The Truth Behind Prestigious Summer Enrichment Programs

By Quetzal Mama • March 19, 2016

Every year, hundreds of thousands of high school students receive invitations to participate in “prestigious” summer enrichment programs. Sometimes it’s a lovely gold or silver embossed invitation that mysteriously shows up in your mailbox. The letter is addressed to your student and it typically says something like this:

“Congratulations to your student for being selected to [name the program]. Your student has been nominated to attend our exclusive summer program. You should be proud of this recognition and honor”

Wow. Who wouldn’t be impressed? The marketing sounds fabulous to many students and parents. Parents excitedly imagines, “Hmm, if Gabriel or Nayeli gets accepted to one of these programs it will look great on their college application!”

You may not have heard of these programs but they typically have names that include “Leadership Forum” and “Leadership Council” or “Pre-Collegiate” and “Pre-College” programs. Here are a few such programs:

Global Young Innovators Initiative $2,795 (owned by Envision)

Global Young Leaders Conference $4,294 (owned by Envision)

The National Youth Leadership Forum $3,595 (owned by Envision)

Or, you might remember the famous “People to People” student ambassador program? They charged students upwards of $3,000 to participate in their travel programs. It was actually run by a for-profit travel agency that paid millions of dollars in licensing fees in order to use the People to People’s name.

Then, there is another group of programs referred to as “pre-collegiate” or “pre-college” programs that operate at various institutions. While some of these summer programs may very well teach your student specific topics such as nano-technology, coding, law, politics, or international relations, to name a few, it certainly does not justify the huge price tag that comes with it. This is especially true when there are far less expensive – even free – opportunities for your student to pursue. And, I’ve not seen these programs benefit students when it comes time for admission decisions. Here are a few programs you might recognize:

Columbia University Campus Emersion Program $10,645.00

Stanford’s Pre-Collegiate Institute $6,300

Brown University Pre-College Programs $2,500

Here’s the truth about many of these summer programs:

1. Most (but not all) of these programs are not run by the university. Rather, they are typically organized by a for-profit enterprise that capitalizes on the name of the prestigious campus.

2. Most (but not all) of these programs admit all students who apply, as long as their parents pay the hefty tuition fees.

3. There isn’t a true vetting or selection process. Many of these programs use mailing lists from the PSAT or SAT, to mass mail their promotional materials.

4. Summer dorm rooms are vacant during the summer when the current undergraduates are gone until fall. Dorm facilities that sit unattended are not generating income!

5. College admissions officers know the difference between extremely competitive summer programs for high school students and these for-profit summer enrichment programs. They are not impressed.

Let me share a great quote from an article published in Inside Higher Ed:

“Colleges and universities see [the programs] as money-making opportunities. They’re ways to make revenue off of buildings that would otherwise be empty but still costing the institutions money,” Van Buskirk said. “And they increase applications by giving students a glimmer of hope that they’ll be able to get into the college because they got into the summer program.” —Inside Higher Ed

I’m not saying all of these summer programs are bogus. What I’m saying is that many families cannot afford the $3K, $5K, or $10K price tag to enroll their student for a 10-day “enrichment” program. Most importantly, these types of summer enrichment programs are not correlated with odds of earning admission to a particular college. If this were true, I would have sent my own kids to these camps and encouraged all of my parent groups to enroll their kids as well!

Will your student learn some potentially valuable skills, or engage in practical hands-on activities at these camps? Probably. Will they meet new friends and experience a new setting? Most likely. Could the university setting help inspire them to pursue that particular campus? Who knows. However, what is certain is that merely participating in these programs and physically being on the campus will not enhance their college admissions portfolio.

Where would I rather see parents spend hard earned money? Invest in sending your student to a local community college to complete a higher level mathematics course. Cost? Likely less than a few hundred dollars. Or, invest in an ACT or SAT test prep program to increase your students composite score.

Want your student to really stand out? Have your student create an “enrichment” program for local students who would otherwise not engage in such an experience. Organizing your own activity is far more impressive on a college application. In doing so, students demonstrate many desirable characteristics such as leadership, altruism, organizational skills, and impact within their communities.

In contrast, the following are a few examples of summer programs that indeed look impressive on a college application, do not cost a penny, and in some cases, the program pays the student a stipend!

Chicano/Latino Youth Leadership Program
The Smithsonian Latino Center’s Young Ambassadors Program (YAP

Stanford University Summer Medical Youth Science Program (SMYSP)

Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR)

Telluride Association Summer Program for Juniors

Massachusetts Institute of Technology MITES Program

If you enjoyed this article, please like it! Find more practical, money-saving, and college admission enhancing tips from Quetzal Mama in my 4 books. I’m a mom who coached my own kids through college (Ivy Leagues) and graduate school (Harvard Medical and UCLA), and coach thousands of students across the U.S.