Pre-College Summer Programs for Teens

[LisaR]

Has anyone ever sent their teen to any of the pre-college programs that many universities offer over the summer? Most are 2 to 6 weeks in length and the teens get to live in the dorms and take classes (anything from art, drama & music to science or math). Any comments; good, bad or otherwise?

 

[MM27]

I did one of those programs myself when I was a junior in high school. I went to Boston University for their Institute of Television, Radio and Film Production. It was awesome. It was the first time I was really away from home and to be dropped down in the middle of Boston was so neat. Most of the classes were taught by students in the Masters programs at BU but we did have some sessions with professors as well. They kept us really busy on the weekends and at night. We did a Red Sox game, we took a weekend trip to Provincetown on Cape Cod. Really great experience and I'm glad I had that opportunity.

 

[SydSim]

I have not done them, but I have read about them quite extensively on college confidential.com. Discussions are spread throughout the site, depending on the specific college. Here's just one example of a thread about the musical theater pre-college program at Carnegie Mellon:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com...ersity-mt/205812-experiences-pre-college.html


Here's a main page that talks about a lot of them:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Have you gotten the invite yet? My 7th grader wants to do one of the programs.

She is signed up already at one of the universities (the Joseph Baldwin Academy, signed up for writing class or debate) however she might want to do one of the other ones, thru DUKETIP.

She wants to do them just to be able to learn something at a higher level. We want her to do it, because she needs some exposure to being self sufficient.

Thanks for the link SYD, now off to read.

 

[Rora]

I've had a couple of friends do them. Most of them did summer programs because they wanted to get into that particular University (there's talk that attending your desired University's summer program will give you a boost in the admissions department). It helped with some, others still didn't get in.

I know that everyone had a really good time and liked that they got their "college feet" wet.

 

[PatsGirl]

DD13 is talking about them for this summer in place of girl scout camp We'll start looking at a few of them but the postcards I've received in the mail are WAAAAAY out of our price range. Both my nieces went to Mass Maritime Academy (Science/Math-based) and a friends' daughter has done two years at Bridgewater State (Humanities-based). They all had a great time so if I can find one that is affordable for our family she'll go.

The MMA selection is done by the individual school districts and because DD goes to a charter school she was not eligible. Too bad because she qualified academically (must be top 5% in MCAS scores I believe) and I know her teachers would have recommended her.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

DD13 is talking about them for this summer in place of girl scout camp We'll start looking at a few of them but the postcards I've received in the mail are WAAAAAY out of our price range. Both my nieces went to Mass Maritime Academy (Science/Math-based) and a friends' daughter has done two years at Bridgewater State (Humanities-based). They all had a great time so if I can find one that is affordable for our family she'll go.

The MMA selection is done by the individual school districts and because DD goes to a charter school she was not eligible. Too bad because she qualified academically (must be top 5% in MCAS scores I believe) and I know her teachers would have recommended her.

Yes, they are expensive. The one we want her to go to is about 2000 and if she gets into the other one it is 5000.

My dd is not into sports, girl scouts or anything that is expensive extra curricular so we figure if that is the stuff she wants to do, then we are going to plan for it.

We know she would love it. Not many choices here in MO so you take what you can get.

 

[LisaR]

Thanks for the feedback and links. I am going to do some more reading and hope to find a program that will work for my DD.

 

[Robinrs]

My niece did this in her junior year at Harvard. She decided then that she would prefer to go to Stanford and did. It was also her first time away and she was not impressed. Stanford was a good fit for her.

 

[pyrxtc]

I did something like this for 3 yrs of my high school life, stayed in the summer and every other weekend during the school year.

it wasn't anything specialized, they taught us new stuff and helped with our schoolwork. I loved it. Didn't know they offered it anywhere or that it cost since they paid us $10 a day to do it.

 

[LisaR]

Here's a main page that talks about a lot of them:

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/

I just had a chance to check out this link. Thanks so much. It contains a wealth of information.

One thing I have learned is that many people are seeking out these programs based on how "prestigious" the college is. I have never seen that word used so much on one message board. It was kind of funny and sad at the same time. I am looking for a place for my daughter to have some fun, learn and experience life away from home for a couple weeks that is somewhat out of her comfort zone. Any traveling she has done to date has been with family or friends. I didn't realize how much emphasis was put on these programs until now.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I just had a chance to check out this link. Thanks so much. It contains a wealth of information.

One thing I have learned is that many people are seeking out these programs based on how "prestigious" the college is. I have never seen that word used so much on one message board. It was kind of funny and sad at the same time. I am looking for a place for my daughter to have some fun, learn and experience life away from home for a couple weeks that is somewhat out of her comfort zone. Any traveling she has done to date has been with family or friends. I didn't realize how much emphasis was put on these programs until now.

Oh, you need to talk that site with a grain of salt.

How old is your dd? You did not say. Here is what my dd is looking at.....

http://jba.truman.edu/

http://www.tip.duke.edu/summer_programs/

 

[SydSim]

I just had a chance to check out this link. Thanks so much. It contains a wealth of information.

One thing I have learned is that many people are seeking out these programs based on how "prestigious" the college is. I have never seen that word used so much on one message board. It was kind of funny and sad at the same time. I am looking for a place for my daughter to have some fun, learn and experience life away from home for a couple weeks that is somewhat out of her comfort zone. Any traveling she has done to date has been with family or friends. I didn't realize how much emphasis was put on these programs until now.

I forgot to mention that that particular website is a little As the previous poster said, I take what they say with a grain of salt. But, I have also found a lot of information from them too. For example, I didn't know that Carnegie Mellon offers a free version of their summer program, to promote diversity. I got interested in it because of the musical theater program that DD loves. I wasn't looking for anything prestigious, just cheap