<p>I have sort of an odd problem. My S wants to go to a summer program, BUT he's also going to be playing summer baseball, and if all goes well and he makes the traveling team he could be playing well into late July or early August. Or, he could not make the travel team and be finished in early July. Or he could make the travel team but they could lose early in the tournament season, so he would be finished in Mid July. This is a roundabout way of asking if anybody is aware of summer programs that allow you to cancel fairly close to the start date without forfeiting all or most of your money. I know that deposits are almost universally non-refundable, but what programs will give you a substantial refund of the actual program fees for a late pull-out. So far I've only seen a few, notably Summer at Brown, and the Future Leaders Camp at Norwich. Any others?</p>
<p>You are not alone with this dilemma. My S has been nominated for Governor's School but will not find out if he's been accepted until mid April. We applied for him to participate in another program as a back up, paid the deposit, extended by a few days
the final deadline for payment, and will lose only the deposit if he goes to Governor's
School. I have no other suggestions -- just choose a back up program with a small
probably non-refundable deposit. One or two week music programs charge smaller deposits but many programs have humongous non-refundable application fees. Maybe you could speak to a program director and negotiate a compromise. Went through this over 5 years ago with son#1 as well; program was insulted that he chose Governor's School over theirs. Hope this helps.</p>