DD did a 3 week academic program at UMD last summer where she lived on campus in a dorm and took a class for credit. She made some great friends, got a little bit of a college experience and thoroughly enjoyed it.

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.

Notre Dame summer scholars is selective for some programs,

My D did the UVA Leadership on the Lawn program. A nice mix of volunteer work and various "sessions" where the kids learned a mix of things, some leadership related and others aimed more at helping them identify interest and talent areas with, I assume, an eye toward deciding what to study in college. We knew she was going to apply to UVA and wanted her to have a chance to get a feel for the school. She loved it, applied, and was admitted EA so it served the purpose we intended. That said, most (but not all) kids were going into their senior year.

If you are Jewish, Genesis at Brandeis University is an AMAZING experience!

Widener University has engineering programs, University of Delaware also has programs. I'm seaching for my DD so I'm just going to websites of area colleges/universities (3 hour radius), and looking through each site.

Stay away form Oxford. It sounds impressive, but it is just a summer of underaged drinking.