<p>I was wondering about colleges that offer summer programs for High School students that would be entering their Senior Year. Does anyone have any experiences about that. I was thinking about it for my son for next summers. He is a very good student, and I thought it would be a good way for him to get a taste of the college experienc beforehand, and to check out a school that he may be on the fence about as well. He still has not focused about what colleges he wants to go to</p>
<p>Any feedback would be appreciated, as I am getting a wee bit nervous about this</p>
<p>There are loads of colleges that offer pre-college programs. Do know that attending these programs does not necessarily give a student an edge to that particular school when it comes time for college apps; however, having attended a pre-college program, especially in the area of interest, counts on the application.</p>
<p>Factors to consider: location (residential vs. day; distance from home), program, and cost. I believe there is a thread for pre-college programs on CC that you might want to check.</p>
<p>I believe Little Mother is correct that attending a college's summer program is no guarantee of an "edge." D did find it worked for her, though. She did a summer math program at a good college, for fun, and then found that faculty at the college encouraged her to apply and offered recommendations (she was accepted). But when it came down to choosing between two excellent colleges, she picked the OTHER one -- at least partly, I think, because she chafed under the rules and restrictions the program applied to the minors in its care. Point being, summer programs for high schoolers are really very different from college programs.</p>
<p>Also be aware that some college summer programs do not offer college credits, and some do. My d really enjoyed Cornell's 3 week summer session (they also offer 7 weeks), and got 3 credits to boot.</p>
<p>Welcome kumitedad! I take it your son is a rising junior and you are enquiring about possibilties for next summer?</p>
<p>If he is going to be a junior, I strongly suggest that he visit some colleges during the school year when colleges are in session and he can talk to students who are actually attending the colleges and sit in classes that are actually taught by the regular faculty. At many colleges, summer classes are taught by profs from other schools. By visiting during the school year, he'll fet a better sense of the social scene at the colleges. Many colleges step up their information sessions to coincide with school vacations. If you have time now before school starts, you could also drive him to see a couple of colleges to get a sense of general size and potential fit. Does he like a more urban or a suburban campus? Does he like a significant sports scene or not? Greek life? Will he need financial aid? Could he qualify for merit aid? Questions such as these will inform your college visit choices and eventually his decisions as to where to apply.</p>
<p>For the summer months, he could certain take a class or two. Be aware that not all colleges will give credit for courses taken during the summer, or before matriculating, even if they were at the colleges themselves (Harvard is a case in point). If he is interested in research, he could try applying to programs such as RSI or TASP, or some math programs such as ROSS (at Ohio State) PROMYS (at Boston University) or MathCamp (at different locations). They are held on college campuses so he would be experiencing dorm life while doing research. </p>
<p>The summer before senior year should also be devoted to seriously thinking about the list of colleges to which he will be applying and beginning to write the college application essay.</p>
<p>Good luck and let us know if we can help further.</p>
<p>Attending summer programs at colleges was one of the best things my sons did. It gave them a different point of view about college life; there's no substitute for that first-hand experience. Have you noticed how your college focus is light years away from your child's? A summer program can do a lot to help close that gap in maturity.</p>
<p>We have experience with CTD at Northwestern, Science and Math Scholars at University of Michigan, PROMYS (Math) in Boston and NIAHD (History) at William and Mary. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. It's a little too early to bring up the subject with your child, though, since he or she is focused on starting high school in a few weeks. Thanksgiving or Christmas vacation is a much better time to turn the discussion to summer programs. Applications are due anywhere from January to April, so keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Note that there is a Summer Program thread on the main page of cc. One thing to be aware of is calendars. Some programs start in May, and if your school does not finish until mid- to late June.....</p>
<p>For the record, my kids used to take karate, got their black belts and then went on to other things, but I kept the tag of kumitedad</p>
