Sorry that this doesn’t really involve college admissions but, has anyone done the New York Times Summer Academy? I’m very interested in doing it next summer and was looking for opinions on it or advice on applying.
Thanks:)
I was getting emails from them. Looks good, but so expensive.
I attended the program this year. It was the best summer experience of my life. I’d highly recommend you to apply and attend, especially if NYT has a program that you’re really passionate about. In my case, it was Finance and Economics. I had the opportunity to visit Goldman Sachs and interact and connect with the recruiters and analysts. I learnt a lot and it helped me discover what i actually wanted to do in life. The program helps you discover your passion.
Hi, I was wondering if you have any helpful tips or recommendations on getting accepted/good things to add into response questions. I’m applying right now for this summer, thanks!
Do you think that getting NYT related awards such as student comment of the week will be helpful to Admission? Also does anybody have a ballpark number for acceptance rate?
@norcalgall I think that in order to get accepted and receive maximum financial aid, you need to write clearly in the essay about why you want to take part in the specific program and explain how the course fascinates you. I noticed that generally there were two types of people in the summer program: (1) who really love what their course teaches and were extremely passionate about the specific area of study. and (2) who wanted to explore new subjects to find their passion. Good luck!
@ManOfGod It will be very helpful if you want to apply to the Writing In The Big City course of the NYT summer program. I personally think that the essay is the most important part and it’s what ultimately decides your admission outcome to NYT. As far as the acceptance rate is concerned, I remember the director of the Summer Program say that he read about 3000 applications. We had around 150-200 students in our program so i think it’s below 10%. But you don’t need a perfect GPA to get in. I didn’t have a spectacular high school transcript but I was able to show them deep interest in the course through the essays. Good luck!
What do you mean by the essays? Are you referring to the optional writing piece from one of your classes that you can attach to the application?
So I attended SoNYT this summer (2018) woah I know. SOOOO… basically I was on the Creative Writing program if you couldn’t tell. The acceptance rate IS THE SAME FOR ALL FOUR TERMS but let me break it down. Overall, around 3000-4000 students applied worldwide. Each term had 400 kids MAX. Do some math and that’s 1200/(let’s just say)3500 students which is 35%. I spoke to the people who run the place (super official, I know) and they said it was under 50% and obviously my math works out with that statement. BUTTT, it really is different for every course. Some courses are more popular and rarer than others. For example, my course was only offered for 2 out of the 4 terms and only about 20 kids were on it. Soooooooo, that probably means twice the number of kids applied and since our class size was kinda small, it would say accep rate was like 15%. Anway, some tips and tricks and facts and some more stats (wow, really?):
- a lot of the people were pretentious and annoying but like 10% of them weren’t (me and my friends) so I would say this program IS FOR EVERYONE because you will 100% find someone you like (or love I don’t judge)
- everyone is like at least 70% gay if not 100% minus the girls from Kansas lol (kind of not surprised tho, I mean it’s a writing camp for the most part)
- #three number 3… literally everyone I met didn’t even write an essay so writing one will be very appreciated by the admissions committee. If it’s at all good, unique, creative, or f&^%^& weird they will probably enjoy it and let you into the the gates of NYC (wow, so cool)
- not everyone in the program was crazy smart. I mean, I had a 4.0 but not many other people did which was AMAZING because it shows that the program does not value that (I also wrote an essay soooooo…)
- just please be yourself. The program really does reflect New York’s diverse climate (I had friends from over 10 different countries + 49 were represented)
- I don’t what else to say just reply or email me okay bye ily
Did you end up going?
@probablywriting What’s your email breh? I’ve got some questionz bout the program 
@garygoss I also did the program in the summer of 2018 and can answer any questions. I took a course on features articles (I think it’s their biggest course?) called Writing the Big City (Level 1).
I definitely agree with most of what @probablywriting said except for that a lot of people were pretentious and annoying. There were definitely a few people who gave off the “look at how rich I am” vibe and flexed their connections when we were trying to get interviews, but there weren’t that many of those. Honestly, the vibe I got was that people were pretty relaxed and open-minded. Maybe it’s because I was going into sophomore year and in a group and class with people going into freshman or sophomore year, and most people in the program were going into junior or senior year and likely more worried about college competition. They really just want to know that you’re curious, a critical thinker, and going to value the info you learn and put it into good use, so that’s what you want to convey in your application essay.
Overall, I loved this program a ton and it helped my journalism skills in so many ways (especially with interviews). In my class, they really pushed you to go out of your comfort zone and interview people on the street, so now I feel much more comfortable interviewing people at school.
Hi! I have a question. What if you end up finding that the course you are enrolled in isn’t the best one for you? Is there a way to switch? Also do you think there is a large benefit from getting early admission? Thank you!
@Hay_bail1 I’m also applying Eary Admission. From what I could tell of the officers the only benefit is getting the first spot in courses, which I think would be really beneficial for people applying to popular courses like Wri in Big City or sm like that. Also, I don’t want to be compared to a bunch of other people in the RD pool. so yeah
Hi. Sorry for not reading this like 6 months ago. Do you still have any questions? Regarding my last comment, the course I did was discontinued 
and I believe the program got more competitive.
I am thinking of applying to the summer academy but I can’t go unless I get financial aid. On paper my family looks pretty wealthy and like we can afford it, but due to extenuating circumstances it would not be possible. I know they take those circumstances into account, but do they typically give a lot of financial aid? I’m just wondering whether its worth it to apply, if anyone knows about their financial aid.
I just received my acceptance and financial aid package. The letter stated “We seek to give as much assistance to as many qualified students as possible. This year we received an outstanding amount of requests for financial assistance.”
Hope it’s helpful.
My family are middle class ish, about 100k income with 3 kids and I got 1,100 financial aid. Idk if that helps
Do they send emails for when your decision has been made or just when you get accepted? I just want to be notified of my decision regardless of what it is.
I would guess they send emails either way (and/or you can check the TADS portal). We applied prior to March 30 and haven’t heard back yet. The Summer Academy is online this year