With summer coming up, pre-collegiettesTM have plenty of great options for how to fill those long summer days. From getting a job, to traveling, to interning, to volunteering , the possibilities are pretty much endless! But with college admissions season right around the corner, college is a concern that’s probably weighing heavily on many of your minds. Maybe you have a friend who has enrolled in a summertime drama program at your local university, or a big sibling who studied math at her dream school the summer before her senior year in high school. Whatever your sources, chances are good that you have heard of pre-college programs. Who knows? Maybe you’re even rushing to secure a spot for yourself in X University’s program. But, hold on! Before you drop a couple thousand dollars on tuition—and commit weeks and weeks of your summer— to a pre-college program, is it even worth it?
Pre-college programs are summertime programs, mostly academic, that universities offer high school students. Many prominent universities, including Harvard University, Brown University, and the University of Chicago, among others, offer pre-college programs. Activities vary from travelling the globe, to taking classes, to learning languages, to studying performing arts, depending on the program. There’s really no ‘typical day’ at a pre-college program, due to the diversity of offerings, and by that same virtue, chances are that there will be some kind of program that interests you. But it’s not as easy as asking yourself, ‘would I mind doing that this summer?’ Most of these programs come with a pretty hefty price tag. Stanford Summer College, for example, will set you back $10,455! And even if you manage to secure financial aid, you are still missing the opportunity to make some money over summer. Therefore, you really need to weigh the pros and cons of pre-college programs and decide whether attending one is right for you.
What Pre-College Programs Won’t Do For You
If you think attending that pre-college program will make you a shoo-in for acceptance when admissions roll around, think again.
Cassidy, a senior at Emerson College, attended the Carnegie Mellon Pre-College Acting Program but, when she applied to the conservatory, was denied admission. “The acting program is an intense and very small conservatory program,” Cassidy says, “and they only accept about 10 people every year!”
Just because you gave them your summer does not necessarily mean that they’ll give you a spot in their class. Schools’ policies regarding completion of pre-college programs and undergraduate admission vary greatly.
Coppin State University, for example, does consider completion of its pre-college program in making the later admissions decision. According to the school’s admission website, 92 percent of recent participants are admitted to Coppin State University.
The University of California Berkeley, however, makes it crystal clear that attending its pre-college program will have no such effect. According to the school’s admission website, “attending a Berkeley Summer Session class will not improve your chances of admission to UC Berkeley.”
And, in between, is Brown University. Though the University does not say that attending a summer@Brown program will increase an applicant’s chance of admission, the University’s Office of Continuing Education asserts that 25% of Brown’s current undergraduate class attended one of the University’s pre-college programs.
Admissions decisions are made based on a variety of things and, if your only reason for attending a pre-college program is to be accepted at that school, it’s definitely worth your time to speak with that school’s admissions office and find out whether or not participation will actually have the desired effect on your application.
What Pre-College Programs Will Do For You
Okay, so pre-college programs probably won’t help you be accepted. Does that mean they’re a total waste of time and money? Should you just throw in the towel now, and spend your whole summer by the pool, working on that tan? No—and not just because collegiettesTM and pre-collegiettesTM are too smart to practice unhealthy sun habits.
“I don’t think attending a program necessarily increases your likelihood of being accepted,” Tarina Quaraishi, a freshman at Harvard University, says, “but it allows you to get to know the school in-depth.” And, in addition to helping you figure out whether or not you want to go to that school, that can help you create a stronger application. As it is in any school’s interest to admit those students who are most dedicated to the school, and most likely to matriculate, showing that you’ve done your research and know what X University is all about can really help.
Cassidy agrees: “The best thing about a pre-college program is that it gives you an insight to college life. It helps you see what that school in particular is like, but also just college in general.”
While Cassidy and Tarina agree that pre-college programs help pre-collegiettesTM become better informed about college and their options, they have differing opinions regarding how doing a pre-college program looks on an application. “I don’t think it helps you get accepted to colleges in general,” Cassidy says. Tarina, however, believes that “showing that you did something academic with your summer might help your applications overall.”
Senior Associate Dean of Admission at Wesleyan College, Gregory Pyke, only agrees with Tarina to an extent. “Participation in an academic advancement program can be beneficial to a student’s academic record and academic records can be very important to colleges,” says Pyke. Despite this, however, he does not strongly endorse pre-college programs. “Who attends is as much a function of who can afford to pay for the programs, as who is interested.”
So Is It Worth It?
While the exact benefits of pre-college programs differ depending on whom you ask, one thing is consistent: they really can be useful.
Jessica Salerno, a sophomore at Ohio University, cites pre-college programs’ usefulness in preparing students for college life as a major bonus and Cassidy concurs. “It gave me a taste of living away from home for a long-ish period of time, going to college, making new friends, having a major, and a ton of other things that made it much easier for me to transition into real college life a year later.”
Tarina agrees, saying “I would recommend these programs as a way to immerse yourself in a new environment…pre-college programs can help you become more independent in a short-term, low-stress setting.”
So here’s the deal: pre-college programs are not your golden ticket into your college of choice, but they are a good way to help you figure out what you want from college and, later, help you adjust to college life quickly. If you want to do one, do it! But if you don’t, no worries—it’s perfectly acceptable if you’d rather pursue that internship, earn some money, or see the world.
Sources
Cassidy, Emerson College
Jessica Salerno, Ohio University
Tarina Quraishi, Harvard University
Gregory A. Pyke, Senior Associate Dean of Admission, Wesleyan College
Brown University Office of Continuing Education
Coppin State University Admissions, http://www.coppin.edu/