<p>That’s “candy-striper”, a “candy-stripper” is something entirely different ;-)</p>
<p>Many college located and sponsored summer programs CLEARLY state that participation in them is NOT something that aids in applying to their college.</p>
<p>Both of our kids did summer programs. In DS’s case, I believe two summers playing his instrument at BUTI…Boston University Tanglewood Institute WAS viewed positively by the adcoms.</p>
<p>DD attended one of those “expensive leadership conferences” the summer after 11th grade. We did NOT send her because we thought it would tip admissions in her favor. We sent her so she could spend a couple of weeks living in a dorm on a large college campus. For the rest of that summer, she worked. We felt it was worthwhile to send DD to this program…but then we also had the money to fund it. It was no more costly per week than the music camp she attended for three prior summers.</p>
<p>I’m curious, how do summer camps like Rotary Youth Leadership Camp and Boys/Girls State fall in all of this? Both are programs you need to be sponsored to go to. Do they impress adcoms or not so much?</p>
<p>It sounds like your child is doing things good for her college resume already. I say let her lead the way. If she wants to do something, let her, but working and volunteering are great experiences that will help in college admissions, especially if any of the experience is related to her potential major. I wanted my son to go to whale camp, or scuba camp or insert " fun" activity here camp for multiple summers. He picked going to math and related sciences, computer camp, a college program on genetics, then actual college classes to get ahead in math and science. Guess what… He’s happily a math major at a respectable “STEM” college, with lots of credits already under his belt. He had absolutely no interest in working, so I figured thes activities kept him out of trouble and helped prepare him for college. My younger son wants to get a job next summer, and I will support that for him. I don’t think there’s a “right” or “better” answer, it just depends on the kid.</p>
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</p>
<p>Didn’t know about these programs, we are in Ohio but have lots of family on LI.</p>
<p>The web site doesn’t say the student has to be a NY resident (except for WISE which is only for local girls), anyone know if they do and it is just assumed?</p>
<p>[SummerSessions[/url</a>]</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.stonybrook.edu/sb/highschool.shtml]Stony”>High School Students]Stony</a> Brook University - Working at Stony Brook](<a href=“http://www.stonybrook.edu/summer/highschool.shtml]SummerSessions[/url”>http://www.stonybrook.edu/summer/highschool.shtml)</p>
<p>PS: D’15 did Summer@Brown last summer for 3 weeks, studied neuroscience, loved the experience. There is no neuroscience offering in our HS so it was cool for her to study something different. She also loved living in a dorm, meeting kids from all over the country and world, and being a city (we are in a small town). It helped her decide that she really loves science and would like to do more of it in HS.</p>
<p>This summer she’d like to do a similar program. Since she is so far a STEM kid, I think an engineering program would be a good idea because it might help her determine if it’s something she wants to pursue further. There’s a big difference between colleges that end in -poly or -tech, where she might do well if she truly wants to be an engineer or study math or cs, and LACs and big Us where she’d have more options for a major. It’d be nice to get an idea if those “techs” should even be on her list.</p>
<p>D also has preseason athletic stuff but doesn’t HAVE to be back for that until early August, leaving most all of June and all of July available for other activities. Since she’ll only be 15 next summer, most “real” work (not babysitting etc) is difficult to obtain, as is volunteering in a hospital or lab - all of which seem to want teens who are 16+. So it’s a great summer to do another “pre-college” experience…the following summer she may be able to do an internship of some kind instead.</p>
<p>I say all this because I think the programs, even the not-that-selective ones can have great value, if not for college admissions then for other reasons. Hers certainly did.</p>
<p>While driving thru UC San Diego, I saw a program called COSMOS. I don’t know anything about the program except that it is science-based and attendees are competitively selected, but thought I’d include it here if you wanted to research it.</p>
<p>If you want to look into specific programs, there is a Summer Program forum here on CC. Just to avoid this turning into a thread listing every possible program, it has already been done and then some. :)</p>
<p>[Summer</a> Programs - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/]Summer”>Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums)</p>
<p>I am a big proponent of summer programs that are selective and free or at a reduced cost. Such programs are great because they are “test runs” for actual college applications. The type of program I am speaking of usually involves an applications-log of activities and hours-essays-transcripts and recommendations. I have found when it came to the time to actually fill out a college application the previous experience went a long way to helping my children and the children I counsel in the process. I prefer free or reduced costs programs because colleges adcoms tell me that such programs differ from where an affluent family “buys” an experience for their child. </p>
<p>In addition I have found that summer scholarship program are great for helping a student find an area of study and whether they can handle living far or close to home and in a dorm. My oldest was never homesick at college because in his words “if I added up the time I spent in summer programs and away from home it at least equaled a quarter of college so why should I be homesick.” Students might think they want to study a certain subject in college and then when they study it over the summer they may discover it is not for them. </p>
