<p>Hi I was interested in applying for the summer programs at Brown, Harvard, Cornell, UPenn etc. How competitive is it to get into these colleges for high school summer programs? What grade/GPA do you need to get in? Also, is it a good idea to take the courses? Do they look good on a college application? or is it a waste of money? Thank you.</p>
<p>Do ‘pay to play’ programs if you can afford them and if you’re interested in the subject area, not because you think they’ll help you in college admissions, particularly to selective colleges.</p>
<p>To further clarify, it will NOT enhance your college application. So going to Harvard Summer School will not boost your chances to Harvard. They are expensive and financial aid is limited.</p>
<p>That said, if your parents have the money and there are courses that interest you, and potentially get you some college credit, it is an experience. You will get a taste of life on campus, but it will not be the true academic year experience. The percentage of students from that school taking summer classes is low. Not all classes are taught by the regular faculty. High school students on some, if not all, campuses are segregated by dorm and have restrictions put upon them on when to check-in, where they can go (i.e. not to a true college student’s dorm). Just things to consider.</p>
<p>Usually if a camp is crazy expensive (like 5k and up, if not lower), it’s not going to be anything special on your college application. Whether or not it’s worth it depends on the program; as previously mentioned, you may get college credit.
The expensive camps are usually not competitive since colleges use them to suck money out of people. If you want to meet people and have fun and have the money to spend, go ahead, but if you’re looking for an intense educational experience you should look beyond just Ivy League programs. There are a lot of non-Ivy programs that are far more rigorous, like the AP/EA program at Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>Is it hard to get accepted into the program?</p>
<p>The AP/EA program has like an 80% admissions rate but it’s difficult to be eligible for it since you basically need to be taking calculus BC this year and a couple other things I can’t recall at the moment. Look it up and it should list the requirements for the program. If you’re not eligible for AP/EA you can try their Pre-College program, which likely isn’t that competitive. I don’t know if it’s rigorous but I’m sure you can find some information on that somewhere.</p>