Summer Enrichment for HS Students: Does it matter?

I think summer programs are great for students who want to explore an interest. I don’t think anyone should be forced to do them or worry about falling behind by not doing them.

HappyFace, my D is also a grad of Elliott (double major Intl Affairs and Economics) who was fortunate enough to attend the PA Governors school for international affairs one summer (before it was discontinued.) I suggest your D look into DPE Foreign Service sorority, while I have never been s sorority fan, D made lifelong friends/travel partners there and had some great learning experiences.

@mamabear1234 That’s what I love about GW! So many opportunities! Each and every time she/we meet someone who is a GW grad, especially an Elliott grad, time stops and they chat with us about their experience and how well they are doing in their lives. We now have the stickers on our car and people have pulled up beside us to ask if we are grads or have a child their. Awesome!

Regarding sororities, I wasn’t involved in any sororities because I worked full time and went to school full time so didn’t have time. I’m still trying to get use to her being in a Thurston 6 LOL! That’s a little sorority in itself :smiley:

After watching her become a part of the GW community, from getting to know her roomies to seeing how the Elliott School and University Honors Program advisors have reached out to her before the first day of classes, I completely understand the GW pride I’ve seen so far. :slight_smile:
I’ll be joining my hubby in retirement in 18
months so we will be enjoying/involved in the GW parent association and DC experience very soon!

Well, we are not from a highly competitive area, so my comments may not matter. Neither of my older sons did any summer programs during high school. During the summers, my oldest son worked at Mathnasium, played baseball, and played chamber music. Oh, and the summer before his senior year, he did research at a local State University. He had been invited by the professor because he had audited a class during the school year and he did well enough to be invited to do research, apparently.

My middle son worked as a cellist, did chamber music, was on a bowling team, and took a couple of art of problem-solving math classes to catch up since he was a little behind due to his math disability.

My oldest son just graduated from MIT, and my middle son will be attending the University of Pennsylvania, so it did not seem to hurt them to have skipped summer programs. YMMV.

Some summer programs are doing research at a University (the vast majority of kids who might like to do this aren’t going to be invited by someone to do this). I don’t think summer programs are necessary but I also don’t think your example proves anything.

@mathyone I completely agree with your response.

Not sure if you were responding to me, but I understood summer programs to be things you pay for. My kid didn’t pay to do research. We couldn’t afford summer programs.

If you had to pay for a dorming research program because you weren’t lucky enough to live near a summer research opportunity, I don’t think that would matter in the eyes of admissions.

@HappyFace2018 Yale is on the endorsement list as well:

Jeremiah Quinlan, Dean of Undergraduate Admission, Yale University

And I know someone who just graduated from Elliott - never did a summer enrichment course in her life, and she and her husband refuse to pay for them for their children.

@mathyone, true that. The college is only two trolley stops away. My oldest son has been very blessed!

My impression is that summer experiences that involve research (whether paid for or not and whether residential or not) are typically more valuable than summer experiences living on a college campus and learning about college, getting an idea about whether a particular major is fun, doing some test/essay prep, and/or taking a class that may be at a non-credit level.

@tutumom2001 Well, I’m happy for the Elliott grad. As I may have mentioned before, my daughter didn’t attend the Yale program simply as a resume builder. This program allowed her to actually gain a plethora of information regarding the foreign/international affairs.

Further, this isn’t the only item on her resume. She completed a leadership program called Youth Leadership United through the United Way. This program allowed rising sophomores to work with non-profit organizations to assist low income families in obtaining many services we may take for granted (medical, continued education, transportation etc). The program ended with a class community service project.

After she graduated from the leadership program she was asked to consider a full board of directors position with a regional youth organization. She made a presentation to the board and was voted in. She volunteered to serve on several committees which include the public policy and advocacy committee (she provides the organizations lobbyist which her opinion on different issues affecting youth to assist in their communications with state senate/house members). She also sits on the governing board. She also recruits new students for the leadership program. As a result of this she was selected by the United Way (along with 24 other students from across the country) to participate in a global conference at the Department of Education in DC. They met with members of different government agency’s to include the FBI, The Peace Corp and others to discuss education barriers for low income students (i.e. gun violence). They provided a list of solutions from a young person perspective.