<p>I am glad to hear about the program at Cornell, my son took an interest in them at the Colleges that change Lives Fair. </p>
<p>We started the college visits last spring at Whitman and Seattle University. Then in summer we went to Caltech, Harvey Mudd and Pitzer. We have also toured two local colleges, USF and Stanford. </p>
<p>He is still vague about what he wants in a college, so I am trying to give him as much input as he wants. A summer programs will do that. And I do believe, as stated by midwesterner, that this will help him with his focus. </p>
<p>If anyone has any stories/experiences/suggestions they would really be appreciated. With my daughter only two years behind him, I need all the information I can get</p>
<p>My kid went to Camp CAEN the summer between his sophomore and junior year. He enjoyed it. There were plenty of kids there a year older than him.</p>
<p>kumitedad, be careful - the Cornell I'm talking about is Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. The Cornell from Colleges that Change Lives is Cornell College in Mount Vernon, IA. Two very different schools!</p>
<p>I should have been more precise; my apologies!</p>
<p>I have two already in college who went through the summer programs for years --my younger one also took REAL college courses at the local college (NOT community college.) Surprise: Not only was the latter far less expensive, it also had more mileage in terms of college admission and credit. The professors in the real college classes got to know him better and wrote fantastic letters comparing him, not to other high school students, but to college students. And when he got to college, his school refused to count the college credits earned in the high school programs but DID accept the credits from the summers where he studied at the real college. I paid thousands of dollars for these high school programs at colleges --what a waste!! In the end, I think those programs for high school students are by and large a racket. Many top colleges will no more accept those credits than they will accept community college credit or online credits. Exceling is not considered as good as exceling in a college class with real college students.</p>
<p>the exception to the above, of course, are the highly competitive programs for high school students --those are meaningful. Other such programs --for instance, the one at Brown-- will let high school students into real college classes, and there, too, at least the credits can count. But where the program is purely for high school students --don't count on those credits transferring over at the top schools.</p>
<p>Both of my kids attended NYU 's Pre-college programs (one in Tisch and the other one in CAS), and they were very pleased with the courses. They received college credit, so they had/have the option of graduating college early. Also, NYu offers admissions workshops and other extracurricular activities (social networking events, etc.) for the pre-college students.</p>
<p>I was in CTD, although most participate before they are rising seniors. It is an excellent program, though. They have 3-week, very intense classes. You basically cover a whole year's worth of work in that time span.</p>
<p>I also went to the Harvard Summer School Program--it's the summer session and you take regular college classes. They have a lot of events you can do on weekends (e.g., visiting Martha's vineyard) and you can explore Boston, so it is a lot of fun.</p>
<p>One of the best databases I've found for math, science, computer, and engineering programs is hosted by the ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education). Go to <a href="http://engineeringk12.org/%5B/url%5D">http://engineeringk12.org/</a> and click on "Outreach Program Database". You can limit your search to certain subjects, agre groups, geographic location, etc.</p>
<p>A lot of schools will have a comprehensive list of summer programs on their website (you might look for a kids page). I guess I shouldn't miss the opportunity to</a> post a link to UVa's. :) The page includes a</a> very specific search engine for finding summer programs for kids (all age groups) at UVa.</p>
<p>Regarding the link to the Catapult program at Rose Hulmann in post #10, my DD applied for this summer, got accepted, but had to turn in down because of being selected for a 6 week governors honors in our state. I don't know if OP you are URM, but if you are, they were giving 100% scholarships to accepted URM's to the catapult program, which is 17 days. The scholarship was not income based, I was told they just wanted to add diversity to the program so were offering it to all qualified URM's.</p>
<p>My daughter did a program at Columbia University and liked it a lot. She didn't receive college credit, but she did get a wonderful recommendation from the instructor. She submitted it to colleges as a supplemental rec.</p>
<p>GA2012MOM: Do you know if there is a link anyplace to information about URMs going to Catapult? I know some kids I'd like to pass that on to. Also, do you know how stringent the admission requirements would be for URMs? Thanks!!!</p>