing was a terrible idea.  And I just don't understand it.[/quote]

OP…my kid WANTED to. She originally wanted MATH camp, which I thought sounded horribly boring and didn’t pan out anyway. I suggested an art program because she loves art, but she didn’t want to show people her work. I thought the kids would be more likely to be fun and accepting at a creative program, but she liked the research aspect of this. So, I didn’t force her at all. Done. [/quote]

NP - you don’t owe anyone an explanation  for this. PLENTY of kids get excited about an experience like this instead of sports camp or traditional summer camp or whatever. For my daughter the Great Books Summer Program (essentially literature and poetry camp!) Was life-changing. She goes to public school and had never experienced seminar style learning before or so many kids who loved what she loved. And after 2 summers it was on to debate camp - the ultimate in dorktastic fun. She loved it all![/quote]

Debate camp was my jam as a teen. Dorktastic fun off the charts. Although, interestingly, in terms of what OP is saying, the debate camps were a lot less structured than other programs. I don’t recall much in the way of organized social or bonding activities but we did have roommates and were working together a lot for the debate classes so got to know people easily. [/quote]

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