<p>I am a rising ninth grader with grandiose hopes of making it to the Ivy League one day, and eventually getting in step with the legal track (I’ve already checked out every LSAT book from my local library and have three Law 101 books on my shelf). I would like to attend a summer program at either Harvard or Yale entering my Senior year (bedcause going into my Junior year I intend to attend, if accepted, the FBI internship in Washington, DC geared towards high schoolers, and I can’t attend either prepatory program before then). Harvard’s Secondary School program appears to be the most promising, but it’s also about $5,000 more. Then again, it’s ACTUAL college credit (eight credits in total, which is of course a good amount and WILL save me money college-wise…and it’s more like summer schooling than the Yale program, which counts for squat academically really, it’s more just for the experience) and seems like it would look more impressive on a college application. Then again, the Yale program is $5,000 cheaper and focuses on politics, law, and economics, so it’s much more specialized towards my intended future. It’s also much shorter (about two weeks shorter, which is a lot less time when it’s academic-based). Putting price and bias of these sorts of programs aside, however, which would you recommend me to undergo if I were to choose one? Specifically…</p>
<p>1) Which would look better on a college application?
2) Which would benefit me most in the long-run?
And a bit of a different question, 3) Would you recommend I switch the FBI internship and prepatory summer schooling around? Is there purpose to doing so? I only thought I’d do the FBI internship (if accepted) beforehand because I figure I could use it to my advantage in getting into the summer program I eventually choose. </p>
<ol>
<li>Neither</li>
<li>It depends on what classes you took and what you did with them.</li>
<li>Colleges are interested in students who pursue their passion. If you want to become an FBI agent in the future, then participating in the FBI internship program may be helpful to YOU, but don’t do anything with the intention of making your college applications look better – Admissions Officers can smell that from a mile away.</li>
</ol>
<p>BTW: Harvard’s Summer School Program or Yale’s will NOT increase your overall chances to the college. That said, if a high school student takes a Harvard summer school class that is taught by a Harvard professor, and that class has a limited enrollment (15 students or less) where the professor can get to know you as a student, and you do extremely well in that class (A+ work), a professor MIGHT agree to write you a recommendation to the college. I know there are a lot of “if’s and might’s” in that sentence – but it does happen, and it has helped some students get a leg up in the process.</p>
<p>The reality though is that Harvard Summer school classes are real college classes compressed into a tight time frame. Because the classes cover the same amount of material in half the amount of time, the work load is significant; some classes expect students to read 300 to 500 pages of material a week, with a paper due every class. Very few high school students can keep up with the work load and get A+'s, let alone get a recommendation from their professor.</p>
<p>^^Agree. Let me elaborate a little bit more about the summer enrichment programs…most, if not all, top schools including Harvard view “participation” in these programs with minimal to no benefit applying to the “home” institution…</p>
<p>…there has been an “explosion” of very expensive summer high school programs/classes being offered throughout the country (they are BIG money makers for the schools)…and so many of the well-to-do students seem to be participating in “these” programs…going from Harvard one summer…to Yale another summer…and Stanford another summer…all to PAD their application…</p>
<p>…to most skeptical admissions officers…they view these programs as nothing more than glorified extended “vacations” and nothing more…similar to students traveling abroad to some exotic country to “perform” their community service…when they could have easily done the “same” thing close to home near the tough parts of Boston, housing projects in Chicago, under-served areas of Oakland, or South Central LA…</p>
<p>…when, in reality, these students could have taken some real advanced/college level courses close to home at their local community colleges/state school for a fraction of the cost each summer…and actually get credit when applying to schools in the future…</p>
<p>…to those thinking about these expensive “residential college” experiences or expensive 1 to 2 week community service stints in Africa, Costa Rica, or some other third world country…ask yourself…can I do this closer to home? Most likely yes…</p>
<p>…last, but not least, many of the people working in the admissions department are young recent graduates (many of them who grew up with MODEST means) who will be reading your application…you do not want to come off as being “privileged” by the activities listed on your resume/essay…</p>
<p>…bottom line, don’t do things to “pad” your application or to “look” good…rather be GENUINE in ALL that you do…DO IT because you love it. </p>