<p>I am so thankful to find this forum. I am in desperate need for guidance which my son's counselor seems unqualified, or unable to give me. </p>
<p>My son will graduate from High School this June. He was admitted on Early Admission to Stanford University with a full scholarship. Each summer for the past several years we have found excellent summer academic and enrichment programs for him to attend. As a result of his hard work and college credit earned through those programs, he will be able to enter Stanford as a second semester freshmen. </p>
<p>My problem is that I am having great difficulty finding a summer program open to newly graduated Seniors who have yet to actually begin their first year of college. He is Native American and an enrolled member of a Federally recognized Tribe. He must be able to compete for or attend this summer program on full scholarship as we are financially unable to assist him. Our tribe will not fund summer session or summer study and the Native American Education funding sources have similar stumbling blocks. I feel as though he is in a catch 22 situation. It is imparative that he not be on the reservation through the summer months. There are far too many social ills and tempatations for our youth and it is not a good environment. He also wants to stay in good study form and continue to build his credit hours. He would love an internship where he could have a stipend but again, most of those programs are reserved for students with at least one year of college completed or graduate students.</p>
<p>Can anyone lead me in a good direction to find such resources or programs?</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son!
Check with Stanford and see if they have summer options for incoming students.
Has he had any job experience? He might find work as a camp counselor at a residential camp or a CTY or TIP camp.</p>
<p>Congrats to your son and to you! You must be so happy and proud of him. In a quick search online, it looks like several of the summer programs for high school students, including Stanford, accept applications for current seniors (those that will graduate in June like your son). The Harvard one says full aid is available, although preference is given to HS Jrs. The Stanford program apparently does not offer full aid. </p>
<p>Also, Stanford has a summer college program (not clear if incoming freshman are eligible). You may wish to talk to them about whether there are any programs he can participate in. </p>
<p>The JHU CTY has some programs for students finishing 12th grade with scholarships too (not sure if they are full). Most seem to be on the East Coast, so not sure if that presents an obstacle. </p>
<p>Sorry I can't be of more assistance. What type of program was he in previously?</p>
<p>He has the next 4 years (maybe more if he goes to grad school) for academics. Why not let him do something non academic this summer? It sounds like he's been on the academic fast track for sometime. Maybe a break before starting college would be good.</p>
<p>Congratulations to you and your son. You sound like a concerned parent who has her child's best interests in sight. </p>
<p>Of course if your son would like to go an academic route then he should but I think the camp counselor idea is a great one and agree w/ prefect that it might be a good time for him to blow off a little steam and have some fun.</p>
<p>Congratulations! Don't worry too much about your son falling in with a bad crowd, he has succeeded so far and has Stanford waiting for him. Have you discussed his plans with him? By now he is old enough to have his own ideas and both of you should be working on this. Now is the time for him to look for away from home jobs, a summer camp sounds good. Let him enjoy the rewards of all of his HS work, there is plenty of time for academics.</p>
<p>There are two perfectly reasonable arguments - 1) to get a job/camp or 2) to goof off. If the op feels S needs to be occupied then how about letting him start college this summer and get the rest of freshman year out of the way so he can start next fall as a sophomore. Surely, Stanford would let him start or check out a community college locally or near Stanford. </p>
<p>What about a part time job to pay for the community college?</p>
<p>Colleges hire student staff to assist with summer camp programs and residence hall prep. He may want to contact the Housing Office at Stanford to see if he could be employed on campus.</p>
<p>You might want to check out the Columbia University Summer Program for High School Students. Although the website says it is for students entering 9 - 12 grades, I recall that when my son was in the Engineering Course a few summers ago, that there were some who had graduated from high school and would be going to college in the fall. It wouldn't hurt to send them an email and ask about that and scholarship opportunities. They were extremely responsive whenever I asked a question by email.</p>
<p>These are the only two scholarship summer programs that I know of for graduating Srs. Unfortunately the National Youth Science Camp application has to be received TODAY and and the deadline for the Jackson Laboratory summer program is past. You can check the Summer Programs forum here on CC, but there are relatively few programs for rising college students.</p>
<p>I recall reading in Stanford Magazine last year that Stanford has summer programs for incoming freshmen who need academic support and/or an opportunity to adjust to campus life before the beginning of fall quarter. I looked for the article on the Stanford website but couldn't find it, however I did find this link to the Stanford Summer Engineering Academy: Stanford</a> School of Engineering You should give Stanford Admissions a call, I'm sure they'll be very helpful.</p>
<p>Camp counselor is a good opportunity to have fun, meet peers, be a leader, make a small amount of money, and get room and board. Why not try it?</p>
<p>Congrats to your S. I can see where you didn't need to be on this board previously.</p>
<p>Can you give us an idea what kind of program he may be interested in (e.g. arts, engineering, medicine?) Occasionally, I will see on our HS bulletin a listing of some of these that are for graduating seniors and rising juniors. Most don't last the entire summer, but as the other posters suggested, maybe a summer that's partly working a job and partly academic might be a good breather before the rigors of Stanford.</p>
<p>"I recall reading in Stanford Magazine last year that Stanford has summer programs for incoming freshmen who need academic support and/or an opportunity to adjust to campus life before the beginning of fall quarter."
I think this is set up and designed just for incoming athletes, such as recruited football, basketball players.</p>
<p>Since the student in question is a highly sought after minority, there may be a similar program for him. It would certainly be worth his while to investigate. Also, he needs to talk to an academic counselor about skipping so many freshman courses. Even though it may be allowed, if his preparation is not adequate, he will be at a disadvantage by taking high level courses as a freshman. He needs to choose carefully. If this were a state school, it wouldn't be as much of a concern, but the kids at Stanford are exceptionally bright and motivated, and will be tough competition.</p>
<p>I live fairly close to Stanford. As was already suggested, try talking to someone at Stanford first. </p>
<p>If you decide to pursue the camp counselor thing, I know that the YMCA has summer camps running all summer long at a location within an hour's drive of Stanford - perhaps he can hook with the Y and then move over to Stanford when the timing is right.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son. I had a cousin who graduated from there and he was and is very pleased with his education from there.</p>
<p>Stanford does have a pre-frosh program but it only runs for about 3 weeks just before the fall term. Since OP's son qualifies for full financial aid, Stanford would foot the bill for this program also. Definitely call Stanford regarding summer opportunities. Many students live on campus over the summer and work for the university.</p>
<p>Wisconsin Dells is a family summer resort(?) community. It is hard for them to find enough kids locally who are willing to work the summer, so they hire kids from foreign countries to work the counters, ride attendants, etc. It is about 1 hour from Madison, and 2 hours from Milwaukee.</p>
<p>Noah's Ark is one of the bigger water parks. Chamber of Commerce would also be a good place for leads. They are use to putting the kids up in local hotels, etc. All the stuff that comes with importing your workers. A good way to make a few bucks and stay out of trouble.</p>