Pre-College Programs Don’t Make Your College Application Perfect

These expensive programs are not beneficial and are a waste of time.

By CELILIA CHENG, PRINT MANAGING EDITOR

College. For students who are looking to pursue a higher education, they are doing everything they can in order to attend a top-tier college. Besides taking vigorous classes, juggling multiple sports and volunteering every weekend, many students have decided to attend pre-college summer programs.

Pre-college summer programs allow high school students to attend college-level classes and experience the college campus during the summer. There are currently over 150 colleges offering these programs to high schoolers. While some colleges offer them to students for free, a majority of them cost thousands of dollars. Considering the amount of money people are paying to attend these special programs, one cannot help but wonder if they are even worth it.

These universities make millions of dollars each year from these programs. According to The Washington Post, “Harvard’s two-week session costs $4,600, while Brown charges $2,776 for one week and $6,976 for a four-week residential version.”

A collection of college brochures from prestigious universities.

Many colleges clearly state that these programs do not guarantee you admission or improve your chance of getting admitted to their college, and while it may allow you to demonstrate an interest in a particular field, this time and money could be spent on other opportunities. Nevertheless, these summer programs allow you to take higher-level courses and show colleges that you are challenging yourself, but with thousands of kids attending these programs yearly, participating in them won’t guarantee

Editors’ Letter

By VIKRAM SAMBASIVAN & CHARLOTTE STONE, CO-EDITORS-IN CHIEF

that you will stand out from other candidates. An alternative option, to take higher-level courses, would be to enroll in some online college courses. Stanford offers this option free of charge and from the comfort of your own home.

Top-tier colleges also look for a “spike” in your application. They want individuals that would make a positive impact, especially one that will also demonstrate long-term growth. Pre-college programs will not help you make a lasting difference in this world. This “spike” doesn’t have to be as monumental as curing cancer either, but it could be anything from a passion project to engaging in research or an internship - the key is to find something that you feel passionate about.

While obtaining the opportunity to participate in an internship or research project is more difficult than paying a few thousand dollars, if you can afford it, or filling out a scholarship application, they help colleges see that you’re taking initiative to professionally pursue your interests.

At the end of the day, whether you decide to attend these pre-college programs is up to you. While costly, they allow you to meet people around your age with the same interests as you, and give you the chance to see if the college is a good fit for you. But make no mistake, there’s no magical formula for getting into the most prestigious colleges, and attending pre-college summer programs will not be what makes your application stand out.

Sound Off

Opinions of Robinson Students

“I applied to attend a pre summer college program but I ended up not going. I just didn’t think it was worth going for the cost to attend even without including travel. It kind of hurt at the time because it felt like I was passing up a great opportunity, but it goes to show how much about applying to college is relative and rests on things like socioeconomic status.”

Cereza Perez (‘24)

“I applied for a research based summer program because research is something that I am passionate about and is something that I would want to do in the future. This program that I am doing allows me to get some prior experience by working on ongoing research projects with professors.”

Sanjna Madabhushanam (‘24)

Have Robinson students ever attended a pre-college program?

Yes, they have.

No, they haven’t

Data collected from a poll on @rhsknightwriters on Instagram.

Summer Homework Shouldn’t Exist

There’s no real benefits when it comes to summer homework, so why have it?

By YESENIA ROSARIO, NEWS AND FEATURES EDITOR

In every student’s life, there comes a time when they are burdened with summer homework. Whether it’s a reading or a work packet, no one wants to do it.

With a new school year on the horizon, students and parents alike feel that familiar mixture of emotions associated with great change. The anxiety felt when one has their future bearing down upon them, but the happiness in seeing fellow classmates once again. The longing for summer’s freedom, yet the feeling of excitement when you claim your seat at the lunch table.

Every year, Knight Writers publishes a Back to School Issue to help ease this transition into a new school year and give both parents and students, a warm embrace into the Robinson community.

Our predecessors, Juno Le and Zoe Thaxton, have left us with large shoes to fill. However, with a brand new staff, editorial board and our veteran journalism advisor, Mrs. Webster, we come into this year with renewed journalistic vigor and hope to inform, inspire and invigorate the student body.

As the newly minted CoEditors-in-Chief of Robinson’s storied newspaper, we welcome all Knights, returning and new, back to school.

After a hefty, homework-filled school year students need those invaluable two months to decompress and reset. Assigning homework unnecessarily shortens the students’ time away from school. I’ve gotten dozens of summer homework assignments during my years in high school, including this past one. Going through the never-ending pages of a book I need to annotate is always a dreary task, causing me stress in a time designated for relaxation.

I think in doing this, teachers are already setting themselves, and their class, up for failure. Forcing students to continue working over the summer, after many already being burned out from the past school year, causes many to lose motivation and come into the school year just as tired and stressed as they were and the end of the previous year.

There’s been a multitude of research done about students’ stress when it comes to homework, and while there is no spe- cific number for all children, in Stanford University News, it states that 56% of students’ primary stress comes from homework. Summer vacation is a time to let go and relax, but with summer homework that’s not possible at all. it’s fair to force students to participate in their hobby. All summer homework leads to is a burned out, stressed and unmotivated student body, none of which help students learn.

On top of that, if anyone needs assistance, a teacher will most likely be unavailable to help guide them until students return to school and by then it’s too late. Without the proper guidance, students may end up with poorly completed work, and have spent hours of their summer time incorrectly reinforcing concepts, ultimately harming their learning.

Even if it’s done correctly, summer homework doesn’t give much benefit to the overall group of students it was assigned to. Teachers don’t understand that over half of the students lack integrity and will either copy from classmates or the internet, rather than do it themselves, so there’s really no benefit in assigning work.