Hey guys!
We’re halfway through the school year, and summer’s coming up fast. Don’t know about you, but I’m researching summer programs like crazy!
I recently found this Summerfuel program that seems really promising. It sounds great for people (like me) that aren’t quite sure what they want to do with their life yet, because participants can select from a wide variety of courses to take.
Link to their website: http://www.summerfuel.com/compare#tab-pc
Basic summary of program: Choose from 4 different locations – Oxford University, Harvard, UC Berkeley, UMass. They all offer slightly different courses and activities. Personally, because I’m interested in both Creative Writing and Marketing, I’ll probably go for UMass or Oxford.
Just wanted to share! The program sounds good, but almost… too good? Has anyone gone before? From what I’ve found, people seem satisfied with their experience, but then again, you never know. I’m kind of suspicious, because the program sounds really great, but I haven’t heard about it until today, when I stumbled upon it completely by accident.
Well, hope this helped you in some way! Please feel free to give your opinion, or recommend any other great summer programs. Happy New Year, and Happy Summer Program Hunting! 
Depends what your goals and expectations are. These programs rent facilities from the universities where they are housed- you do not ‘go’ to Oxford or UMass. Oxford, in fact, does not offer either marketing or creative writing.
Be aware that it will NOT help with admissions to competitive colleges, who tend to see these as expensive summer camps- nothing wrong with it, but they aren’t impressed by it in itself. What you do with the experience could be interesting, but the fact of attending won’t be.
That doesn’t mean the program isn’t good- it could well be a great experience. There is no harm in studying something that you are interested in, and living on a college campus is interesting in itself. My Ds did different courses at different unis while they were in secondary school, and loved them. One used it to test out a uni in an unfamiliar part of the country, another took a course in a subject that she loved, and so on. Just be clear about what you want from the program and what you are getting from it.
Hi, @collegemom3717 !
Thanks for your feedback; it really helped out a lot!
It was never my intention to go to a summer camp just to help with college admissions. I’ve been trying to find a way to use my summer to explore the different possibilities of what I could do with the rest of my life. Honestly, I feel a bit lost right now; I don’t know which college major I want to pursue, because I’m afraid I won’t like it and will just end up wasting my parents’ money.
Any advice? Any effective (and less expensive) alternatives to attending a pricey summer camp?
Thank you so much!
Really, I don’t have anywhere enough info about you to give you advice! It’s different for somebody in 9th or 11th grade, for example. The majority of college applicants don’t really know what they want to do, and most US colleges are geared to help you figure out what you want to major in.
In the meantime, summer classes at a community college will tell you something about the type of things you study in (say) marketing. Getting a summer job at a local advertising / marketing agency will give you some idea of whether you like that work environment.
Still, a summer program could be just the ticket- just choose it for what you do in the course, not the famous names of the locations of the course. Something like Interlochen for creative writing is half the price and that is their focus. Do some more homework on what your choices are.