<p>that doing a summer program away from home for a week or two (summer@brown specifically) is worth it. He went to a mediocre school and doesn't understand how helpful it is/ is saying it's not worth the cost. I give up trying to persuade him it's getting so hard. I want to get into the best school i can but I think he is holding me back. what should i do/ what can I do to show him that it is worth it?? please help</p>
<p>I can't help you here. It's not going to help you get into Brown. Actually, working as a bagger at your local grocer would help you more. Only go if you can easily afford it, want to check out the school, and most importantly want to spend your summer doing academics because learning is your favorite thing to do.</p>
<p>I agree it is not worth the cost if money is an issue for your family. It will NOT help you get in there or anywhere else. The summer programs that will are the free ones like TASP and RSI. Taking community college classes looks better on an application. So summer at Brown or Harvard or another school can be fun and give you a feel for life at college, but that's about it.</p>
<p>summer@brown isn't going to get you into Princeton. It might help <em>a little bit</em>, but it's not going to make or break you.</p>
<p>Now, if we were talking about RSI, an all-expense paid vacation to intellectual stimulation, or something like that, then it would help. Point being that only prestigious programs will help with admissions. And most prestigious programs are free.</p>
<p>I'm just getting a summer job...</p>
<p>Honestly, your dad isn't holding you back from getting into a top school by not letting you go to a summer program. Unless you're going to TASP or RSI, they really don't supply much of an admissions boost other than giving you plenty of firsthand information for the "Why Brown?" essay. There are plenty of other things that you can do with your summer that could help you out just as much as - if not more than - <a href="mailto:Summer@Brown">Summer@Brown</a>. Plenty of kids who can't afford to attend the summer programs (or whose parents have similar reasoning to your father's) still get accepted to top schools.
However, since I'm hoping that a college admissions boost isn't the only reason you'd want to attend Summer@Brown, talk to a counselor or teacher and see if they'd present your father with another supportive opinion. If you can't find someone, or if he remains unconvinced, let it go.</p>
<p>yea those summer programs at colleges that require a lot of money are totally not worth it if you dont have the money.</p>
<p>Hah, I was in the completely opposite position. My mom thought the Harvard summer program would give me a blank check to the ivys and my grandmother was begging me to go, saying that she would pay for it and everything. I would have gone if I had nothing else to do, but I had a good research project going at a local university.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would look into a research program somewhere. If you come up with a paper and submit it to intel, that's significantly more impressive than a summer program that anyone can kill a few weeks at. They are also much less expensive in certain cases.</p>
<p>The summer programs at colleges don't help you get into those colleges or places like Ivies.</p>
<p>Such colleges aren't impressed by students who basically do programs that are open to anyone who can pay the big bucks, even if those programs are at the same Ivy that the student applies to.</p>
<p>Such colleges are far more impressed by students who spend their summers working a job -- particularly a job involving hard work -- yard work, working fast food, babysitting for instance, not cushy "internships" that well connected parents line up for their doted upon kids.</p>
<p>If you want to boost your application, forget the expensive summer programs, and find a way to spend your summer doing some hard work.</p>
<p>oh okay thanks everyone!</p>