D20 went to a 2 week camp at Wake Forest. It was all we could afford and all the time she could take away from training gymnastics (a 12-month sport). She told me afterward that WFU did claim higher admissions rates for those who got into their summer programs. She ended up not applying there. The camp was for Sports Medicine and it did help my daughter expand her interests beyond Physical Therapy as she realized that she could probably handle medical school or nursing if she chose those routes. It was a good program, but she didn’t mention it at all in any of her applications. She did, however, use things she learned at it as a basis of her required senior project/research paper.
@twokids2go The reason that those kids have higher admission rate is because of the population of the kids who attend. For example, I am absolutely sure that acceptance rates to very selective schools is much higher among the kids who attend CTD summer camps than among the general population. However, to be accepted to a CTD program, a kid already has to be a have done way above average on an SAT/ACT type test, and has to be doing well in school.
So of course kids who are already high stats applicants will have a higher acceptance rates to selective colleges than the average. However, kids who attend these camps likely do not have any higher acceptance rates to selective colleges than kids with similar profiles who do not attend these camps.
The differences in acceptance rates to colleges for kids who attend these camps are a function of: the type of kids who attend the camps + parental socioeconomic status + how much the parents are willing to invest in their kids’ academic success. The variable which is not included is the camp itself.
Of course, the fact that a kid with high stats and wealthy parents who are willing to spend a lot of money on the kid’s education has a much better than average chance of being accepted to a more selective college is hardly news.
I work at a very wealthy private school and there are a lot of kids who do these pricey summer programs. In talking to parents, many don’t do it to help their kids get into a certain school. They do it because they have the money and the kid is interested. Yes, I’ve run into a few who think it helps with admissions, but I wouldn’t say all the parents think that way.
Having looked pretty closely at many of the summer programs, I think the only camps likely to provide a significant admissions boost to the most selective colleges are the ones that will only accept students who really won’t need the boost. It is hard to explain otherwise the astounding college placement statistics of kids who attend the Summer Science Program or Canada/USA Mathcamp, to pick just two programs that cost money.
Yes, the free programs like RSI, MOP, TASP, MITES, etc. are also likely to provide a significant boost, again to kids who really won’t need it. But I wouldn’t dismiss the highly selective for pay camps like those mentioned above, SUMaC, PROMYS, Ross, and a few others, if you can get in.
Any activity during the summer is positive. There are many threads like this one if you search. Some colleges might look at these kids as privileged. Many don’t. Whether you pay for something or not or work having an activity is important to show colleges your not on the couch on your computer 24/7. Do they help you get in… That would depend. At a small lac they might as they get to know you well or at a performance program they might (acting, theater design etc). But if it’s big program like engineering and it has several hundred kids… No… But the experience might be great for the child.
There are some summer programs that do give a leg up for students interested in that particular school. For example, Davidson’s July Experience (which also provides financial aid to families who can’t afford the cost) has in the past given the roughly 100 attendees a strong boost in their admission prospects at Davidson if they apply ED – though it is also likely true that many of those kids were already strong candidates.
Purdue’s STEP program is competitive admission and is run by the honors engineering professors, associate dean, and staff. They don’t have any say in overall admissions but do for honors college.