Yes!
For kids in music, dance, the arts in general, summer programs are enriching and even necessary for development, particularly for students in schools that lack quality programs. I would add that the resulting admission to schools with generous financial or merit aid may, in some cases, make more financial sense that a summer job. But that should not be the primary motivator!
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@compmom I agree with this! We just went through the admission process for portfolio-based programs for studio and visual arts and I learned so much. Pay-to-play summer programs in art can absolutely confer an advantage in admissions in several ways:
- In a pre-college program students can generally create at least one new portfolio piece. They can also generate ideas and get professor and or admissions feedback in advance on potential new portfolio pieces for their application.
- Students can learn to curate their existing portfolio of work for admission, including improving existing pieces and editing some out.
- At some programs students spend enough time there that they are able to request recommendations from current professors, which can be meaningful in admissions for elite program (e.g. RiSD)
- Although many art schools have relatively high admissions rates (50%+), they also offer substantial scholarships and scholarship amounts are primarily driven by portfolio. If a student can substantially improve their portfolio in pre-college program (See #1 and #2 above) it’s not hard to imagine that their scholarship amount could improve. This is impossible to know for sure, but it is definitively true that a better portfolio leads to higher scholarships at many schools.
Of course pre-college programs aren’t strictly necessary but I’m of the opinion that while MOST pay-to-play college programs don’t offer a direct admissions advantage, studio art programs definitely can.
My D did the following the summer before senior year:
Worked at a sub shop
Learned her Fall piano competition repertoire
Wrote her college essays (and met with her school’s college counselor the week of 8/1 to submit the common app (this was a standard thing even back then))
Did a competitive entry engineering program for one week
Went on a family vacation and visited with extended family.
I would add that summer programs in art, music and dance are helpful for admissions to selective colleges, not just art schools and conservatories. The longer ones are especially helpful in developing portfolios, connections with teachers and peers, clarifying goals and of course enhancing talent.
One other thing: my kids all did their essays the week before the deadline. Nowadays students apply to so many schools, that starting early seems wise. Personally, I don’t think most essays are key to admission decisions (unless clearly outstanding or clearly deficient). There is so much coaching (and now AI) that I think the relative importance of essays has declined. So I hope summers aren’t affected negatively by early essay-writing!
I am big fan of down time. My kids had many relaxed summers growing up. But when they developed very clear interests in music and dance, summer programs were a priority for many reasons, but primarily to develop their art. The admissions effect was an after effect, not the reason for attending.
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My S24 did one of the pre-college programs where he took a couple actual summer courses along with students of the host university.
Did it make a material difference to his college admissions outcomes? I doubt it.
Did it help him continue to explore his academic interests, learn more about what college classes and residential college life can be like, refine his ideas about what he did or did not like academically and non-academically, prepare for some advanced classes senior year, and prepare for some future college classes?
It sure did.
I guess that is what I would suggest in general. Having a strong last year in HS that then sets you up for a strong first year in college is a very worthy goal for college-bound kids. The summer before your last year in HS can then be seen as an opportunity to further prepare for those next couple years of school.
That concept can embrace all the usual ideas and more. Like, academic things, things related to some of your main activities, things that help you develop your work habits and time management skills, things that make you some money, things that help you explore new experiences, things that reasonably challenge you socially, things that develop you ethically, and on and on . . . all that can fit within that general framework of helping to better prepare you for the next couple years where you will be making the transition from high school to college.