<p>My daughter did two last summer. One was full of what she described as wealthy slackers, who snuck booze into camp and seemed to only be there because their parents signed them up? The other she loved and when she went to do it this summer they said there was a surge in applicants, 5x year over year(!). These things are pretty expensive, do parents want their kids out of the house that bad or is this another angle in the admissions game being exploited?</p>
<p>I guess my answer to the title question is “neither.” </p>
<p>D has enjoyed three programs over three summers, starting the year after 8th grade—she’s met kids from different areas, she’s gained some confidence in her self, she’s had the chance to explore areas of interest in more depth than would be possible at her high school (infectious disease, microbiology, epidemiology), she’s gained some “practical life” skills and gotten a sense of what it’s like to live on a college campus. The programs she has taken show a continued interest in an area that she wants to study in college, but that’s about it. </p>
<p>In terms of being an admissions tool—it’s not, except as a way of showing that she’s doing something productive over the summer. Basically, it’s like a camp for a kid who would rather sleep in a dorm, work in the lab, and read in the library rather than sleep in a cabin, paddle a canoe, and make arts and crafts. In fact, we affectionately call it “nerd camp” at our house. </p>
<p>The programs can be expensive, but, for us, it’s been worth it. Not because of what it might mean to an adcom but because of what it’s meant to D. </p>
<p>I’ll also admit that I wouldn’t be happy to hear about drunken slackers. So far, that hasn’t been the case. Her fellow nerd campers have been academically curious and fun kids from all sorts of backgrounds. (And I hope that continues this summer.) </p>
<p>Some of each. For the most part, they are not going to help in the admissions game. But its not a scam. They offer an opportunity to test the waters of living in a dorm and taking classes, its a somewhat more productive version of sleepaway camp. Its a little preview of college. They are full of wealthy kids because they cost $$$$. That many of these kids are propelled by their parents hopes of improving admission chances, is a little bit hinky. That some of the kids want to test out freedom and drink and have sex, well… thats a little preview of what they hope college will be like. </p>
<p>My son did one at his brother’s college, and actually just graduated from that very school! It only helped a little in admissions, but he did earn 3 credits with a good grade and that ended up helping a lot! It was a pretty intense few weeks back 5 or 6 years ago, but one of his good friends that just graduated with him was a friend he met at the summer college program.</p>
<p>YMMV, or rather that of your student. Some kids find it a wonderful experience and it often gives them a good idea that the summer experience is one to extend to 4 years. I know a number of kids who did just as Cnp55 did. I also don’t doubt that there are those indulging in all kind of hijinks and contraband there. So it is at college and in many away situations as these kids get older.</p>
<p>It is something that higher income families do more of because of the cost. That’s the case for just about any experience, though a number of these programs do have financial aid. A lot of time , it comes down to it being an option for those kids who have parents or other adults so involved in their lives that that seek such programs and ways to pay it. My cousin was able to send her son to one on substantial financial aid. They were dubious about getting any money for it and were pleasantly surprised. How need is determined and what % of those with need getting it, don’t know. But it’s there at a number of these programs.</p>
<p>Neither. Our kid went to a precollege program one summer at a flagship university. She loved the program. Yes, it was pay to go, but isn’t summer camp pay to go? She enjoyed the topic, discussions, classes, and friends she met there.</p>
<p>Both of my kids went to numerous summer programs at various colleges. They proved very valuable in helping shape the direction they wanted to go in college. One studied CS which she was turned on to from a summer program, and the other is studying chemical engineering after pursuing her initial interest in biotechnology through a summer program where she found herself drawn to the more mathematical and physical science aspects of what she was studying rather than the biological aspects. </p>
<p>I have no idea if they helped with college admissions, but they probably did. That wasn’t really the point. The point was spending some time with like minded peers exploring some area that you couldn’t explore in HS but might find very interesting. The goal was really providing opportunities to explore some direction you might want to pursue in college to help guide your college selection. </p>
<p>While some people believe you should just go to college and you’ll figure it out, I believe that you can’t really find yourself unless you look. Going in with some idea of the direction or directions you are heading- definitely subject to change - is less likely to leave one wasting a lot of time and money graduating college with no particular direction. </p>
<p>Of course, both of them were turned off by the whole college admissions process, and nonetheless both found ideal schools that fit them very well.</p>
<p>I think the important thing is to consider the quality of the program. We definitely looked for high quality programs, and avoided some of the more “campy” programs like Explo or SIG, where they have pre-canned courses and the instructors are just random college students with no particular background in the material. </p>
<p>My son did a Game Design 6-week program at Carnegie Mellon. There were several students in that program, including my sons roommate, who told everyone they were there just to check-out CMU and to use it as a way to “show interest”. They were a waste as members of their team as they really didn’t care about Game Design. </p>
<p>^ My son did the CMU pre-college for Musical Theatre, and ended up hanging out with a group of game design guys 
The program for my son was specifically designed to prepare the student for auditions, so yes it did help him get into college. The student’s schedule was the same schedule they would follow were they to be Freshmen MT at CMU. He got a taste of a BFA schedule, and also learned how to manage on his own. I learned that he will most likely be OK when he leaves this Fall to attend a school 900 miles away. </p>
<p>They are only scams if they market themselves as something they are not.</p>
<p>The ones our kids got involved with not only didn’t market themselves deceptively, they were very upfront what they weren’t (e.g. this will NOT help you jump in line during the admissions process).</p>
<p>I’m not even sure if the actually colleges put all of these on. Does anyone know if certain camps simply give the college a cut of the proceeds and pay to use their dorms? Some seem a little sketchy on who exactly is teaching classes.</p>
<p>Each of my kids did a summer thing at a college while in high school because they wanted to do the program. Operation Catapult at Rose Hulman for my daughter and Explosives Camp at Missouri S and T for my son. Excellent experiences for both. </p>
<p>maybe both…</p>
<p>I have seen some very meaningful pre-college engg camps which I think are a nice way to get a taste to see if engg is your bag.</p>
<p>I have seen a couple of pre-med summer experiences for high schoolers that I have questioned their value. they seemed to be “summer income opps” for some speakers. Since none of this matters for college admissions and wouldnt impress med schools, and I dont think acceptance to these programs are difficult, they do seem to be just something that more affluent parents do.</p>
<p>The great majority of the summer program held on college campuses are profit centers for the colleges- an easy way to bring in extra $$ renting out empty dorm rooms and classrooms to outside companies eager to capitalize on a colleges perceived “prestige” .
