<p>My son has been attending an academic summer camp (CTY) since before 8th grade. He plans to do his last year this summer, between 10th and 11th. Up until this year he was interested in Humanities subjects like philosophy and law, but now he is interested in Math and Science, and wants to be an Engineer. Would listing his summer classes in Humanities subjects hurt his chances at CalTec/MIT/Mudd/Olin type schools? He plans to split this summer between Humanities and Physics.</p>
<p>I didn't send him to this camp to look good to colleges, I sent him to find 'his people' and to find himself - that spark of loving learning inside him. I did hope that he would be inspired enough to work hard during the school year and become the kind of kid that colleges would want, and so far I'm satisfied.</p>
<p>Aside from the fact that what you did at CTY before high school started is of no interest to colleges, I don’t see any problem with having explored humanities classes. Not everyone knows what they want to do when they grow up at age 14 or 15 and having broader interests is a plus. Both my kids did very well by pursuing what interested them, not in worrying about what colleges wanted. One was pretty single-minded, the other tried a lot of different things and didn’t find his calling until he was actually looking at colleges when it all fell into place. (His ECs were music, art and science oriented - he’s studying International Relations.) For my older son being less well-rounded probably hurt him at MIT and Caltech and helped him at Carnegie Mellon and Harvard.</p>
<p>Stop worrying about what colleges think and let him explore what interests him. My s took robotics, engineering and psychology. That combination together actually points to artificial intellgence, which he wouldn’t have thought of until someone mentioned it to him. </p>
<p>The way I looked at it was I wanted my son going where his particular interests outside of math would be seen in a good light, and if not, he probably wouldn’t be happy there.</p>
<p>He’s played sports, wants to take psych classes and is absolutely obsessed with music. I think it makes him a more interesting human being.</p>
<p>I can’t think of a summer program that hurts a kid in college admission process. I have only one child who’s going to college this year so my perspective is limited. D got admitted to all top tier colleges she applied to, saved Harvard. In terms of summer, rising 10th grade year, she took an online Spanish class; rising 11th grade, a state science program; rising 12th grade, an advanced class at our state flagship. In addition to these activities, she volunteered at an art camp. Compared to what claim here on cc, her summer activities were lame. If you notice, D’s programs were either free or very low cost.</p>