Everyone Is Applying to the Same Summer Programs. What Else Is Out There?

Every year, thousands of high school students compete for spots in a relatively small group of well-known summer programs.

If you’ve spent time researching summer opportunities online, you’ve probably encountered the same names repeatedly: selective research programs, prestigious university institutes and pre-college programs with highly competitive admissions.

It’s easy to come away with the impression that there are only a few great summer programs, and not enough spaces for all the students hoping to make the most of their summer.

After researching thousands of teen summer programs, we’ve come to a different conclusion. There aren’t necessarily too few great summer programs. There are too few that everyone knows about.

The summer-program search has a visibility problem

The most selective programs aren’t imaginary hype. Many offer extraordinary experiences, and some accept only a tiny fraction of applicants. Some of these programs are also free or heavily subsidized, making them particularly attractive to students seeking an intensive summer experience without the cost of a residential program.

The problem is what happens when families use those programs as their starting point.

Search for competitive summer opportunities for a high school student interested in science, engineering or business, for example, and many of the same programs appear again and again. College-admissions discussions reinforce the same names. Students hear which programs their peers are applying to, creating pressure to apply to the same ones. Lists of “top” and “prestigious” programs feature them.

Eventually, thousands of highly qualified teenagers are chasing a relatively small number of seats. And students can start to feel as though getting into one of these programs is the only way to have a great summer.

But those programs represent only a fraction of what’s available. Explore Summer currently tracks 3850+ teen summer programs across academics, arts, travel, language, outdoor adventure, service, sports and other interests, including fully funded and lower cost options. That breadth means students can search based on their own interests, goals and criteria rather than starting with a short list of programs everyone already knows. Many are programs families would be unlikely to encounter on a typical list of prestigious summer opportunities, but could be a great fit for a particular student.

Competitive looks different when you search by interest

Some summer programs are quite difficult to get into without being widely known outside their particular field. They may be highly regarded within that field, designed for students with a demonstrated interest, and offer an experience that’s difficult to find elsewhere.

For a student already passionate about marine biology, orchestral music, creative writing or international relations, getting into one of these programs can be an opportunity to pursue that interest at a much deeper level.

Consider marine science. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab runs a four-week Residential Marine Science Class for high school students. Participants spend more than 160 hours studying marine biology and oceanography through fieldwork, labs, research projects, lectures and other academic work, and receive high school credit.

The program accepts just 30 students, selected based on their interests, essay and academics. That’s a selective summer program, and potentially a great fit for a student passionate about marine biology. But a teen searching generic lists of prestigious high-school programs could easily never encounter it.

And it’s not the only example in marine science. A full Summer Term at The Island School accommodates around 50 students.

The same pattern appears in other fields.

Interlochen’s Intermediate and Advanced Strings program, for example, has just 16 orchestra spots: eight violinists, four violists and four cellists, filled by audition. Orchestra programs have natural capacity constraints because they need particular combinations of instruments.

GrubStreet’s Teen Summer Writing Fellowship selects 20 fellows, plus alternates.

High School Diplomats brings together just 20 American and 20 Japanese students.

These programs are selective for different reasons. Some require auditions. Some evaluate applications. Some involve experiences that simply can’t accommodate hundreds of participants. Arts programs in particular may require portfolios or extensive audition materials, while specialized science and field programs may look for demonstrated interest in the subject.

They may not appear on mainstream lists of the country’s “most prestigious” summer programs. But that doesn’t make the experience less compelling, or the opportunity less sought after.

Some of the most interesting summer programs are competitive within their niche, even if most families have never heard of them.

And not every great summer needs to be competitive

There’s an even larger universe beyond selective programs.

Teenagers can spend a summer studying Japanese in Tokyo, learning to scuba dive, backpacking through the Alps, working on wildlife conservation, making films, studying entrepreneurship, volunteering, sailing, learning architecture or exploring marine biology in the field.

Some programs admit students through competitive applications. Others enroll students until the available spaces are filled. That difference tells you something about the admissions process; it doesn’t necessarily tell you how meaningful the experience will be.

In fact, when we’ve talked to students about their summer experiences, the programs they valued most weren’t always the most prestigious or selective. What mattered more was what they actually got to do, how much ownership they had, what they learned and the people they met.

Related: What Makes a Great Summer Program? What Students Remember →

For a teenager who wants to become more independent, explore a possible career, experience another culture or spend three weeks immersed in something they love, the best fit may not be the program with the lowest acceptance rate.

Why families end up feeling that options are scarce

The problem is partly how summer programs have traditionally been discovered.

Families often begin with a program or institution they already know:

• “What summer programs does Stanford offer?”
• “What are the most prestigious research programs?”
• “What summer programs look good for college?”

Then they evaluate those programs one by one.

That approach naturally concentrates attention around organizations that are already well known.

Turn the search around, and the universe becomes much larger.

Instead of starting with the name of a program, start with the experience:

• I want to study marine biology and live on the coast for a few weeks.
• I want an art program where I’ll spend most of my day in the studio.
• I want to learn about business, and I’d rather be in Europe.
• I want an outdoor program with environmental science, not another classroom course.

Those searches can lead somewhere very different from a ranking of prestigious summer programs.

Rejection doesn’t mean you’ve run out of options

This matters particularly when decisions from highly selective programs start arriving.

A rejection can feel as though an entire summer plan has disappeared, especially if that program was the only option a student knew about.

If that’s where you are now, read: I Didn’t Get Into My Top-Choice Summer Program. What Now? →

Instead, break the program apart.

What made it appealing?

Was it the subject? Research experience? Independence? Location? College campus? Fieldwork? Other motivated students? A chance to explore a potential career? Cost threshold?

Those attributes are rarely unique to one program.

The alternative may not have the same name recognition. It may not even look exactly the same. But it may provide much of the experience the student wanted in the first place.

Search for the experience, not just the name

There’s nothing wrong with applying to an exceptionally selective summer program. For the right student, it may be exactly the experience they’re looking for.

But those programs don’t have enough spaces for every talented teenager who applies, and they don’t represent the full range of worthwhile ways teenagers can spend a summer.

The difficult part is often discovering what else exists.

A great summer opportunity doesn’t become great because everyone has heard of it.