<p>I don't have programs to suggest for your sister but I do have one suggestion. Whatever she chooses to do this summer, should NOT be with college admissions in mind. There are no "tickets" into college....no "if I do this in summer, it will be helpful in college admissions". A student should do something worthwhile of interest in summer that she wants to do. This doesn't even mean a summer "program" necessarily. It can be something where she pursues a current interest more in depth....learning or a new experience with it. It can be learning some new skill she wants to explore. It can be meeting new people in some experience...camp, youth program, travel. It can mean earning money through a job. It can be starting something up in the community. It can be an internship experience, exploring a new career field, or research in a field. It can be a community service experience. It can be something academic if academics are what she really wants to explore. But in no way must a student do something academic in summers. </p>
<p>I will speak from experience, having raised two kids now in college. Neither ever picked a summer experience with thoughts of college in their minds. Whatever they did in summers, was because they were dying to do whatever it was and they would have done the very same things if they never went to college. Even now in college, there are things they want to do in summers. </p>
<p>Kid #1....talking of the summers leading up to the final year in high school.....four summers went to a performing arts camp (six weeks per summer) that let her individualize her program around her interests and she focused on musical theater, dance, tennis and waterskiing every summer and loved it. She is someone who has been very active her whole life in both athletics and performing arts so this summer program fit her perfectly. In high school, she was unable to do the school musical because of conflicts with the ski team so the summer program allowed her to do two full musicals per summer, balancing out that interest. While she loved that program, she looked ahead to how many summers she had left in her youth and knew there were some other things she wanted to still do. So, summer before junior year, she wanted to travel as she really loves that and went on a six week trip with youth whom she did not know beforehand throughout the western US, western Canada and Hawaii. The following summer before senior year, she wanted to travel to foreign countries and did a month long trip through Europe that combined competitive tennis (she was a HS varsity player) and so she played in tennis tournaments throughout Europe, plus got to visit five countries. She also did an internship back home with an architect because she wanted to explore that career field more as she was contemplating going into this field and wanted to see more of what it was like. </p>
<p>Kid #2 also went to a performing arts camp that was focused on theater. She went there for 8 summers. She certainly didn't pick this with college in mind as she began there at age 9 1/2. It combined both training as well as performance opportunities. Besides classes, she was in 16 musicals and 15 cabaret casts there, and made some of the closest friends of her life. As it turns out, the program was a significant influence in her life and she has gone onto college in this field. This is an example of spending her summers in her interest area (musical theater) out of a passion for it, simply put. College prep or academics was not part of these summer plans, nor was college at all a motivation for the selection of what to do in summer. </p>
<p>When they did apply to college, they did mention how they spent their summers. I would have supported any choices they made for summer. Interest was the guiding force......not college....not academics (though I think if a kid really wants to pursue an academic interest in summers, that is a great idea too). They each have gone onto selective college programs that they love. I don't know if or how what they did in summers had anything to do with getting into college except that what they did in summers was part of who they are as people. They have strong interests that they love to do and those experiences helped shape who they are today. They continue to pursue similar interests now in their college summers. </p>
<p>I shared this as I believe this is what should guide what your sister does....what she really WANTS to do, within the means of your family, of course. Start with her interests and go from there.</p>
<p>Susan</p>