<p>I'm a junior this year, and WashU is one of my top schools. Has anyone done the Summer Scholars program? How was it, difficulty and otherwise? Do you think it helped your chances of admission?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>experience= awesome
classes= fun
will it help in admissions= definitely not. don’t spend 6K thinking it will.
otherwise i’d still recommend it</p>
<p>It was a wonderful experience, although it is partially what you make out of it. I had a wonderful time, most of the kids there (80 or so) did, but there were a few that were homesick and some of the less outgoing people probably had less of a great time than I did.</p>
<p>I happened to pick a schedule that was heaven. My daily routine was</p>
<p>Wake up at about 7:30, throw on some clothes, go grab a doughnut and some coffee (about a 10 minute walk from my dorm; damn good doughnut + coffee by the way)</p>
<p>Walk to Business Ethics, starts at 8:00
At about 10:45, walk to Great Philosophers (2 minute walk)</p>
<p>Get out of Philosophy at 12:30 usually, go grab Subway with some friends.</p>
<p>Then I’d get home at about 1:00. A lot of people were still in class. This would’ve been an ideal time to study or do homework (both of my classes had a lot of reading but no homework at all). I usually didn’t do the required reading (too much going on), instead at this time I would usually go out with some friends, play some sports and hang out.</p>
<p>I really just hung out from about 1:00 until dinner time at 6:30 or so. Then I would go eat dinner with some people, come back, chill some more. There was usually soccer being played every night on the huge lawn outside of the dorm. People were also usually watching movies on the big projector screens in the basement.</p>
<p>I think I usually went to bed at around 1:00 to 2:00 on week nights. Weekend nights, there were a few days where I stayed up until 7:00.</p>
<p>There is a curfew at 11:00 where you cannot leave the dorm room. It isn’t a big deal though.</p>
<p>In other words, you will have a great time. I guess your mileage may vary based on what classes you are taking. Some of my peers that were in Chemistry/Math/Physics were having an arguably less enjoyable time. Biology and Writing Seminar were also major time killers. But the two I picked happen to be the best: no homework, assigned reading wasn’t really necessary, and I was free starting at 12:30 everyday. No quizzes at all, just one final and a couple essays you could write in one night (2 for business ethics, 1 for philosophy).</p>
<p>Moving on to the “important” question: will it help me gain acceptance?</p>
<p>The answer is a resounding no. One student from my program who applied early decision, out of roughly 20-30, was accepted. I received the “Dean’s Leadership Award” which was granted to only one student in each program for demonstrating “outstanding leadership ability.” The award also came with the dean’s “Very highest recommendation” and a $500 scholarship. The rest of my application was pretty strong (3.7 UW GPA, 33 ACT); I was not accepted (deferred).</p>
<p>This program will most definitely not help you gain admission, especially if you apply early decision (highest form of demonstrated interest). Even if you get lucky and are one of the eighty students chosen to receive the “very highest recommendation,” you will not be a shoe-in by any means of the word. </p>
<p>Would I recommend the program? Well, I didn’t learn all that much in terms of academics, which is admittedly my fault. I did grow a lot as a person though, even in just 5 weeks. The single dorm rooms are very nice. The singles are also quite accommodating if you wish to have a fellow scholar join you in your room, if you get my drift. </p>
<p>They accept essentially anyone who applies, and everybody I know that attended got about a $4,000 dollar scholarship, so I wouldn’t count on it being six grand.</p>
<p>It was a wonderful experience, one that I would do over without a second thought; it made for the best summer of my life. Academic wise, I probably didn’t take all that much from it. Don’t do the program if you’re hedging on a boost to your application, because you won’t get it.</p>
<p>For some perspective, one of my better friends from there has done Stanford’s program, and has also stayed at Georgetown for her JSA program. Both were much more difficult academically, and also much more strict. Out of all the programs, she said WashU’s was the most fun and laidback.</p>
<p>Thank you! So financial aid is pretty common? Because other programs I’ve looked at seem to make it much harder to get any aid.</p>
<p>Financial aid was common in my experience. I came from below poverty and I got the same amount ($4000, $1950 was final cost) as students who came from $50k-$80k or higher.</p>
<p>I also participated in the Summer Scholars program this past summer. Like others here, both my twin brother and I received a fairly good financial aid package (pretty much a two-for-one special). While I was accepted to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, my brother did not. Therefore, I agree with others on the thread that Summer Scholars is not a $6,000 guarantee of acceptance. Far from it. Several other Scholars who were perhaps more qualified than I were either deferred or REJECTED early decision.</p>
<p>That being said, the WashU summer scholars program was probably the most fun experience of my high school career, albeit very challenging to manage time. My course load consisted of Problem-Based Learning in Biology and Music II. Surprisingly, both courses stole my time. PBL in Bio was actually taught by two instructors, which indicates the intense level of work. Two group presentations a week and a research paper were expected of the students each week. I was average 5-6 hours per day out of class pouring over research journals and articles at either the Olin or Bernard Becker Medical Library (the med campus was a short metrolink ride away…thanks WashU for the free passes!). The syllabus said that emphasis was on live performance, but we only saw two performances, both very good, but on-campus. The rest of the time was memorizing music from “tapes” for quizzes. The instructor was VERY good. She is actually the preeminent Mahler scholar for his harp work. </p>
<p>In recap: Do yourself a favor and experience this first hand, but know up-front that attendance is in no way a guaranteed admission.</p>
<p>Oh…and you get a free t-shirt. :^)</p>
<p>Honestly, help with admission would just be an added bonus for me. :] I’ve been getting pamphlets about summer programs for years now, and I’ve always wanted to do one, and this is kind of my last chance.</p>
<p>Since I’m still undecided about what career I want to pursue (My top two are pediatric surgery and publishing/editing haha!) I was planning on taking the Chemistry and a literature course. Anyone know anything about either?</p>
<p>I would love to go to the summer scholars program, but my family really can’t afford it. I’d apply for financial aid, but I strongly doubt I’d qualify. My dad makes a lot of money (around 175K), but we live in a very expensive area, I attend private school, and our house is basically a money pit. We honestly don’t have a lot of spending money laying around. Would these things even be considered in applying for financial aid for the summer scholars program?</p>
<p>Like I said, I think everyone that went to my program got $4000 of it paid for. I’m below poverty level and I got $4000, and everyone else I talked to regardless of income got $4000 (including some pretty high income students) too.</p>