Have you thought about JHU's CTY program? 3 weeks on a college campus, a good mix of free time and structured time, different campuses you can choose from. I've heard wonderful things about it!

Consider Outward bound or NOLS. My sons, who is now a junior in college did both and they impacted his life. He lived on a glacier for a month, lead rope teams up 14,000' peaks and learned many great skills. Very usefull when interviewing and he gets asked what is the toughest thing you have done. Waking up at 2am to climp a snow covered summit usually comes up in that conversation!!

Cornell has a large summer program, as does Brown.

Anonymous wrote:They are not selective at all as pp stated. And, don't be fooled into thinking that if your kid goes to one of these summer programs at an elite university that they'll have a better chance of getting into that university. Just like going to summer camp at Beauvoir won't get a kid into Beauvoir, going to U of Chic. summer programs won't help a kid get into U of Chic. unless they are otherwise qualified with grades and SAT scores.

That's what I was hoping. I'm not looking for anything for a resume, just a single mom whose kid has never been willing to go to sleep away camp but said "that sounds interesting" when I showed him the U of C website. If he comes home smiling after 3 weeks then I'll consider it a success.

They are not selective at all as pp stated. And, don't be fooled into thinking that if your kid goes to one of these summer programs at an elite university that they'll have a better chance of getting into that university. Just like going to summer camp at Beauvoir won't get a kid into Beauvoir, going to U of Chic. summer programs won't help a kid get into U of Chic. unless they are otherwise qualified with grades and SAT scores.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone have experience with the program at U of Chicago? My son is very interested in ancient Egypt, and they have a 3 week program that I was thinking of having him apply to.

Also, does anyone know how selective the programs where you pay are? I know that the free programs can be super selective, but I didn't know about something like the University of Chicago program, or the Middlebury Language program.

not selective at all. these programs are expensive so they need everyone they can get.

Does anyone have experience with the program at U of Chicago? My son is very interested in ancient Egypt, and they have a 3 week program that I was thinking of having him apply to.

Also, does anyone know how selective the programs where you pay are? I know that the free programs can be super selective, but I didn't know about something like the University of Chicago program, or the Middlebury Language program.

Virginia Tech has a great program called Inside Architecture + Design - one week, residential. My DD did it and loved the experience of long hours in the studio and living in the dorms. It was affordable, too, and made her realize that VT is a real option for her (one she had discounted before she went to I A+D). Look on the school's website for more information. In response to the original question, though, I'm not aware of a centralized listing of such programs - but the college guidance department at school would probably have information on programs.

My DS gets tons of mailings for these things. Vanderbilt PAVE sends something about every 2 weeks. It looks like a good program. Kenyon does a writing workshop. Carleton does a science program. Stanford does a program (although the only person I know who went lives in Palo Alto so not sure if it is residential). There are various programs that are held on college campuses but aren't run by that college - Explo is one. CTY programs are held on various college campuses as well - they are usually 3 weeks. My DS did one in middle school and enjoyed it.

Not OP, but asking others to post their good suggestions.

Kimball Union Academy( boarding school in NH) has a 2 week language immmerson program in chinese, french or spanish. Teachers are from the Dartmouth Language program. (raissas method) Very close to dartmouth.

national student leadership conference runs 1-2 week programs at different college campuses around the country. They specialize in government, international diplomacy etc.

If he has any interest in languages, Middlebury's summer language programs are fantastic, truly immersion, and my DD and nieces who participated as high school students made incredible progress in a language they already had some proficiency in, or began a new one. Well-respected program as well, in a beautiful environment (original one at Green Mountain Colllege very close to Midd, new campuses now run at Pomona in California and at Swarthmore). But none are two weeks, all are a month (and I think very few college summer programs would be as short as two weeks, that is not enough time to readlly separate from home and to make real new connections/friendships).

I went to Duke's TIP program twice in high school. I think they have more options now, but I did the three-week summer program, living in the dorms with other TIP students. Made friends I'm still in touch with and developed my academic interests.

There are many good ones. Both of my kids did Brown U's summer program -- a good combination of academics and unstructured time. Probably best suited to ages 15 and up.

Is there a listing of these anywhere, or a place to get reviews from people who have attended? I would like to send DS (current sophomore) to something like a two-week program in a subject area that interests him so that he can get away from home (he never went to summer camp), see what a college campus feels like, and meet some different kids (he goes to a small and homgeneous school). Appreciate any advice about how to research these or recommendations of particular programs. DS's particular academic interests right now are history, government, economics. Thanks!