We are looking for a pre-college program for a shy rising senior with an Asperger’s type of profile. He has experience being away from home, but he would benefit from being part of a college-like atmosphere. I would love to find a small, welcoming program with enough structure that kids can’t spend too much time in their rooms. Academic classes would be okay if they are relatively low-key, but even just electives would be fine. We are in the Northeast but would consider programs that are further away. Any suggestions? Thanks so much!
Emerson’s pre-college was amazing! It was essentially like being a college student for 5 weeks. They have the option of a “quiet floor” for rooming, which I took, and it was great. I’m shy but I really liked it. The only downside is everyone there is really passionate about everything they are “majoring” in (the program they’re in), so if he’s really interested in one of the topics, he should definitely look into applying. We did field trips, had free weekends, and lived in the middle of Boston. I’m also really shy but I loved it. I also became good friends with my roommate which helped since neither of us knew anyone else. They also do a good job of meeting each student’s needs and the program director has an open-door policy. There’s a bit of a clique problem, but that’s just high school kids tbh. Highly recommend for everyone!
https://www.emerson.edu/majors-programs/pre-college-programs
^^btw the program was around 300 kids, which is smaller than any other program I’ve looked at. And we were only in our rooms on Sundays (no-class) and nights. The 5-week programs pretty much have class from 9am-9pm and the others do field trips or “camp” activities after dinner as opposed to other classes. It’s a really good way to make friends.
What are your son’s interests @VeganMom3 ? Kids on the spectrum do so much better at these things if they are in an area of high interest and knowledge. So…what does he like?
Would he be better in a small town or a large city?
What about Landmark College in Vermont?
@izrk02 – Sorry to invade this thread, but I was wondering if you could tell me more about Emerson? (How many people per program generally, what the schedule is like, whatever advice you might have etc…) I can’t fingure out how to PM or I would’ve done that to ask.
@AvocadoOptemist I’m not sure about each program, but film was by far the largest program with about 30 people. The rest were around 15-20 kids. The schedule for each program is different, but they all started at around 9 in the morning and had class all day from Monday to Sunday (some programs had evening classes from 7-9). My biggest piece of advice is to find friends fast because I had a hard time with that and my roommate was pretty much my only friend. It’s also really fast-paced and intense so if you aren’t prepared to be in school for another 5 weeks, its probably not a good idea. But its honestly really amazing and I’m really happy I did it.
@izrk02 A few more questions if you don’t mind,
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What’s it like with weekends off?
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Is the program very selective?
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Are the teachers good?
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What’s it like being in Boston?
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Is there a lot of freedom?
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Is everyone serious, or is it more casual?
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What is the housing like? You mentioned living with a roomate, is everyone in a dorm?
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Are the excursions and activities fun/interesting?
In addition to or in lieu of, you may want to consider a pre-orientation camp at your kid’s admitted school. Not all have them but many do. Typically they range in subject (outdoorsy, art, community service, etc.) Would be a good way for him to get to know people at his school prior to all the hubbub. Not that expensive relative tot he longer summer programs.
We didn’t do that but lots of kids at S’ school did and they had a lot of fun and felt like part of a larger group right away.
- You only get Saturday afternoons and Sundays off, so you can really only do stuff on Sunday. There's a movie theater on campus so my friends and I would go there and watch stuff on Saturdays and depending on the day, would hang out and work in the Common. It really just depends on what you want to do.
- Depends on the program. I don't work in admissions, but I know that Musical Theater and Acting are really competitive.
- Every program is taught by Emerson professors who are assisted by graduate students, so yeah, they're pretty good.
- It really depends on what you think of the city. I've always wanted to live in a city, so it was really fun and fast-paced.
- You do get a lot of freedom. You get a max of 3 hours to be off-campus before you have to "check-in" and you can only go off campus (within a certain radius) alone.
- Everyone is very serious about their work, but it's a bunch of teenagers. There's always going to be kids who don't follow the rules, but they've never had to kick anybody out for rule breaking.
- They might change the dorm for this coming year since they just renovated Little Building but we stayed in the Paramount building. It's suites of 4 people in rooms of 2 with a shared bathroom. There's a public kitchen and common room on every floor. They have one boys' floor and the other 3 are girls. One of the girls' floors is a "quiet" floor.
- Depending on your program, you do different field trips. Film went to local arthouse theaters to watch movies. Musical Theater and Acting went to touring shows since Emerson is in the theater district. Journalism went to the local news station. There were optional trips to local shops and restaurants for all students on Sundays.
@izrk02 Thanks for all of the info! I have one more question, and then I’ll leave you alone :). Would you recommend that I do it? By this I mean, I know that you don’t know me, but generally would you tell people to do it?
@AvocadoOptemist I’d recommend anyone who is really passionate about their craft to take it, so yes.