Friday, August 21, 2020
How Many Summer Program Applications Are Too Many TKG
How Many Summer Program Applications Are Too Many As is often our prerogative at TKG, weâre going to be real with you; this is not the smartest question and if youâre asking it, youâre probably already in trouble. Consider that asking, âhow many summer program applications are too many?â is the same asking âhow many college applications are too many?â Youâre missing the point. When applying to summer programs (and college for that matter), itâs all about quality, not quantity.Donât apply to 15 programs to ensure your acceptance. You would actually be better off applying to two summer programs that youâve researched, at which youâve reached out to the people running it so youâre connected, and are prepared to make a really strong case for why youâd be a great fit. The bottom line is, you should want to go to the summer programs to which you are applying and the odds are, you arenât dying to attend all 15. The other pitfall of applying to too many summer programs is that students end up spreading themse lves too thin. Itâs really difficult to write 15 knockout applications. In fact, what usually happens when kids overdo it on the application pool is that they tend to write 15 BS applications. Weâd rather you write two perfect ones.This Is Not a Job Search Often times, we see parents advise their kids to cast a wide net. Hereâs the thing, parents, your kid isnât 40 and this is not a job search. When youâve been laid off and have a family to feed, 200 job applications arenât always enough. In the world of summer programs, 10 is too many. Yes, college has, indeed, changed since your day. It has gotten more competitive, but you canât just approach this like youâd approach something in your own life. Your kids are not you. They are teenagers.Whittle It Down, Down, Down Now that weâve established where youâre not going to apply, itâs time to discuss where you are going to apply. Pick your primary area of interest and get even more specific. Letâs say youâre generally interested in political science. We had a kid who loved politics, but didnât know exactly which area of political science he was into. We had him really think for a few days about what exactly attracted him to the area of politics. It turns out, he was really interested in all of the factors around implementing new legislation. In other words, he was interested in policy. We asked him a few more questions. Did he want to learn how to write policy? Was he interested in working for some of the top policy-makers in the country? At the end of the day, he wanted to do extensive policy research. When you really get into the weeds, there shouldnât be more than five or ten options for summer programs that really fit the bill. If youâre still on 15, you havenât done enough whittling.The ExceptionThe caveat to everything weâve said above is if you want to do research with a professor. If you do, you should plan to email every professor in that given field at every univers ity possible. This might end up taking 100 emails. Otherwise, donât apply to more than five.Need help nailing down the perfect summer program? Give us a call. Weâve helped our students secure their spots at some of the most prestigious programs in the country.
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