Which would you recommend? And why? Thanks in advance.
@TenaciousWillow I’d assume the mother is looking into these programs for high school admissions, for which these programs would help.
I’m a Choate student and went to the summer program for the HS Academic Enrichment program. Feel free to PM me with any questions!
Thanks for the responses. We are considering either school (and similar schools) for high school admissions. The Taft Young Scholar Program is very interesting especially the course on Testing, Reading and Study Skills. We also like the Choate Academic Enrichment Program for Middle School but was warned (by another parent) that this program is not rigorous, or structured. Our goal is to build skills for a challenging academic program so this includes academic skills as well as self-confidence, etc. Thanks again for the useful comments. Much appreciated.
Choate’s summer program isn’t insanely rigorous but it is (assumedly) more difficult than the average middle school. It does have quite a lot of free time, but there are many scheduled activities and trips. The middle schoolers are kept on a pretty tight leash.
Hi there! I did Choate Summer Programs Academic Enrichment (5 weeks) in 2019, and their two-week program in 2017. If you will go, you will NOT regret it! You meet people from all over the world, as well as people with all sorts of intellectual levels (hope I phrased that correctly).
First off, I’d like to say that if you go, you will be doing a lot of things by yourself. Two-weekers, if you don’t pay for laundry service, will have to do laundry themselves. Students learn to manage money (kept on a choate card). You will also be exposed to people that may or may not seem insanely wealthy to you (depending on the people you have been around, etc), and they will spend huge amounts of cash like it’s nothing. Just something to note so you aren’t shocked if you go.
The classes were interesting. Class difficulty will depend on the course you take as well as how much academic rigor you are used to. I’d say that the language courses can be difficult if you have never had to learn a second language, but of course not beyond typical middle-schoolers capabilities.
Also, important to note: 2 weeks and 4 weeks are VERY different from 5 weeks. Two-weekers and four-weekers will have the same class all day, with a few breaks in between. Because of this, I enjoyed being a five-weeker. Going for five weeks, you are able to mix-and-match your classes, and you will have breaks at all sorts of points in the day (which I loved).
Every day (except Saturday) I had study hours. Middle schoolers have it 7:00-9:00, whereas highschoolers have it 8:00-10:00. Most dorms will take away phones during this time, as it is the designated time for all homework to be completed.
Also, kind of adding to the independence thing I talked about, you will hopefully travel off-campus at least once during your stay. There’s an ice cream shop about five minutes’ walk away, which they let you visit. You can go basically anywhere on open campus and nobody will stop you. There are various trips that students go on (Boston, NYC, Six Flags, etc). That being said, you need to be responsible. They will discipline you if you do not work with the rules handed to you.
Anyway, I kinda went off on a tangent, but I hope you understand a little bit more about Choate Summer Programs. If you attend, you will not regret it!