How to Choose The Best Summer Programs For High School Students.

Do you how to choose the best summer programs for high school students? Summer is about rest! After a long year of hard work, a break is well deserved. But even rest can get excessive or boring. Adding productivity to summer is a great way to have fun, learn, and improve your overall standing towards college. Here’s a look at how to choose the best summer programs, in case you are looking for what’s good vs. what’s not.

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Find the Right Price

Summer programs range anywhere from a few hundred dollars to over $10,000. The ideal range is somewhere between $500-$3000. Anything past that warrants close scrutiny. Especially since there are many private (for-profit) summer programs that don’t always do a good job.

Choose 1^st Party Programs, Not 3^rd Party Programs

1^st party programs are those run by the university directly. Examples of this include UC COSMOS, UC Berkeley ATDP, and John Hopkins Pre-College. When it comes to bang for your bucks, 1^st Party Programs are undoubtedly the best. Not only do they look better for college admissions, but they are also usually less expensive relative to 3^rd Party Programs. The overall quality control and depth of experience is better and more enjoyable for students. There are many 3^rd Party Programs that exist so be careful! Not all summer programs are created equal. If given the opportunity to attend a 1^stParty Program, this should absolutely be the first choice.

The Best Summer Programs For High School Students Is To Represent Your Student’s Interests, Not Yours

Rather than starting the conversation with which summer programs exist, start by asking your student which interests exist. From academic to artistic, students have all kinds of interests. It’s important to represent those interests proportionally over the summer. For instance, if a student wants to learn about business and is also interested in painting, find ways to help them do both: be it through one program or multiple. Who ever said you had to settle for one?

Ask What Problems They Wish To Solve

This can span from social issues to more scientific ones, be it child hunger or COVID-19. But starting conversations along the problems your student would like to solve is a sure way to find the best fitting programs, not the one your friend is doing to look good for college.

Pro-tip: A common mistake parents make is pushing their students to do programming in the summer. Rather than telling your student to learn the skill of programming, base your conversations around problems that programming can solve.

This way the conversation won’t lead to a disinterested student or worse who concludes they don’t like to code as a result.

Choose the Program You Will Likely Continue Afterwards

Going to a summer program itself isn’t very helpful unless the student either learns a lot or enjoys the program. Both of these things can be accomplished though if a summer program is added into a student’s existing interest pathway. This way, they will likely use what they learned from the summer program in their other endeavors – creating a journey of learning and doing.

Best Summer Programs For High School Students Recap & Conclusion

Ask your students what problems they would like to solve or about the interest they have. Once that is clear, prioritize your search for university hosted programs like those from the UC’s, Stanford, JHU, etc. Lastly, encourage your student to use what they learn towards other endeavors. Remember, these programs are what you make of them. Go with a positive mindset to learn, grow, and enjoy.

We hope that this provides some valuable insight into how to release some of the stress you may have while making your college application profile even stronger. We specialize in youth mentorship and college counseling. From 8th grade to 12th, we have you covered for any stage in your high school career. Schedule a free consultation with us here.

We are always posting more helpful tips and tricks to help reduce the stress of college application season. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.

See you soon!

Sarah Gooch

Essay Editor

Q:How many total years of experience do you have in your current role, including but not limited to ReadyEdgeGo?

A: I have five years' experience in coaching student writing, but this is my first year with ReadyEdgeGo.

Q: What about working with students do you most enjoy?

A: I love helping students find depth and meaning in their own stories—but I also just love it when they make me laugh!

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

A: In theory, I enjoy painting and writing poetry, but these days I actually spend most of my free time socializing or watching movies with my husband.

Q: What is your one piece of advice for high schoolers?

A: Don't just focus on achieving top grades and credentials because they look good on applications, or your education will be meaningless. The numbers and awards have their place, but stay connected to your sense of curiosity, discovery, excitement, and wonder so that the content you're learning is constantly transforming you—it's something you care about, something you remember after the final exam. Work on the aspects of yourself no one can measure, like integrity, wisdom, kindness, and compassion, so that you're not only developing your academic and career potential but also investing in the type of adult you're going to be, the person you'll have to live with after you clock out every day for the rest of your life.

Doing the hard inner work of building your character and learning deeply instead of just earning grades will set you up for a satisfying, well-rounded life. Strange as it sounds, it will also put you ahead in your academic and career goals, because colleges and hiring managers aren't looking for an empty set of data on a spreadsheet; they want a fully fleshed-out person marked by passion, creativity, and a story no one else has lived.

So go on studying hard for tests, but also spend some time asking yourself what matters in life and who your role models are. Read up on topics that amaze you, and build something incredible just for fun. Cultivate that spark of joy you feel when you're immersed in a subject that fascinates you. If you can hit that balancing act of doing your homework and meeting deadlines but also investing in the kind of person you want to be, then trust that all the rest will follow: schools will recognize you as a dynamic, all-star person, and you will also build a life of happiness, close relationships, and peace.

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