<p>I am interested in various types of summer programs and I was wondering how they related to each other in terms of helpfulness in the college admissions process.</p>
<p>Summer College Program-
A program such as the Oxbridge Program, TASP, RSI, etc. where the student travels to a college and takes intensive, specific courses over the summer.</p>
<p>Internship-
An internship with a company (in my case Elihuu, or TechStars) either loca, or one where you travel to a city like New York or San Francisco to work on site with the company. </p>
<p>Travel Abroad-
-A program that takes students overseas (ie. Rustic Pathways or Where There Be Dragons) on guided trips. These trips are most commonly service trips (ie. Rustic Pathway's "Thai Elephant Conservation Project" where students work with Thai mahoots to train and ride elephants) in third world countries. </p>
<p>-There are also trips that are meant to help students break out of their comfort zone and develop a better understanding the world (ie. Rustic Pathway's "Off The Map: Mongolia" program where the students live with families in yerts and travel on horseback through Mongolia for a month). The first is obviously beneficial from the service standpoint, but the second could be wonderful in terms of personal global-understanding (not to mention a killer admissions essay topic), so I was wondering where your opinion fell on thee two.</p>
<p>Stay Home-
There is, of course, always something to be said for using the summer months to unwind after a year of hard work. So I must ask the question before we all send ourselves (and our money) across the globe all summer: Is it worth it? Do summer programs really help in the college admissions process, or is it all hype?</p>
<p>I know there are many students and parents facing the same decision as me, and Im sure they are just as curious. So if any of you have any insight we would all appreciate if you would help us out! :)</p>