Since beginning high school, I have received letters from different organizations and colleges inviting me to participate in a summer program. Every time I get one, I get my hopes up (as well as a bit of ego boost that a college is inviting me somewhere) and I am let down every single time. Most, if not all, of these letters that I have received have an outrageous tuition attached to them. While these programs are probably great, neither I nor my family are in a position to pay for something that expensive.
Some of the programs I have been invited to include the National Student Leadership Conference and the Washington Journalism and Media Conference. Programs like these have a tuition in the thousand dollar range. Take the NSLP Conference for example; when I received their letter in the mail, I got excited. I read through all of the pamphlets and then when I got to the tuition portion, I was shocked. According to their website, the specific program I wanted to attend had a tuition of $4,295 which covers “housing and on-campus meals, plus course materials, academic expenses, trips, tours, activities, and off-campus event transportation.” Things such as traveling to the program are not included in tuition. This session of the program would be from Jun 12 to Jun 20. For me that’s insane! When I receive invitations such as these, I have to remind myself that the tuition I envisioned the program having is actually much less than reality. Also, maybe the amount of money does match what the program is offering. However, neither I nor many of my peers are able to go to programs such as these.
Besides gaining experience from these programs, the idea that colleges will like me more if I do them often crosses my mind when I receive these invitations. However, I think it is important to realize that doing these programs isn’t the only thing that colleges look for. There are other ways to make yourself attractive to prospective colleges that don’t cost an arm and a leg. They might like to see you at these programs, but as long as you are spending time doing things that you are interested in and that allow you to put yourself out there, you are going to be just fine in the application process. While summer programs are great, you don’t need them to pursue what you want in the future.
In the letters I have received, they may say they give out financial aid and scholarships but they don’t go in depth about these resources. You have to truly look for the information you want, whether that be asking people or digging around their website to see how much your family could possibly earn in aid. If they truly want me to attend these programs based on merit and not simply making money, they would make aid more readily available, especially for lower and middle-class families
When being invited to programs, how do you actually discern whether or not it would be worth it to go? Some programs cover everything including food and transportation, others may cover a meal or two and some even require you to fund the transportation to get to the place, whether the program is in the state you live or not. Does the money that I would have to provide align with the experience I would receive? Do people I know go to these programs? These are all questions I ask myself when thinking about going.
I am not saying that these programs are illegitimate or simply cash cows. I am incredibly thankful for receiving invitations to summer programs, and I’m sure some programs provide worthwhile experiences to their participants. However, programs that offer expensive tuition should understand their audience and be upfront about how much aid they offer.