They think it sounds better. And… I get it. The line between summer job and internship is sort of fuzzy in college (LOTS of what are called internships are really summer jobs for bigger companies).
There are a lot of summer programs that aren’t at “dream college”. And there are some good reasons to do them that the article does not list. (Note that I am not advocating against summer jobs – there are many paths to enlightenment). Examples of things that might be called “summer programs” that my kids did:
- Operation Catapult at Rose-Hulman - D2 enjoyed her engineering project there, but it helped her decide she did NOT want to be an engineer. She didn’t apply there, either.
- Davidson Institute THINK - U Nevada - Reno isn’t a dream college for most kids, but it is the location of this intense summer program for gifted kids. My kid reveled in the academic challenge and meeting other kids like herself, she is still friends with a lot of them 5 years later. She would say it was the #1 summer activity she did in HS (but you can’t do it after age 16). It helped her decide that she wanted to go to the most intense college with the smartest kids that she could get into.
- Quiz Bowl Camp - Only a week, but QB was one of her great passions, and it helped her get better. Held at a college, but no dream school.
- D1 wrangled a scholarship to spend a summer in Finland on a program there (most of it a homestay, but not all of it). She had studied Finnish for 8 years (and we are not Finns!). It was the culmination of years of interest. Not completely free for us, but pretty cheap.
I think a blanket statement that summer programs aren’t helpful is as untrue as saying that kids should do summer programs instead of getting jobs. It depends on the program and the kid. Summer activities that help kids define and deepen their interests CAN be a good thing. But I wouldn’t let my kids go to college with no work experience, either.