Summer@Brown (link to the site)
Pay to play or nah? Looks fun enough but I dont want it to hurt my application since I already did a precollege last year, if I get in. Im already applying for other summer stuff but I need more in case I dont get in.
It’s a fine program, but it won’t help you get into Brown, and if you need the money to pay college tuition then there’s your answer.
If you’ve already done an academic summer program, why not just get a job? You don’t need to spend every summer proving that you love school!
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I already have multiple jobs, lol
Why another summer academic program then?
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boost resume. Everyone who gets accepted to premed programs has crazy ahh resumes and im not gonna let myself fall behind, especially since as I said earlier I already have a job(s)
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im definitely gonna be stuck with some waitressing job that I’ll hate. Doing ice cream or something wouldnt be that bad. And the only good paying job is being a lifeguard but unfortunately Id fail the test since I cant hold my breath cause of a disease I had
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doing science research is more fun than working. Hands down. In fact id genuinely enjoy it more than anything else
IF the program is comfortably affordale and IF you think the program is something you would enjoy then go for it. But I dont expect a paid summer program will boost your resume in any meaningful way.
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Precollege programs are usually terrible value for your money. You get zero financial aid so you have to pay full price for one summer ($10k or even more). College AOs do not value precollege programs that much, since their admissions are not very competitive (their super high cost lowers the yield rate, so colleges need to admit as many people to fill their summer classes) and taking summer classes is not a very enriching experience that can help you stand out.
What sort of resume do you already have? There might be a few summer programs still open, or perhaps you could cold-email professors for research internships.
Ok bet yeah thats what I assumed
Work, shadowing, crud ton of community service stuff, biomedical club, college credit course last year, peer tutor, and now im trying to start a business cuz why not. Also applying for internships rn but after being previously rejected im kinda in a “i have to prepare for the worst aka not getting in” mindset
These programs will not boost your resume, if that is what you are thinking.
If I remember correctly…you are considering nursing. I would continue with what you are already doing- community service work, etc.
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You are making the classic mistake of assuming that correlation equals causation. The people who get accepted aren’t getting accepted BECAUSE they’ve gone to these summer programs. Some of the folks who have gone to these programs get accepted because of the OTHER things they’ve done-- which may or may not be correlated. You have no idea what “boost” of the resume the other kids have had. But paying to attend a pre-college program is surely not the boost most HS kids think it is. I’ve interviewed for Brown-- attending the summer program was neither a positive nor a negative. But if you are interested in medicine as a career, anything you do which expands your world- dealing with the unhoused, frail elderly, new immigrants who are desperate to learn English, working with kids with chronic illnesses- is going to be a bigger boost than a pay to play summer program.
There are lots of things that are more fun than working. There are lots of things more fun than revising an essay you’ve written when your teacher hands it back to you with “Fix these things”. There are lots of things more fun than memorizing French or whatever foreign language you are taking vocabulary words.
So I am unconvinced by your arguments!
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I just feel like im not doing enough, its so hard to shake that feeling off
Alright, ok. Someone mentioned volunteering at a camp for kids with disabilities? Do u think it would be too late to sign up if I could find one or nah?
Do that only if it interests you. None of us know what camps and/or other opportunities are near where you live. Mostly you want to do something productive with your summer.
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Not enough…for what?
You are a HS student, involved in clubs, shadowing, community service etc. You seem very busy!
I am, but it doesn’t seem like enough. I feel so painfully mid compared to everyone else. And yeah i know i know im technically not “mid” but I can’t compliment myself anymore without feeling like im setting myself up for disappointment. And in the rare occasion I do compliment myself, I always get some remark like “you are overestimating your chances, such a shame people think everyone above the bare minimum gets into insert random T20 school I probably never mentioned”.
I feel like an inferior student who could have been doing so much better if I wasn’t depressed as hell during my fresh-soph years, and now I have to scramble to make up for it. That I completely screwed myself over, the consequences are getting closer every day, and I only have myself to blame.
Please discuss these feelings with your therapist. If you had asthma or diabetes, would you be blaming yourself that you had some limitations before you were properly diagnosed and treated? Your negative self-talk is starting to alarm me. You are k’enough just the way you are (to quote Barbie). Your job right now is to be the best version of yourself that you can be, and to land somewhere that will meet your intellectual, social, artistic, professional goals at a price you and your family can afford.
This isn’t a race. This is your life. You haven’t missed anything- you are doing you. Period.
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I know I have some problems. Its funny u mentioned you were alarmed; I gave a very watered-down and non-controversial synopsis of how I feel about this god damned rat race. I have lost all my personality other than wanting to win and succeed and be good at something. The only thing that will make me happy is success (getting into a good college). Now, I have to work for it. I will be happy then, I don’t deserve to be happy right now because I didn’t earn it.
Im not as maimed as you might think; I still have friends and most people like me since ive gotten very good at talking to people. And yeah, I do genuinely like community service. I also like running and baking and making crafts and the beach and upstate u get the memo. But academics are my priority now and everything else is shifted off the table for my own good.
I am even MORE worried about you after this post.
The only way to be successful is via college admissions? Yikes. Are you a good friend? A good family member? A good community member? An honest and ethical person? Someone who appreciates the advantages of growing up with a roof over your head and dinner every night?
Please discuss your feelings with your mental health team. You will have a VERY rude awakening once you get to college unless you unpack this now. Big reveal- whether you end up at Stanford or Directional State U, most college students have very similar experiences. You go to class. You study (a lot). You take exams, write research papers, go to labs, write up your results. Some of your classmates are MUCH smarter than you and have better study habits, some are really dumb and you wonder how in heck they got in to your college. Sometimes the food is great and sometimes you eat frozen yogurt for dinner because nothing else looks appealing.
Lather, rinse, repeat. THIS IS COLLEGE. You have totally romanticized the benefit of whichever college you think is going to be oh-so-special that it’s worth ruining your mental health over. Guess what- there are miserable and stressed out students at Harvard and JHU. There are happy and satisfied students at Southern Connecticut State College and SUNY Geneseo.
Please start to work on your feelings that ONLY college admissions can validate you.
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Okay okay okay I kinda suck i know i know. Nobodys perfect but I consider myself a good friend and an even better family member. People come to me for help regularly, usually academic-related, and I help them free of change even when it takes a lot of time out of my day. It makes me happy to see other people healthy and happy, that doesn’t make me a saint necessarily but I don’t think im morally or fundamentally as flawed as you think I am. Obviously I have flaws maybe a little more that other people but everyone does. Both my parents grew up low-mid class, and im definitely not spoiled, im very grateful for what I have but I dont see a problem with wanting more for myself and those I care about which is basically everyone. Im not a great person but im a good person. And ive been through worse than a lot of my local peers have.