How important are summer programs?

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
1

<p>Today, I learned that I had been rejected from both of the summer programs I applied to. Now, I'm left with two options:
1. Apply to an expensive, non-selective program like Stanford Summer College. My parents can afford it, but they'd prefer not to pay that much.
2. Stay at home and study computer science.</p>

<p>If I choose the latter, I'll probably volunteer at a few local camps, and spend the rest of my time on The Odin Project (a free online programming bootcamp like Hack Reactor: <a href="http://www.theodinproject.com"&gt;http://www.theodinproject.com&lt;/a&gt;). While I'm sure I would learn an equal amount (if not more) from The Odin Project than I would from a summer program, I'm not sure how that would affect my college admissions. As a home-schooled student, the letters of recommendation and credibility provided by a summer program would be beneficial to me.</p>

<p>So, do you think it is worth the money to attend a summer college program, or should I stay at home and study programming? I'm planning to major in CS, so The Odin Project would definitely help prepare me for college, but I'm not sure how colleges would view it. Also, please let me know if there are any other good summer programs still accepting applications.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Operation Catapult at Rose-Hulman is taking applications until April 28. If you are interested in CS or engineering it is a good experience, and can give you a specific project you can talk about in your college applications. Assuming you are the equivalent of a high school junior, it is only a rising senior program. It is less expensive than a program like Stanfords, but allows you to explore some topic of interest in a project setting. Takes 3 weeks, so maybe you could still do some of the other things you planned, too.</p>