Camp Ivy League: Are Pre-College Programs Worth It?

Pre-college programs, often framed as enriching summer camps, are marketed by schools like Harvard and Yale as a way for high schoolers to gain an educational experience while also catching a glimpse of what college might be like. Like colleges, pre-college programs have their own applications, but they are much shorter. Students only need to submit their transcript, a 250-500 word response, and finally, their parent’s credit card information. Most applicants are accepted right away, especially if they are able to pay the tuition without financial aid. Still, it doesn’t always seem like the actual students participating are truly interested in what their program offers. It’s safe to say that most teenagers are not thrilled by the idea of spending their summer in a classroom, so how have pre-college programs become so popular? In most cases, families are only drawn to the idea of a school’s camp because of its perceived value as a resume booster for the emerging college application process.

While pre-college programs aren’t entirely beneficial, there's no denying that they have their advantages. Because these camps typically offer a lot of free time, students are able to spend most of the day with friends from their classes. The most popular pre-college programs, like Brown University’s STEM, NYU’s Arts and Media, and Yale’s Young Global Scholars, allow a kind of independence that isn’t found in traditional summer camps. Residential attendees are usually able to explore the college’s nearby area without an adult, with the only expectation of being back at their dorm by 10:30. But these benefits don’t outweigh the immense price of attending a pre-college program, especially because most students only enroll so that they can say, “I went to Insert Prestigious College Name over the summer.”

With costs that can reach even 10,000 dollars, these experiences are simply not accessible to most. And, despite this extraordinary price for just a few weeks of learning, students are usually left to their own devices for the majority of the day. While that may simulate a real college experience, it is difficult to justify why such minute academic involvement warrants such a fee. The truth is, parents’ aren’t paying for the quality of the institutions, but for the prestige of the college itself; Harvard and Yale’s reputation as esteemed Ivy League universities is the reason for the unreasonable $6,000 upcharge. With these prices, schools cash in on many parents’ hope of a leg up in the college admissions process. Because of the anxiety surrounding college admissions, colleges feel enabled to lower the quality of their summer program; they know that the desperate parent demographic will always buy into it.

As college acceptance rates get lower each year, there’s growing pressure to fill up every second of the day with activities that will look good on Common App. Most high schoolers expect that the only way to get into a university is to participate in dozens of impressive activities, even throughout the summer. But this mindset stems from a bigger issue: the unrealistic expectation to get into top colleges that is put on students by parents and teachers, promoting the idea that self-worth is directly tied to a college admission letter. There’s a generation of young people who feel guilty about relaxing, and who believe that unless they are always doing something “productive,” they are not committed to their future– and are farther behind because of it. But in the case of pre-college programs, they’re not usually a productive option, and it's not worth spending such a large amount of money for an educational experience that could be just as easily gained at home, for free. If someone is truly passionate about a topic, a lot of the same learning could be done through a public library, local internship, or cheaper online course.

At the end of the day, summer is meant to be a time for relaxation, and especially for Hopkins students, a break from the stress of our everyday academics. A rewarding experience doesn’t have to come with such a price tag — despite what the expectation may be, what looks good on paper isn’t always what’s best for the individual.