The only thing we paid for that “enrichment” was $50 which was the application fee for the leadership program (the trip to DC was paid in full the the DOE). Not only is she continuing to give back to her community because she is still a very active board member but it strengthens her understanding that not everyone has been blessed with the opportunities she has been blessed with!!

Here resume also includes the following “enrichment”

State Senate/ House Page for a Day Program (from 5th to 12th Grade) Cost: $0

Selected as a Girls State (Won Nationalist Party nomination):
$50 application fee

Two foreign exchange trips to France:
(well that wasn’t free but she gained lifelong friends, lived with a Diplomatic family, visited the European Counsel, cathedrals and concentration camps). I’d say she was pretty well “enriched” when it was all said and done.

She was a member of a regional orchestra and she is a classically trained violinist. The orchestra was invited to play at Carnegie Hall and had an awesome time. (Well, that wasn’t free either but working with 100 other musicians, practicing for hours a week and on the weekend, and partnering with other little beginner violinists I’m sure was pretty “enriching”.

@tutumom2001 This is just a snippet of her resume. As you can see she was and continues to be involved in so much more.

As I said using such a broad brush isn’t always the best approach.

When my daughter came into high school she was a six foot volleyball and lacrosse player, who decided she wanted to do more for others and stretch herself. So proud of her decision to “enrich” herself and others as she has.
:slight_smile:

@HappyFace2018 Not doubting you here, but what organization allows a student to sit on the board of directors? From a legal perspective, I am really scratching my head at that one.

@itsgettingreal17 No worries…here you go.

This one:
http://www.mccoyouth.org/mccoy-board-of-directors.html
(her name is Olivia Parker, she just graduated from the International School of Indiana)

Also, if your interested in her Department of Education experience:
http://www.indystar.com/story/life/2015/10/10/local-teen-volunteers-tapped-united-way-weigh-global-problems/73537538/

(Her name is Olivia Parker… third child down)

Youth Leadership United: (Class#19)

http://www.uwci.org/news/youth-leadership-united-now-accepting-applications

http://www.uwci.org/files/file/youth-leadership-united-class-19.pdf
:slight_smile:

@HappyFace2018, no need to reveal your D’s personal information. Your daughter seems like a great kid and I wish her all the best. But that organization needs better attorneys, imo.

@HappyFace2018 I really don’t understand why you are being so defensive. Congratulations to your daughter. Her resume is pretty much what elite colleges have been looking for over the past several years. My point is that these elite colleges are now saying they are tired of cookie-cutter applicants and are looking for something different, and THEY are saying that they are paying more attention to kids who hold down jobs in high school. If these elite schools are changing the way they choose their freshmen classes, then the status quo isn’t going to work in a year or two, let alone in the 3 or 4 years that would affect the OP’s child.

@itsgettingreal17 She doesn’t have an issue with it. Your not the first person to question it. The organization has been around for 20 years.

@tutumom2001 Thank you and you taking offense to my being precise is unfortunate. Wasn’t my intention at all.

I think enrichment camps are a new normal, right along with:

  • all A's
  • passport with a few exotic stamps
  • 5 on AP calc (even non-STEMs)
  • "research"
  • founder of a club
  • raising $10,000+ for a charity
  • 100s of volunteer hours doing something other than standard tutoring youth or at a hospital

You forgot athlete, concernedmom. My kid at a tippy top LAC only had the first 3 on your list (well she had 5’s on all 10 APs she took), and no enrichment camps, but she was a 2 sport athlete.

@mamabear1234 I think athletics and student gov. and an instrument (or theater) have always been norms. (:

I think what colleges are looking for are engaged students - and this can be expressed in a variety of ways.

My kids did what interested them sometimes with a nudge or encouragement from their parents. There are kids that are incredibly focused and those that need more exploration of possible interests.

And either can get into a great school.