What kinds of activities did you do during summers before college (after sophomore and junior years) that helped get into top colleges (Ivies and Top 20 Schools)? Are there any specific programs anyone would recommend (preferably not too costly) that you think were very enjoyable and helped with the admissions process? Thank you 
You should not do a program because you think it will help with the admissions process – you should do it because you have a passion for what you will be doing (e.g., if you want to explore an academic subject or engage in an artistic pursuit more in depth than you can during the school year). Internships can also provide good summer experiences.
There are several highly prestigious summer programs that are exceedingly difficult to get into and are free of charge. These will carry an admissions “boost” and serve as a hook of sorts (many of their alumni end up in very elite schools – whether or not correlation equals causation is anyone’s guess).
There are fewer of these in the humanities than there are in the sciences. In fact, other than TASP (the Telluride Association Summer Program), I can’t think of any that are strictly humanities-based. Depending on what state you are from, the Governor’s School summer programs might be an option (I think some states may have an arts program as well as the STEM programs). There are many more options with for cost-free research and scholarship for STEM. RSI (Research Science Institute) are among the top ones. MITES (Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science).
I’d avoid the “pay to play” uber-expensive “pre-college” programs, but if there are a couple of college classes you want to take, by all means, do so.
@LoveTheBard Thank you! I was looking at internships and such, but due to age restrictions, most are inaccessible. Thus I began looking at summer programs, which were mostly super expensive. The ones you list seem very interesting, thank you!
IMO, just get a job…it willl mean just as much as a study/research opportunity.
@umstudent7 - you are quite welcome! I didn’t mention it here, but did on another thread…Carleton has what looks like an interesting summer humanities program; it’s less expensive than many of the “pay to play” programs, and they give both FA and merit aid, if memory serves:
https://apps.carleton.edu/summer/humanities/
@labegg - there are jobs and there are jobs, just as there are study/research opportunities and there are study/research opportunities.
Yes, getting a job may hold as much sway (and provide a bit more money) with admissions than another summer activities, but I can assure you that my daughter got a heck of a lot more out of TASP than she would have gotten out of a summer flipping burgers. TASP – more than any other academic or social activity/program – helped my daughter define who she is and where and what she wanted to study. And it surely didn’t hurt with admissions!
I prefaced this by saying that you “should not do a program because you think it will help with the admissions process – you should do it because you have a passion for what you will be doing.”