Hey y’all!
I made this thread so that we can have a space to talk about this program if you are participating this summer or have participated at the Brown Leadership Institute.
This is my first year doing this summer program, and I signed up for the “Leadership in Changing Business: Social Entrepreneurship” course (2 weeks). Can anyone give any insight into this or the BLI program in general? Is it prestigious?
Excited to see some of y’all this summer 
My son did it last year and loved it - so much so that social entrepreneurship opportunities became something he was looking for in the colleges to which he applied.
If you’re thinking it might be a back door into Brown, though, forget it. If you’re going to do it, do it because you’re interested in the subject and only because you want to learn. Prestige should be irrelevant. But no, I wouldn’t say it’s prestigious.
@Trixy34 thanks for the info!! I’m really excited about going into the program bc entrepreneurship has been an interest of mine.
I was just asking about prestige bc I was wondering if it helps for college admissions, but what you’re saying definitely makes sense
Just curious - Did you son have any opportunities to continue the work from the course/create a start up after the program ended?
@andoverblue21 - Whether it helps for college admissions is a tricky question. I don’t think it would hurt you at Brown, but don’t expect it to help, either. I have read/heard from a number of sources that it could actually hurt your application to other schools. You might want to do a little research on this. Some have said that AO’s have negative feelings about these so-called “pay to play” programs. I don’t think it hurt my son, but he didn’t really apply to many reaches - just Brown and Vandy. He only received one really surprising wait-list result, and who knows why that was. It’s been a very difficult admissions season for a lot of kids.
As for the start-up he designed during the course - he could have taken steps towards implementing. He has 2 friends whose mothers would be fantastic contacts that he could have leveraged to maybe help get things started, but he hasn’t - yet. Senior year is pretty nuts - difficult time to start a new charity (it was really more of charitable undertaking than a money-making venture). But I do hope he tries to take steps to implement it. I know it is still kicking around up there in his noggin.