<p>My daughter attended the summer scholars program in 2011 and LOVED it. They have two five-week sessions and from what we’ve heard each session typically has between 35 and 75 students. (Wash U’s program is much smaller than those of say Harvard or Stanford but my daughter’s roommate, who attended the Harvard program the prior summer, felt the programs were academically on par.)</p>
<p>D took two fairly specialized courses, one that had seven students and the other had only two students. (You can see the open courses and enrollment at <a href=“http://courses.wustl.edu/[/url]”>http://courses.wustl.edu/</a> then click on “Open Courses” then SU2013 then “Arts & Sciences”). As parents, we were worried that Wash U would cancel the courses due to low enrollment. However, the courses proceeded as planned. The professors were post-doc students, and D worked extremely hard, did well, and loved every minute of her Wash U experience. My only complaint is she did not want to return to high school!</p>
<p>As for your question about cost, we felt it was a fair value and a much better ‘deal’ (still expensive!) than the more well-known programs. They do offer financial aid and we know at least several of the participants who received generous grants. </p>
<p>For acceptance rates, we got the sense that the applicant pool is self-selecting (i.e. meeting their guidelines for admittance) and the acceptance rate was likely above 50%. </p>
<p>The staff at Wash U were extremely kind and supportive and we hope D’s younger sister will have the opportunity to attend the program in a year or two.</p>
<p>Good luck to your daughter!</p>