Miami has a two-week summer scholars program, and the information page says those who attend receive priority for merit scholarships. How important is it to attend this program?
My son was planning to attend our local flagship and earn 12 college hours that would also serve as dual enrollment credit. One of these course is a required course in state history. There are workarounds, but he really wanted to take the course this summer.
So how much is not participating in the Summer Scholars program going to hurt him when being considered for merit aid? Some of the program is spent on test prep and how to fill out an application, which are things that I don’t think he needs.
Thanks.
I’m not sure I understand your situation. The local flagship you mention- is it not Miami? I’m assuming it isn’t as I write this.
Regardless, my own personal opinion after now having just gone through the application and scholarship/FA process as a parent of an applicant, is that Miami does not use ‘interest’ in determining admission decisions however there seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence that it is taken into consideration when determining some scholarships or at least amount within a scholarship award range awarded. My son did not participate in their Summer Scholars program between 11-12th grades because he managed to get an offer for a full time research internship and chose to do that rather than the program at Miami. However he did show a good deal of interest towards the end of summer all the way through to EA deadline. Requesting info, emailing specific department contacts for more info, attempting to try and get one of their college clubs to help him start a HS branch associated with them, attended a Friday campus visit & tour he scheduled outside of marketed event days, attended Red Carpet Day (invited), and did an overnight visit with the Bridges Program (applied with essay & was invited). His final FA award just came earlier this week and each scholarship he received came in at the top of or towards the top of each range compared to others with stats similar to his. My conclusion is that it was likely due to his demonstrated interest but I have no real proof or hard data, just accumulated stories & my gut.
So to specifically answer your question, I do feel his participation in Summer Scholars would be helpful but not absolutely necessary for priority consideration if the other summer option he’s considering actually makes more sense for him. Miami wants bright, motivated kids so if what he does that summer is ‘bigger’ than what they are offering, I can’t see them thinking he should’ve turned the opportunity away. If Miami is a real contender for his college list, I suggest he just start early (now) in showing interest & keep up the effort until his application is in to make up the difference in their perceived idea of his level of interest.
@jumbletumbles We’re from out of state; sorry I didn’t make that clear.
I guess we’ll just have to weigh our options. We’re going to visit in the next couple of weeks and see where we go from there.