<p>Ok, so I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on some interesting things I could do to make myself stand out prominently from the crowd of people applying for Stanford, which I want to get into. Yale, Harvard, MIT, Duke, Dartmouth, Princeton, CalTech are other colleges I am interested in. So, any ideas ? Would a camp/summer research program for one month at a college like Stanford improve my chances? Cus I'm thinking of doing one of those camps next summer after junior year. Would the knowledge/experience/just the fact I'm doing it help me in any way? My parents think so, but I'm not sure. Thanks!</p>
<p>be honest in ur apps, and when they ask for ECs, list those u are most passionate about, not the ones that look good on paper. I know heaps of people didnt attend any MIT summer courses and still made, and a few internationals who did attend and didnt make it. So thats nt saying that you shouldnt do a summer course, just suggesting that you should only do it if u WANT to. The fact that you do it wont help you as much as you think.
For all that MIT and Stanford care, if you like sports, you could spend the summer competing in competitions rather than forcing urself into ECs that LOOK GOOD.
Unless obviously, you are one of those students who is in the National Math Phy or Chem Olympiad teams and attends every Science and Math fair in the country, then doing a summer course can help compliment other awards/activities in ur app. But if you are a jock and they suddenly see "MIT summer camp" then it might be a bit iffy.
Good Luck</p>
<p>If you're interested in the research why not sign up, it's valuable experience in the lab. You'd get to make connections with your professor. However, the caveat is that if you're not interested, it's just going to be a drag. I speak from experience, I did research in molecular bio and I kept thinking about the other things I could be doing. Infact, some like TASP and RSI are impressive, because it takes alot to get in. And you get to meet new people.</p>
<p>With reference to summer classes like Stanford EPGY or Harvard Summer School, they don't help your resume - I recall reading a statement by the adcom. But you get to learn stuff for advanced placement? :)</p>