Does anyone know of any other free summer programs besides Leda? I really pray that I get into Leda, but if I don’t I figure that I should have a backup plan. Any suggestions would be great!
TASP (humanities) and RSI (STEM) are fully funded, but, with acceptance rates below 5%, they certainly aren’t backups. Does your state have a governor’s school? I think those tend to be free or low cost, but don’t really know anything about them.
In general, if a program is free and prestigious, chances are it’s going to be super selective.
Try mysummeradvisor.com You can search for free programs. Some are restricted to particular groups - minorities, rural kids, first in family to go to college, etc. There are some open to any applicant and even pay a stipend. Governor’s Schools are also free. Most states have them.
There are dozens of free/funded programs, all competitive and selective. Finding them is not hard with modern search engines, and there are prior CC threads on the subject. Having the initiative and resourcefulness to find these is a fairly low threshold for being competitive in the first place. Look around a bit. There are also plenty of other programs with available need-based aid for those who can’t afford them.
These are not really prestigious or known at all lol but they’re free!
http://ualr.edu/eit/additonal-info/outreach/#hrsp
http://ualr.edu/eit/additonal-info/outreach/#esp
http://ualr.edu/eit/additonal-info/outreach/#gcc
http://ualr.edu/eit/additonal-info/outreach/#nsti
So are you a junior? What are your interests?