LeadAmerica - What Colleges Accept Their "College Credit"?

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
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<p>The parents of a kid I know got one of these and they are extremely proud to have their kid recognized (they already paid $3,000). They also said that their kid will get the equivalent of 3 credit hours to any college.</p>

<p>Data is extremely sketchy on this and at best anecdotal. I doubt that many colleges accept this as a credit and I would suspect those that do are of a lower caliber.</p>

<p>Anybody have any information on this? It may be a great experience but the part about college credits is a little misleading (though they have a small print disclaimer).</p>

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<p>Boost. This is the sense I get from all of these programs which solicit you without having information requested from them.</p>

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<p>I would like to know the answer to this too. Has anyone ever attended LA and successfully transferred the credit to their transcript? If so, was it counted as an elective?</p>

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<p>My sister attended Lead America for the Medicine program. She said it was a complete waste of her time academically, but that it was really fun, at least. The “college credits” don’t even count towards VCU, which is where she goes, and that’s not exactly a cream-of-the-crop school. My sister described the “classes” as merely social hour, with a few boring lectures and pointless assignments added to the mix for good measure. LA vastly inflates their descriptions of themselves, but in actuality, it’s a waste of $3000. Trust me, I myself got an invitation to this program…and promptly threw it in the trash. The kid would be better off going to a program that allows him or her to attend for free, or, better yet, that pays them to come. I wouldn’t even pay $30 for this program, let alone $3000.</p>

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<p>Alright, thanks for the honest feedback, naoman16. I expected this, so it wasn’t exactly disappointing, but I’m glad I didn’t fall into this trip.</p>

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<p>This article may give you more information since LeadAmerica is a for profit company like the Youth Conference program. <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;

<p>As a previous poster has said-the better programs are those that truly have a competitive selection process and are either free or at a reduced cost. For example a program like SAMS orTelluride or Cosmos. Many of these programs are discussed here on CC. </p>

<p>There may still be a benefit from attending a LEADAmerica program where it fosters an interest in a student but as far as helping in college admissions or college credit-most admissions offices look at such experiences as simply one purchased by a “rich” family.</p>