Key Takeaways
- MIT and Harvard both say there is no required way to spend a summer, and MIT notes that most programs admit all or most students who can pay.
- A program can still be worth it, for what you learn and do there, not for how its name looks on a list.
- Jobs, family responsibilities, and local options count too. Harvard’s admissions office names several of them directly.
A family sits at the kitchen table with a brochure.
Four weeks at a famous campus. Dorm room, college-level class, a certificate at the end. The price is $9,260.
Everyone else is doing something big this summer. If I don’t, will it look like I did nothing?
The parent says what many parents say. “It’s expensive, but it’s an investment, right?”
That question deserves a better answer than either “it’s a scam” or “it’s essential.” Both show up online. Neither is what the colleges themselves say.
What admissions offices say
MIT’s admissions office says it often gets asked which summer programs students should do. Its answer is always the same: spend your summers in the way that best suits your own needs and goals. It adds that, as with extracurriculars, there are no “right” or “wrong” answers.
MIT also draws a line that families rarely hear. Most summer programs, it says, admit all or most students who can pay the tuition, which is often high. A number of competitive programs select students on merit and are often free or comparatively affordable. MIT’s own list of programs it highlights follows that standard.
Harvard’s admissions office describes summers more broadly than programs. Its application tips say students are often active in the summer by working, babysitting siblings, enrolling in courses, traveling, playing sports, or holding internships. Asking which activities happened over the summer, it says, helps the office understand how you spent your time and used the opportunities available to you.
That last phrase matters. Harvard says its committee looks at the opportunities a student has had and tries to assess how well they took advantage of them. It also acknowledges that limited family resources can keep students out of some activities, and says students shouldn’t feel their chances are hindered by a lack of extracurricular opportunities.
Taken together, the message isn’t “do a program.” It’s “show us what you did with the summer you had.”
What the programs say
It’s only fair to hear from the other side, too.
Harvard Summer School is part of Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education, and its own page says it is not the same as Harvard College. That page says participation can be a meaningful academic experience but doesn’t guarantee admission to Harvard or to other colleges.
The program’s Secondary School Program page makes a stronger claim. It says participation can help make your application stronger regardless of where you apply, because completing a rigorous college course shows you can handle one. Students in that program earn a letter grade and can request a Harvard transcript.
Both statements can be true at once. A real course with a real grade is evidence of something. But that evidence comes from the work, not from the campus name.
The cost is worth knowing. For 2027, Harvard lists the Secondary School Program at $4,180 to $15,980, plus a $75 application fee. A four-week residential course is $9,260. U.S. citizens and permanent residents can apply for financial aid, and the program says the work outside class averages 8 to 12 hours a week per four-credit course.
One more number appears on the page. The program reports that 20 percent of respondents to a 2024 survey said they went on to attend an Ivy League school. That’s worth reading carefully. It describes who answered a survey, not whether the program changed anyone’s admission outcome.
Where a program can genuinely help
A real course, graded, in a subject your school doesn’t offer. If you’re curious about something your school can’t teach, a credit-bearing course shows you tried and did well. That’s useful evidence.
A selective program that costs little or nothing. MIT’s list highlights programs that admit on merit and are free or offer generous need-based aid. A place earned that way says more than a place bought.
A summer that changed how you think. Programs can help you test a field before you commit to it. If it did, that’s worth writing about, and the essay would tell the college something no price tag could.
Where they tend to disappoint
Paying for a name and expecting an edge. MIT says most programs admit all or most students who can pay, and Harvard’s own program says there’s no guarantee. If the only reason you chose it was the advantage, the source material doesn’t support the bet.
A program that connects to nothing else. A four-week program in a field you never mention again is one line on a list. The same four weeks tied to a project, a class, or an interest you keep pursuing tells a story.
Giving up a job or a family responsibility to go. Harvard says helping a family with babysitting or household responsibilities, or working in a restaurant to help with expenses, are important extracurricular activities that can be detailed in the application and discussed in essays. If a program costs you that, weigh it carefully. Our post on jobs and extracurriculars covers how to describe them.
Three summers, side by side
Here are three examples. They are made-up examples, not real students.
Student A pays for a four-week residential program in a field she has never studied. She enjoys it. On her application, it’s one line.
Student B works 25 hours a week at a hardware store and takes one community college class in the evenings. He writes about the day a regular customer asked him to help plan a repair, and what he learned about explaining things clearly.
Student C is accepted to a selective, free research program. She spends the summer on a project with a mentor and continues it during the school year.
None of these is the right answer. Each tells a reader something different. What matters is whether the summer shows something real about the student, and whether it fits with the rest of their file. Our post on why you don’t need one big passion makes the same point.
How to decide
What would I actually learn or do? If you can’t answer in two sentences, keep asking.
Is admission competitive, or does it take anyone who can pay? MIT’s distinction is a useful filter.
What does it cost, and is aid available? Look at the full cost, including travel, and check aid deadlines early.
What would I give up? A job, a family responsibility, or time to rest all have value.
Could I get something similar locally or for free? Several of the programs MIT highlights are free. A local college course or a project of your own can serve the same purpose.
Then ask the question that cuts through the brochure.
If this program had no famous name attached, would I still want to do it?
The takeaway
Colleges aren’t asking you to buy a summer. They’re asking what you did with the one you had.
A paid program can be a good choice. It can give you a hard class, a new interest, or a taste of college life. But the schools we checked don’t describe it as a shortcut, and one of them says plainly that most programs admit all or most students who can pay.
Before you spend the money, ask what the summer will show about you, not what the name will say.
If the answer is something real, it may be worth every dollar. If the answer is “it’ll look good,” the colleges aren’t promising it will.
