<p>My son is a high school junior. Very good student: 4.0++ GPA, okay (SATs 2008), 3 AP's, mock trials, piano, youth group leader, 760 on Chem SAT II, etc. He is interested in history/languages/poly sci but would do a science (particularly environmental) program if we could find one. Problem is he needs a cheap/free summer program. Applied to TASP (only one we knew about) but he got rejected before they even saw that he only got 2008 on the SAT. Now most other programs are closed out. He can't find a job and we can not afford a CTY program. We won't get aid from CTY because we are decidedly middle-class (lower middle class but middle class) in a very expensive state.</p>
<p>Do you know of available programs he could still apply to? Or where to look for something for the summer?</p>
<p>If you live in an urban area, he should look into volunteering with the city, or even working, maybe as a day camp counselor for the local community center/boys and girls club/campfire. Most city rec departments offer some kind of summer day camp (if they haven’t been stripped by budget cuts) and I’m sure they would love volunteers. If he’s interested in poly-sci it’s never too early to start learning how to lead and manage people, even young people. And he should keep looking for a job, it’s only early March, something may yet turn up before June.</p>
<p>My daughter volunteered as a program aid in a public school math program that was designed to help lower income kids maintian their math skills over the summer. We are not in a city, so perhaps your local public schools might offer something similar. This was similar to what SmithieandProud suggested.</p>
<p>I checked usa.gov and the student jobs are for kids already in degree programs. So that won’t work. He has called several organizations around and they are overwhelmed with volunteers and could offer a week or two at most. It seems that there are actually internships that you pay for here in NJ! I guess everyone is trying to find something to do in this economy.</p>
<p>With an SAT Math & Verbal of over 1440 you could go to the Ole Miss Summer college program with free tuition, housing and meal plan. 1330 SAT is free tuition & housing. Plus my S earned 6 college credits. It was a tremendous experience. btw we are from the North East, so Ole Miss was not really on the radar of most prep school kids, but it was a fantastic experience. S got to take the intro course in his prospective major and it really cemented his interest. Plus you can’t beat the scholarship.</p>
<p>Our local community college offers many camps. Last summer, my son did the counselor training program and this summer (I hope) they are going to hire him as a counselor. you might check out the local CC if there is one close.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how one goes about finding either an internship or a “shadowing” experience for their hs kid? I want my son to find out something about the areas he is considering for college and thought either shadowing or interning would be a good option.</p>
<p>For high schoolers, that kind of thing is usually arranged through family connections. So if you have a friend or a co-worker or relative that works in that field, you could probably arrange it.</p>
<p>A decent job option, which demonstrates responsibility, is to get certified as a lifeguard. (The certification not a difficult process- you don’t have to be a heavy duty swimmer. YMCA course is either 10 or 12 continuos laps- unlimited time- 1st day. Rest of program is learning saftey) </p>
<p>Even if he can’t find an immediate job lifeguarding by the end of summer, when the college kids leave they become available. It’s also a job that’s readily available when they go to college b/c it requires certification…</p>
<p>Following up on livesinnj’s suggestion, get a certification in something that interests him. Can be EMT certified by 16 yo or personal trainer or become certified on a computer platform (adobe, microsoft). There are also volunteer opportunities for many nonprofit events such as walk and bikeathons, film festivals, theater festivals, etc especially plentiful if he is in commuting distance to nyc.
Internships are tough because at his age most kids are more work to supervise than a benefit to the organization.
If he want to do advocacy work, he can hook up with a political organization and can volunteer to attend rallies, write letter to the editor, stuff envelops, call congressperson…is there a cause he is especially touched by? With budget cuts in NJ there is no shortage of outspoken special interest groups.</p>
<p>That’s a good point. If he’s at all interested in politics there is going to be a lot of work available volunteering on campaigns this summer. Also, there are advocacy organizations he could work for. Extra hands are always needed for phonebanking, organizing, canvassing, etc. Doesn’t have to be a state-wide candidate even, there are local candidates that he oculd get involved in.</p>
<p>Mentor Graphics. They put him in a server closet, a terminal, a stipend for 8 weeks, a small project, and told him go to it. He learned (self taught) JAVA and made a small app for their designware. Also had to do a presentation, and a display. </p>
<p>Some of the environmental internships put the kids on the coast, in mountains. central Oregon, and eastern Oregon. The outiers had to do some backpacking and several camps.</p>
<p>hs junior-senior, hs senior-college, and frosh-soph college summers he was a stay home.
He picked up some more programing languages, and submitted a Ground-Zero Design portfolio.</p>
<p>njmom1 - feel free to pm me if you have any questions about the Ole Miss program. It was a great experience. There were kids from all over the world there. They have an exchange program or something with Venezuela I think. I wish my S could go again this year and do the language program, but they only accept rising Jrs & Srs. My S did the general liberal arts program- he took Psych 101 & Eng 102.</p>