My son goes to a magnet IT schools and is looking for a summer precollege residential 1-2 week program this summer before his senior year of high school. Does anyone have any experience with any of the programs and how well they were run? We live in NJ and would want him to be on the east cost mid-atlantic/new england. Any experience with these or other similar programs would be appreciated.
S19 went to WPIs game design camp in HS. It was very well run and highly organized. He enjoyed the game design components and the other supplemental courses they did - he did creative writing as one. He did not like the forced fun at night, but it was clear others did like this. Just not his thing.
It is a great way for them to think about what they want in a program and college experience. He loved the semi-contained campus.
The dorm they were in at WPI did not have AC and that impacted his decision not to apply even though we tried to tell him he would not be there in summer…
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The program at WPI looks great, showed it to my S24 who agrees. It seems that they have a webinar this week and since his summer plans are still in flux I will definitely join. Love that they have a stem and a non-stem component and that it is only two weeks which is his sweet spot for how long he wants to go away
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This topic came up when we met my S19 for dinner tonight after his classes. He said WPI’s summer camp was the best one he did over the years. He had researched and brought it to our attention which was great, as well. Agree that two weeks is a good amount of time.
The fact that the professors are the ones leading the sessions is huge compared to other offerings.
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I have signed my D23 up for the Champlain camp, also two weeks and taught by the professors. We toured WPI and Champlain last fall; she dropped WPI from her list but kept Champlain as a safety. Hoping she likes it as much or better after the camp. Would love post-camp reports from those going to other GD camps.
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Hi, not sure if you’ll see this, but I’d love to know how the Champlain game design session went, and if it affected where she wound up applying. Thanks so much!
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I know you said east coast, but my daughter did the Summer Institute at UCLA last summer and it was an incredible experience. One of the best experiences of all of high school for her. I highly recommend it for the classes, the living arrangements, the activities, etc.
She was also interested in the WPI one, but the dates didn’t work out.
My son just attended the beginners and advanced Game Academy summer sessions at Champlain and really enjoyed them. Learned a lot, met nice kids, presented their projects to the parents and families at the end of each session, and is currently working with a team of kids he met the first session to complete the game they’d started.
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