<p>My children also made great contacts in their summer program. The Dean of the Business at Northwestern where my son did a summer program wrote recommendations for my son for scholarships. My son ended up winning and I think it had something to do with the great recommendation. </p>
<p>For your daughter who likes science and premed there are a ton of free or reduced costs programs for her. Look on CC and do a google search. One thing to keep in mind is that she doesn’t have to be gone the entire summer. She could possibly do both. Caltech’s admissions officers told my DD (where she did a summer program sponsored by Google) that they cared most that a student have “breath” of interest-it doesn’t have to be only a formal organization but rather that it demonstrate actual interest in something.</p>
<p>In terms of the programs you mentioned I want to share with you an article from the New York Times about full pay programs. <a href=“Congratulations! You Are Nominated. It’s an Honor. (It’s a Sales Pitch.) - The New York Times”>Congratulations! You Are Nominated. It’s an Honor. (It’s a Sales Pitch.) - The New York Times;
Now I am not 100% against full pay programs. It it presents an interest that is only available to the student in that form then I think it is okay for a parent to pay for it provided the parent can afford it. Just remember it might not carry the same weight in the admissions process. A child doing something over the summer is always better than a child just sitting on the couch doing video games (trust me a lot of student I counsel do that).</p>
<p>There are at least a few pricey pre-college programs that offer partial to full scholarships based on need, merit or a combination of the two. </p>
<p>It is not an either/or, free/expensive choice, necessarily.</p>
<p>There are also outside organizations that competitively award scholarships to attend summer programs that do not offer them institutionally.</p>
<p>We were just on a tour at a school that has a med school - and they have a six year bs/MD program and a seven year program. They said they would want a list of “health related” activities for the applications. shadowing a doctor counts. Talking to one does not. Health camps count. Volunteer work at a hospital counts. FYI</p>
<p>In addition to summer programs, if there are universities nearby within reasonable distance, your daughter can contact professors there and see if she can do basic research with them over the summer.</p>
<p>Would like to see a list of these “free or reduced cost” programs… my D was interested in science programs for last summer, and we worked for over a year ahead of time researching all the options we could find. I have a spreadsheet with about 100 programs on it, and only a VERY small number are free, very low cost, or offer a stipend. And every one of those has a very low admission rate. There used to be a few more, but some of those have gone away (victims of the recession, I think). If you are an underrepresented minority, then there are more options, but I don’t get that impression from the OP’s post. Just don’t want her to take away the impression that these programs are easy to find or get into.</p>
<p>[High</a> School Internships](<a href=“http://people.rit.edu/~gtfsbi/Symp/highschool.htm]High”>http://people.rit.edu/~gtfsbi/Symp/highschool.htm) has a good list of programs that aren’t paid</p>
<p>[Young</a> Scholars Program | Summer Research Opportunities for High School Students<a href=“Specific%20program”>/url</a></p>
<p>and <a href=“http://cogito.org%5B/url%5D”>http://cogito.org](<a href=“Young Scholars Program - UC Davis School of Education”>http://ysp.ucdavis.edu/)</a> (Gives you list)</p>
<p>and [url=<a href=“http://www.cityofhope.org/education/summer-student-academy/Pages/default.aspx]City”>http://www.cityofhope.org/education/summer-student-academy/Pages/default.aspx]City</a> of Hope Eugene and Ruth Roberts Summer Student Academy for biomedical research located near Los Angeles, California.<a href=“Specific%20Program”>/url</a>
and [url=<a href=“http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/funding/training/redbook/hsnihbio.htm]NIH”>http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/funding/training/redbook/hsnihbio.htm]NIH</a> Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research (High School Students)<a href=“Specific%20Program”>/url</a>
are good “official” programs for research type stuff. Also check out the CC “Summer Program” forum.</p>
<p>I agree with the “work with a nearby professor” but if your daughter wants to do that, unless she has some connections, she will have to be very persistent and motivated. I have some documents on e-mailing professors as a high school student that I made for a club/organization I run so feel free to PM me if you’re interested.</p>
<p>Finally, I’m no adcom or even parent, just another HS student, but i think having a real job is not a bad thing and can indeed look good on apps. That being said, while a summer job clearly teaches you skills like hard work/teamwork etc. , it’s not very academically enriching (in my experience) and that’s when summer programs, paid or otherwise are good.</p>
<p>Edit: I didn’t really read the thread well because I should be doing something else at the moment but I just wanted to say: let your daughter lead the way. If she wants to do a program like the aforementioned ones, she should do it; if not, don’t pressure her! Not saying that you are, just my 0.02 cents. High school students are old enough to figure these things out (i.e. what they want to do) and discuss them with their parents who can then provide their input.</p>
