<p>In general, I know its recommended that the summer programs that many colleges offer should be left off applications. Mostly because they're expensive (hello privilege) and because counselors are very sensitive to giving the impression that they can make a difference (if anything. they hurt).</p>
<p>But what if you attended a summer program and want to let a college know because it shows demonstrated interest? </p>
<p>I would absolutely include a summer program. Not only does it show interest in a particular school in your case but it shows that you did something valuable over the summer. My D took a service trip to Costa Rica (as you say “hello privilege”) in the summer of her junior year and it certainly didn’t hurt her application (she got in to her top choice school). She had a friends who did a summer program at MIT and got into a ton of top notch colleges (finally choosing Yale) If your parents can afford to send you to a program nobody will hold that against you just as no college will hold the fact that another student worked (even a menial job) to earn money against him/her. The idea is to do something worthwhile with your summer. </p>
<p>My kids put their summer programs on. Both had programs that related to areas of interest. My STEM kid tried an engineering summer program to see if she liked it. My kid who had attended several years of Finnish camp spent a summer in Finland on a scholarship, so those tied together. STEM kid also attended a competitive program where students completed two college courses in 3 weeks – she was able to talk about how much she liked the intensity of that program on her "Why College X’ essays for the most academically intense colleges she was applying to. So… it helps if the program has an obvious link in some way to their areas of interest.</p>
<p>@intparent Do you remember where your kids put the summer programs? Should it go under Activities or somewhere else?</p>
<p>Mmm… I think Activities. Sort of… so what my D who went to Finland did was put “Finnish” as her activity, then “See Additional Information”. Then she had a header there called “Activities - Finnish”, and she bulleted out the details of her activities. She had take two years of summer program for high school credit in the language, earned a scholarship for this summer study abroad, and put a couple of details about her summer abroad in bullets. The engineering camp got its own activity (again, she put “See Additional Information” so she could put a few bullets about her engineering project there.</p>
<p>I would always list any summer program that a student does as long as it is related to their interests, has an academic or community service bend. If a student only does summer teen tour programs that are nothing more than a travel itinerary, I might not list them all, but it would still be fine to speak in essays etc about their experience seeing other cultures, etc. and how it has changed their world view.</p>
<p>Yes, some students are privileged! There is no use trying to hide that fact. Colleges are well aware of the demographics of your high school and home town. It would be ridiculous not to mention or try to hide a lifestyle that has offered one opportunities.</p>
<p>Definitely include summer programs. Making good use of a summer–even if doing so is a result of privilege–is a good thing.</p>