Would doing multiple online pre college summer programs from say stanford, cornell, and darthmouth significantly increase the chances of getting into a t20 school? Or are they just a waste of money in essence.
I have heard arguments from both sides, and would love to get a definite answer before i burden my teachers with requests of rec letters.
Of course, the programs done at these schools will reflect the major or interest I have and would want to pursue in college. For example, if I want to major in poli sci, I would take law courses, same with engineering and math, medicine and biology, etc.
There is no definite answer, other than this: will the simple act of “doing multiple online pre college summer programs” increase your chances? No.
Will the experience gained help you? Perhaps. But that can be said for many many summer activities, many of which cost less money. Indeed, a job, where you actually earn money can be equally beneficial.
Also most (all?) top schools cap pre-matriculation credits, even for the same institution. If the summer program is taking actual (P/F) classes and you already will be receiving AP credit, then the money is basically wasted. The most you could accomplish would be satisfy some prerequisite.
Most of the programs i plan on doing are non credit/experience only. Wouldnt doing programs like these show interest in the university? And with that in mind would doing multiple of them hurt you (interest to many schools instead of one) or help you (enriched knowledge).
@MaybeIvy2020 - I like @skieurope’s answer. The reason it doesn’t help as much as you think it should is because the schools already know you are a good student. By definition “EC” means “not school”. The only way I can see it helping is if you were planning on applying ED somewhere and you wanted to do every possible thing to show interest. But then you say you are thinking of doing pre-college programs at different schools. That doesn’t make any sense from an admissions advantage standpoint. (Although you would probably learn a lot.)
That was what I was thinking. Thank you so much!