<p>My D had it in her head that she wanted to go to college in NYC (preferably Columbia because she did NOT want to go to an all girls school) without ever having been there. She applied to Barnard’s Young Women’s Leadership Institute pre-college program and I supported that so she could get a true feel for whether she could live in NYC and get a feel for the Barnard/Columbia campus at the same time. Ironically, she fell in love, not just with NYC, but with Barnard itself because of the passionate women she met (participants and faculty), and their overall philosophy. I don’t know if her participation and recommendation from YWLI gave her an edge, but I do know that her “Why Barnard?” essay was totally from the heart, based on that experience. In that regard, I’m sure it helped.</p>
<p>Thank you to everyone for all of your input. I will be sure to look at the thread mentioned that covers the various summer programs. My daughter wants to do some sort of program. The issue I think is that she seems to have been bitten by the prestige bug and perhaps thinks that one of these programs will make a difference for her. I can’t help but think (or perhaps just want it to be so) that hard work and commitment to certain activities over a number of years should count for something. Her volunteering activities are primarily to do with the medical field or autistic kids. I think that perhaps one of the pre-college programs might have some benefit. The doctors without borders program she is looking at is two weeks long which would eliminate her ability to participate in one of her summer jobs and the one she is looking at is in Jamaica. Now I’m not an admissions person, but to me that sounds more like a vacation. This same program has many other more legitimate sounding locales like India and China. And at the end of the day, I want her to have an enriching, and rewarding experience and not have it be about college admissions. I just don’t want to do something that will look like its detracting from a solid and responsible path. We are in a suburb of NYC so she could very possibly just take a summer course at one of the schools in the city and that could show just as much initiative and dedication.</p>
<p>Don’t believe that a program in Jamaica will be a vacation. I have a college friend who joined the Peace Corps after a few years of practicing as an Occupational Therapist and was placed in Kingston, Jamaica for two years. She worked as a home health pediatric OT and it was most definitely NOT a vacation. Jamaica, outside of the resort areas, is poverty stricken. Many people don’t have electricity or running water.</p>
<p>What Barnardmom says is true about Jamaica, though IMO safe drinking water is everywhere just not INSIDE many homes, and electricity is very expensive so a bit of a luxury. However, I can’t find a Medecins sans Frontiers (DWB) program there…are you sure it’s that org? When I google I find some other group saying their program is better/similar/possible for inexperienced to help.</p>
<p>Programs that cost a lot of money generally don’t have any benefits. Programs that are free and very hard to get into (like MIT’s MITES program, Governor’s school, etc.) are looked well upon. Still, they’re not necessary and I wouldn’t put the time / money into it if it’s not a huge benefit. Have fun in the summer, travel, spend time with family. Sometimes, things like starting your own research project, etc. in the summer will help a lot more than the expensive programs that just want your money.</p>
<p>This is somewhat tangential but might be of interest to some. Last summer, I worked as a counselor at Ross, which is one of the more selective math programs [not free but heavily subsidized with financial aid for needy students, ~40% acceptance rate] and a decent amount of the students there were only there because of parents/college admissions. It’s unclear if students actually get much benefit from simply attending but clearly many believe they do. Such students rarely work hard and are often a major annoyance behavior-wise, so the counselors have tried to think of ways to lower the number of such students. In order, to discourage such students from applying and to try to get them to work when at the camp we typically claim you only got an admissions boost if you do well and are invited back as a junior counselor or can get a recommendation from the head of the program [I have no idea if that is actually the case]. That hasn’t been particularly successful but we haven’t come up with any better ideas. Students who do work hard while at Ross typically get much better at math though.</p>
<p>So last year we had reviewed every website and program that ecouter11 posted on. These are very good lists – go ahead and look at all of them, you may find something in your area or that makes sense for your D, but here are a few specific comments:</p>
<ul>
<li>The Young Scholars Program costs over $5,000 for the program.</li>
<li>City of Hope is very difficult to find housing for. There are threads out here from other summers for kids who got into the program, but could not find housing…</li>
<li>NIH didn’t seem to be hiring hardly any high school students last summer. My D put in an application in early December and emailed with about 15 different labs hoping to land a spot. None of the labs she contacted hired ANY high school students last summer. And the stipend for high school students isn’t really enough to cover housing, travel, and board for a summer in DC, either. I am sure a few labs took HS students last summer, but numbers were really down, I think due to government spending cuts at the labs.</li>
<li>Some of the best programs are limited to students living in a specific geographic area. You have to visit the website to figure out which ones. Others seem to give admissions preference to students in their area (even though the web sites don’t actually say this).</li>
<li>Many of the programs also take undergrad and even graduate students. It is often very difficult for a high school student to compete with that.</li>
</ul>
<p>Just saying, it is MUCH harder than these websites make it look to land a spot in a “good” program. If you go down this path, make sure your D has a backup plan of a couple of paid programs she is more likely to get into.</p>