<p>Don’t do a summer program because you think it will help you get into your first choice. Do it because you love what the program is about and think it will be an experience to grow.</p>
<p>If you look hard enough, you will find that there are amazing experiences out there to be had almost for free. Though I’m sure the people who pay thousands of dollars to eat college food for five weeks have also had fulfilling experiences, I am currently in Jordan on a tuition-free Arabic program being stuffed full of delicious homemade food by my host family. In other words: the quality of your experience is not necessarily proportional to what you pay for it.</p>