<p>A couple of years ago when DS was in a free and competitive Saturday science program at Columbia University he got invited to an informational session for their summer program. We went to the session, and I was appalled at the price – IIRC it was about $6K tuition plus around $3-4K room and board.
The people pitching the session really tried to imply, without actually saying it, that the programs would give students an edge in admissions. I thought that was really unethical.</p>
<p>EDIT: The Saturday program and the summer program are not run by the same folks. The Saturday program has been around for a long time and is run by a professor in the physics department and is a great program.</p>