<p>Here's another vote for the Carnegie Mellon Pre-college program. Not only did my S love the program two years ago, they gave him far better advice on college selection than he got from his school advisor!</p>
<p>What are her interests Big Green--and how intrepid is she?</p>
<p>My daughter spent her 16-year-old summer (before jr year of HS) 500 miles away from home working for about minimum wage plus [or maybe it was minus :) ] room and board. She was on the crew at a family-oriented hiking camp on Mt. Desert Island in Maine. She raked leaves, chopped firewood, built a woodshed and handrails, put up platform tents, prepared meals under direction of a professional cook, waited on tables, cleaned up in kitchen, hauled pots to cook lobster on the beach, put canoes, sailboats, docks and floats in and out of water, cleaned showers and communal bathrooms. Lived in a bunkhouse with 5 girls in one room, 5 boys in another, two tiny bathrooms, one common room.
She learned to get along with a wide variety of other crew members, managers, cook, and "guests". Went hiking on her days off. Loved it all. Went back for a second summer. Now at Cornell.</p>
<p>My kids have done all sorts of stuff in the summer -- fly fished all over the continent, hung at my parents' cottage in the Adirondacks, traveled to Europe, went to computer camp, blah blah.</p>
<p>In hindsight, I wish they had just WORKED. They are both terrified of the commitent a job means. I think it is my biggest failure (one of many, I'm sure) as a parent.</p>
<p>BigGreen, </p>
<p>[is the sn a reference to my beloved college in New Hampshire?] I have a particular interest in disabilities and the ethical issues that surround them. This led me from one thing to another and eventually to a position at UMich in the Dept for Students with Disabilities. It was incredible. I was surrounded by very chill people with interests like my own--smart committed people. I learned a ton and was inspired even more. I did this between my sophomore-junior, and junior-senior years. </p>
<p>This experience really helped to refine my view of what I would like to pursue in college and life--and I am now pursuing just this as a freshmen at D. I would like to do something in med-ethics as a graduate, after an MD: Philosophy major on a pre-med track. Just a thought. Go Green.</p>
<p>Here's a wacky idea, let your kid be a kid. Summer is a time for relaxation. Its a time for stickball games and endless afternoons at the local pool. Colleges have ruined summer for everyone</p>
<p>If you've ever seen the classic show "The Adventures of Pete and Pete", you'll know that summers can be wonderful, not just pre college crap. I've basically based my life on that show</p>
<p>I don't think colleges are driving all these experiences diego
My 15 year old- is middling at school but she would LOVE to be able to go to Australia with the experiment for international living- in fact she has been saving for it- since sh efound out about it.</p>
<p>sorry Ive never seen Pete and Pete- ( is that like Pete and Pete and pinch me?)</p>
<p>I am totally ( well 68%) about the summer being child driven
My oldest worked at camps summer through high school
but my youngest is a traveler- she has already gone to DC- NYC- Hawaii and craves more.
she finds herself in different locations-
If I can help her with that- then I will.
( stickball? seriously? who has a vacant lot anymore?- here they tear down $700,000 houses for the land )</p>
<p>My D spent the summer waitressing at a local restaurant because we refused to buy her an ipod. She did so well, she bought the ipod and stashed the rest away for college mad money. (She did do a few other things, volunteering, journalism camp, etc...). Pretty good for a future NONbusiness major though...lol!</p>
<p>That <a href="http://www.volunteers.com%5B/url%5D">www.volunteers.com</a> program looks great.</p>
<p>My daughter did the Oxbridge program in Cambridge two summers ago, for kids entering grades 9 and 10. She loved it, and met some great kids, but I had some problems. The supervision was minimal -- which is fine for older HS students, but not so much for younger ones. A lot of drinking and drugging (one girl had alcohol poisoning). Another problem I had with the program was it had limited tickets for field trips, so despite paying gobs of money, if you overslept and missed the signup, you missed the field trip.</p>
<p>On a more positive note, she did an Earthwatch program last summer, went to Belize and studied manatees, and had a fabulous trip. The website is <a href="http://www.earthwatch.org%5B/url%5D">www.earthwatch.org</a>.</p>
<p>Agree with emeraldkity4 regading Diego's post.</p>
<p>My daughter is going to a fine arts college where portfolio is the primary driver, then academics, with standardized test scores even less of a factor. </p>
<p>She went to Spain because she loved the language and wanted to improve for no other reason than to speak better Spanish. She would have been bored at home all summer. </p>
<p>As an FYI for the people on both coasts, there are plenty of vacant lots in the cities in the interior part of the country...</p>
<p>Seems like there needs to be some parameters around this post.</p>
<p>Group 1 - Unlimited $</p>
<p>Group 2 - How am I going to pay for college, much less pre-college programs and international travel?</p>
<p>Count me in Group 2 - yikes.</p>
<p>p.s.
m&sdad - "bored at home", really? ever heard of summer jobs, volunteering, reading, etc.</p>
<p>Outer suburbs destroyed America</p>
<p>go5878,</p>
<p>My D worked hard on her art portfolio to go to governor's school, at no charge to me. She also worked hard on her spanish to earn a merit scholarship to Experiment in International Living, also minimizing my costs.</p>
<p>She does work, volunteer and read regularly in all seasons, including summer.=, and is continually working on her portfolio.</p>
<p>That said, time at home in the summer would not have been as rewarding to her as the immersive programs she participated in of her own initiaitive.</p>
<p>Diego, agree with your point about outer suburbs. In PA it is far easier to get state funds to continue to sprawl out into green space than to get money to revitalize the cities. The donut continues to grow.</p>
<p>m&sdad,</p>
<p>That's great! Sounds to me like she wouldn't be bored at home.</p>
<p>I have to give another vote for TASP here; I went last year and it's the greatest bunch of people you will ever meet, and a rare summer program with a humanities focus.</p>
<p>My vote:</p>
<p>pool, pick-up football games, watch baseball, play baseball, barbecue/party until dusk.</p>
<p>what happened to normal, teen things?</p>
<p>re: urban sprawl...take it from a resident of the second largest (in square miles) urbanized area in the country. What is a person to do? Here in Houston, the most desirable property is inside the Loop within the original city boundaries...including the beautiful West U/Rice area, Bellaire and the River Oaks area. But to live inside the Loop, you must be wealthy to afford the price per square foot and private school tuition. Half million will buy you a tiny condo. In the suburbs, where there is substantial commercial tax base, the public school districts are well funded and quite competitive; and if you are willing to leave for work at 5:30 a.m., you can live in a 5000 square foot mini-mansion that will only set you back $400K. (I hear the Californians weeping as I type this last bit.) I don't like it either, but what is the average person to do?</p>
<p>All of the above are great suggestions.</p>
<p>In sort of stepping back and looking at the options, consider the following:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Enrichment programs at colleges/universities</p></li>
<li><p>Going to a college/university and taking credit classes (usually 2 courses equate to full time status)</p></li>
<li><p>Travel/camps/or other fun activities </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I agree, it depends on the kid.</p>
<p>Re: normal teen things & hanging out in the summer -</p>
<p>Great if you have a stay at home parent; impossible if both parents work (no matter how good the teen - an unsupervised teen home for 8-10 hours alone, especially with other teens, is a recipe for disaster).</p>
<p>Also, in our neighborhood, there are so few other kids that "pick up games" of any sport are not feasible - and there are a lot of kids like mine for whom a game of football or softball is an absolute turn off. "Hanging out" is how kids get into trouble.</p>
<p>Many of us are just doing the best we can.</p>