<p>are most college summer programs (accredited courses) for high schoolers taught by grad students?</p>
<p>e.g. discover program at johns hopkins</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>Probably depends. I took two courses at Chicago and both were taught by excellent professors who really took the time to give thorough feedback on everything I ever turned in. There was one class actually where I was one of only three HS students in a class of around 20 people; the rest were Chicago undergrads, some of whom absolutely dominated the discussion. Still, my professor was reaaallly nice and understanding, and he was always available to talk about various things during office hours. The other prof was also really considerate and offered to write college recs for all of the HS kids. I can't speak for all of the classes offered during their summer session, obviously, but my academic experience was overwhelmingly positive. </p>
<p>About Johns Hopkins, Summer</a> Programs at Johns Hopkins | Pre-College Faculty has information on the instructors for those classes. It says 60% are taught by faculty and 40% by grad students.</p>
<p>it depends on the course...you could ask.</p>
<p>In my experience, it is the 1-2 week programs that are taught by unaffiliated, grad students...or basically any program that doesn't offer credits.</p>
<p>Once a school offers 5+ credits, it probably is employing a professor. I went to UM last year, and had three of their best professors in marine biology; WUSTL said it would have professors as well.</p>
<p>@sartorialiste</p>
<p>my instructor is a grad student, but since 60% are faculty is it likely i can make a correspondance/relationship with a professor so i can possibly get recs or a good word in?</p>
<p>To be honest, I doubt it. I guess it would depend on the professors you try, but I think it'd be kind of random if you were to find some prof you didn't even have, figure out his office hours, and bust in and start trying to strike up some kind of relationship out of nowhere in such a short period of time (especially due to ulterior motives). Although I really don't think they'll be in a position to put in a "good word" for you anyway, and unless they've taught you personally or know you really well any rec you ask them to do (if they even agree to it) probably will not be very helpful. A rec is good not because of who wrote it but because of what it says. Why not try to curate a good relationship with your actual instructor?</p>
<p>The grad student vs professor issue should be a question of teaching quality, not a question of getting connections. Unless you manage to become best friends with or seriously impress a very very well-known academic it's not going to make a difference really.</p>