<p>I am looking at several summer programs for HS students, all of them at colleges and Universities. I have 2 questions: Do college admissions counselors look favorably on these, as an EC? Second, does it help at all to get accepted at Duke, for example, if I attend a summer program there at Duke? Do you think it would make any difference at all?</p>
<p>just fyi: my friend who went to duke TIP for two years (or maybe just one) got waitlisted there, but he got into stanford EA.
id say a successful completion (A's in the courses you take) at one of those summer programs add more to your academics side than EC. i dont see how a summer program would be counted as an EC. i mean, you are paying a few thousand dollars for it, right?</p>
<p>I think that the expensive summer programs count the most at the non top 20 private colleges that include demonstrated interest as part of admissions. Those programs also may help one qualify for merit aid (at a variety of colleges, not just the one offering the summer program) particularly if the subject of the program was similar to what any of the college's merit scholarships are for. </p>
<p>At places like Ivies, the summer programs do not help one get admission. They basically are money makers for the college.</p>
<p>Summer programs that are free and highly competitive like some of MIT's programs, however, can boost your applications virtually anywhere. The same is true of free or fairly inexpensive competitive programs designed, for instance, to attract minorities, women, or first gen college students of any race into fields like science in which they are underrepresented.</p>
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At places like Ivies, the summer programs do not help one get admission. They basically are money makers for the college.
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<p>O rly. They don't help at all do they. I think taking college classes for credit will definitely help your application, but im just guessing</p>
<p>What would one do that would benefit him or her, realistically that a normal student can do.</p>
<p>"I think taking college classes for credit will definitely help your application, but im just guessing"</p>
<p>I don't think that the Ivy college courses count that much because basically what they show is that one is a motivated student (which is the norm for virtually all Ivy applicants) who comes from a family that is affluent enough to pay for those expensive programs.</p>
<p>Many students who apply to Ivies can take college courses through their high schools, so doing so doesn't make one stand out in an Ivy pool.</p>
<p>A student would stand out far more in an Ivy pool by working fulltime over the summer doing something mundane like bagging in a supermarket or working at McDonalds instead of doing a pricey summer program or "internship" that well connected parents have arranged for them. Relatively few Ivy applicants work -- particularly jobs that are hard, boring, etc.</p>
<p>Let's face it, virtually no high school students have the skills to be corporate interns, so the students who have "intern" on their applicants in most cases stand out for being well connected, but that doesn't help them really stand out in the application pool. </p>
<p>There are some rare students who do, however, and they stand out. I've met, for instance, high school students who were computer programming whizzes who were being paid for doing the kind of work that professionals do. One was a student who got into Harvard due in part to his computer background.</p>
<p>My older S also did an out of state summer journalism internship as a reporter, something he earned due to his longtime experience as a journalism freelancer. He didn't get into an Ivy because while his ECs were extraordinary, his grades were awful, something that's not unusual for smart, talented students who are doing their bliss at an adult level.</p>
<p>If I did a summer program at say, Harvard, even though I had no intent at applying there, would there be a chance that other not as highly ranked schools would reject me due to Tufts Syndrome?</p>
<p>Has anyone heard of Shad Valley and ISSYP, i got accepted into both, scholarship for shad valley and ISSYP is free. ISSYP=100 spots out of 10000 that apply, and Shad Valley is 620 spots out of 6000 that apply.</p>
<p>I guess that clearly shows that i am worth something right?</p>
<p>im just gonna add them on a side note, and get a teacher to talk about them i think. I got better ECs anyways besides these 2 summer programs.</p>
<p>if u need to pay to take a course at a university in summer, thats stupid. ill just wait to go to university and do the course why waste my summer on a course when u could be doing something like "Habitats for humanity" or even take some initiative to start a summer volunteer project involving ur family, church, and people u know that could benefit the world, not just urself.</p>
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Has anyone heard of Shad Valley and ISSYP
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I did Shad Valley two years ago at UBC; it is an incredible program, and the benefits continue even after the campus portion is over through internships. If you have any questions about it, feel free to PM me :)</p>
<p>I did a program at BC and had good SAT and Recs/Essays but was Regected early - I even had couple (who have donated near 10 million to the school) personally call on my behalf and still got regected</p>
<p>"If I did a summer program at say, Harvard, even though I had no intent at applying there, would there be a chance that other not as highly ranked schools would reject me due to Tufts Syndrome?"</p>
<p>No, why would they? It's not particularly hard to get into Harvard's summer school, and going there doesn't mean that one plans to go to Harvard or can get into Harvard.</p>
<p>@CDN_Dancer
I did Shad UBC last year! Clearly the best campus ever :-)</p>
<p>@ Everyone
I don't know how much any of these programs will help you in the sense that admissions officers will see it and go "Oh, you did program xyz, we’ve got to admit you!", but I do think the skills I learnt at Shad really helped me in the application process (actually, it was Shad that gave me the confidence to even apply to top schools at all). I also got an internship out of it, which was amazing on so many levels. Basically, do these programs because you want to (many of them offer scholarships and bursaries if you can’t afford them, so don’t let money be a factor) – they are amazing programs and you won’t regret it. And if they help you get into college, added bonus, right? For the record, I’m going to MIT in the fall.</p>
<p>If anyone has any questions about Shad specifically, please PM me. I seriously can’t recommend this program enough!</p>