Most of these programs are NOT run by the colleges, and admissions officers- especially those at the most competitive colleges- view these programs as nothing more than an expensive summer EC for wealthier students . A parent should never pay for one because they think they give a student a “leg up” in admissions. </p>
<p>If becoming “pointy” is important in the college admissions race these days, then, yes, camps can give an edge. Not always an edge at the college involved, however, especially if the program is not being run by the school itself. </p>
<p>Pointy with regard to displaying a certainty in what you will pursue?</p>
<p>Some colleges do run their own, D will attend one this summer for the second time. It’s also one of the very generous FA programs, which is why she is attending a second time, and why there are a lot of not-rich kids there.</p>
<p>For her the fun is choosing a cool different topic of study from literally hundreds of cool classes. Also hanging out with friends in a neat city, having some more independence than at home, meeting people from all over. A taste of college? Sure. She is a LOT more confident socially than she was before she went, but she didn’t do traditional summer camp or anything before this.</p>
<p>Scam? No. Possibly expensive if you have the means? Yes. Good for admissions? Maybe, if the course ties in with what you want to study or gives you essay fodder or just shows you didn’t watch TV all summer. </p>
<p>BarnardGirl attended one at Barnard because she was saying she wanted to go to college in NYC and I thought she should experience the city (not as a tourist) before making that kind of decision. It made her decide she would rather attend Barnard than Columbia. I think it gave her a leg up on admissions only because she could truly write a passionate essay about why she wanted to attend. She is going to be an RA this summer for the program she attended three summers ago as a rising high school senior. I think that’s pretty cool She’s excited to get to experience it again, but this time as a staff member. </p>
<p>“Pointy with regard to displaying a certainty in what you will pursue?”</p>
<p>I am new member on CC but I am going to go out on a limb and assume that “pointy” as used few posts above is the OPPOSITE of well-rounded, as in colleges want a well-rounded class, but want it full of pointy kids who excel in one or two things. And yes, these programs can help kids refine their skiils and knowledge in a specific area, making them more pointy and thus desirable, though adcom’s certainly know that these programs are mostly for the very well to do, with a few scholarship spaces for truly needy. But keep in mind that some tony camps cost upwards of 10-15K for the summer, and that is to sleep in cabins and drink bug juice, so many NYC parents do not blink at the cost of these college “camps”. </p>
<p>I live in a university town where one of these programs rents out the college for the summer. Summer camp for kids too old to go to regular camp, or whose interests are more academic than outdoorsy. The kids seem like a mix of nerds, some rich kids whose parents don’t want to deal, and some kids who just really want to learn more about a field not typically available to them in HS. That said, this particular program is mostly taught by random college students and the RA’s keep very lenient tabs on the kids. A good kid will do fine there, but I could see others who might fall into the “wrong crowd” though I guess that can even happen at home. I do agree that learning what life is like to live in dorm, walk to classes, do own laundry, etc is valuable and may also give students a sense if they want a closed in campus or one that is spread out, city or rural, etc.</p>
<p>OHMomof2 - care to share which program you used that was so good? I think I would in general trust programs run by the colleges themselves a lot more than these “for-profit” summer program companies. The college at least has its reputation to protect so is motivated to provide a decent educational experience for the kids and maybe they at least use their own grad students or junior faculty.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for OHMomof2, but my daughter has gone to CTY and Summer@Brown—one is offered through the university itself and the other is one of those multi-site programs. Both programs provided good experiences. She’s going to a new site this year, one offered directly through the university. It’s considerably less well known than the other programs she’s gone to, but had courses that were very interesting to D.</p>
<p>D tends to choose where to go based on the course offerings rather than the site or program in general. In junior high, she found out about the CTY “History of Disease” course online and arranged on her own to take the ACT and go through JHU’s “talent search” process so she could apply. (She also paid for half of that first course out of her own money.)</p>