An admissions consultant who worked as an admissions officer and at a senior level at an IVY suggested not to list any of math camps like Mathcamp, Promys, Ross, etc in the activities section as they are expensive and seen as pay to play programs.
I thought this is diametrically opposite to my understanding. My child attended these camps for 2 summers and they have had a big positive impact.
Are admissions officers even at highly selective schools not aware of these camps? I am pretty sure MIT admissions officers would know (told by MIT professor during an orientation session for one of the HS programs) but what about other top 10 universities?
All of them have steep fees, though it seems they all award either scholarships or financial aid to those eligible. They don’t admit just anyone. I think it’s fine to put these camps on an app. If your child was given a scholarship to attend, that is perhaps worth adding in the activity description.
FWIW, I don’t necessarily think it’s wrong to list “pay to play” summer activities on an application, but I wouldn’t necessarily list them as primary activities. My own kids did various pay to play summer programs. One program in particular was very competitive, and we paid fees as our child wouldn’t qualify for scholarships. One of the main benefits is that these programs can highlight interests outside of academics, work, or regular after school activities, (all valuable in their own right, naturally.)
Please note, I’m not referencing very prestigious and competitive free summer programs such as RSI and TASP.
Fire them. Seriously, if they lack understanding of which pre-college programs are pay-to-play, and which are serious programs (albeit can be costly), they don’t know what they are talking about. If you are paying them, don’t, and, based on this, I would question their credentials.
I mean, what next? “I have never of, what did you call it? Task, no, Tass, right? I wouldn’t put it in since no AO would have heard of it”
All of these are competitive. For example, a number of universities host the Ross Program, and it has something like a 15% acceptance rate.
Thank you all for the responses. You saved me much grief!
The person who is giving advice was a prominent AO at an Ivy. Not just AO but very high up the chain. Also published a popular book on admissions!
It just made no sense to me and child who is very much an out and out math kid, attended the camp for 2 years, made a huge impact. That is pretty much the highlight for the child the last two summers and to not list that seemed bizarre.