<p>I’m a sophomore and I’ve gotten a number of mailings and emails about a program called <a href=“mailto:Summer@Brown”>Summer@Brown</a>. Is this program essentially a way to pay for building costs when there aren’t students? If so, that gives me a pretty negative impression. Feel free to try to change my mind, though.</p>
<p>I’m not sure, but Brown recieves the least amount of endowment money of all the ivies. I think 2.2 million, compared to Harvard’s 25.6 million.
They need to do this.</p>
<p>I went to that! It was fun but overpriced, seeing as I went for two weeks and had one class a day. For like an hour or two.</p>
<p>Many schools (most? all?) have summer programs. These are, admittedly, expensive, but they are a great way for high school students to learn about a campus that they might be interested in, to experience college life, to enrich their studies, to pursue an interest, etc. I would totally not call these programs “spam.” These programs are a good way to enhance high school programs, etc. etc. etc. Some of them come with financial aid opportunities. My daughter took a summer class at her university last year that had both university students and outside students enrolled. So it is also a good way in some cases to meet and interact with university students.</p>
<p>Endowments are measured in billions for those schools, not millions.</p>
<p>It seems like the majority of Ivies that we visited this past summer had programs. If it turns you off maybe you should start looking elsewhere.</p>
<p>The schools do this summer program stuff partly to give the expereince mentioned by franglish, and also they do it to put paying bodies in those otherwise empty dorms. </p>
<p>A dorm room is like a hotel room. It is costing you money if you don’t put someone in it. So many colleges — not only Ivies— host conferences, lecture series for Elderhostel, summer programs for h.s. students, etc in order to get some income from the rooms in the summer.</p>
<p>Oh, and Desafanido, if you feel turned off by Brown having summer programs, feel free to apply elsewhere. The AO will be delighted not to have to read your application in addition to the 30k + others they will be receiving.</p>
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<p>Tuition costs * during * the year are “essentially a way to pay for building costs” and all other expenses. Is it a turn-off that Brown forces undergraduate students to pay for college as well?</p>
<p>Tons of schools do something with their dorms over the summer so that they take less of a loss and thus have to ask for less money.</p>
<p>Many of these summer programs are great experiences and are very worthwhile. While expensive, you do get something for your money. I went to one at a different university the summer before my senior year and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was well worth the cost.</p>
<p>For programs that allow you to take classes for college credit, remember to compare the cost to their tuition, as part of what you’re spending is effectively tuition.</p>
<p>Since you’re a sophomore, you’re probably just getting into this whole process and it hasn’t yet sunk in that you’ll be receiving massive numbers of emails from colleges until at least the end of your first semester of senior year. You’ll need to get used to having your inbox filled up with college mail - it’s definitely not just Brown (actually, Brown was one of the schools that spammed me the least - some sent emails multiple times a week).</p>
<p>Desafinado, you most likely granted permission for colleges to send email and provided your address. My D did not get this stuff until Jr. year because she said she didn’t want it. I think it is at testing time that permission is requested.</p>
<p>My D did attend one of these programs elsewhere and had a blast. She also learned a lot and gained an impressive activity for her applications. It is also a great way to demonstrate interest in the school. I highly suggest you consider the program if you are interested in Brown. If not, it isn’t so hard to hit the delete button.</p>