Students Apply to Summer Programs

Many Academy students look for summer opportunities to pursue academic, extracurricular and personal interests. Within Exeter, students have the opportunity to explore the Academy’s Global Initiatives programs, which offers opportunities for travel, service and learning domestically and abroad. Other summer options include private summer programs outside of Exeter, which often require an application.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, Exeter’s in-person travel programs are likely to be pushed to next year. “It isn’t likely that the CDC and Department of State will lift their advice against non-essential international travel this summer, so the focus of the summer offerings will be virtual,”  Director of Global Initiatives Eimer Page said. “Once pandemic conditions permit, we will be able to return to offering in-person travel experiences during vacation periods, but that will probably be spring break of ’22.”

Meanwhile, private summer programs are grappling with the same question. Usually, students spend their summer engaging with high-level peers and professors to prepare for professional or academic careers on focused subjects.

One such program is the Research Science Institute (RSI), which allows students to conduct STEM research alongside professors. The program culminates in a paper and presentation to prominent academics. Students’ work closely mirrors that of academic scientists, and prepares them to conduct research at a college level. 

RSI alum Lucy Cai explained the RSI’s structure. “RSI brings high schoolers from different states together to conduct STEM research and take classes for six weeks. The first week consists of classes where you can choose two subjects to learn about. For the remaining five weeks, everyone is assigned a mentor to conduct a research project with,” she said. “At the end of the program you write up a paper and present your work to the other students, mentors, and alumni at the RSI Symposium.” 

Cai continued to reflect on how the program impacted her. “It was great to gain more research experience and also to hear from various speakers who... had made great strides in their fields,” she said.

RSI alumni Yunseo Choi also reflected on how the program expanded her mindset. “I think this program really opened my eyes to the different fields that I can choose… it helped me think about math in a more interesting context because theoretical economics is more applied than traditional, pure math,” she said. 

Alumnae Brian Liu ’20 and Angelina Zhang ’20 attended the Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists (PROMYS). According to Zhang, “PROMYS was a self-driven math camp that allowed me to explore topics in applied mathematics not covered at Exeter.”

PROMYS helped Liu further pursue his academic interest in math. “I was obviously interested in math before the camp, but after taking the camp, I wanted to continue studying deeper topics. At Exeter, I proposed and took a 999 in real analysis, expanding off of the introductory topics we had been introduced to at PROMYS,” Liu said.

Both alumni and applicants of summer programs had similar thoughts about the importance of prestige when choosing a program. “Choosing a camp is a balance between what you want to learn about and the level of the quality of the camp. Usually more prestigious camps are higher quality and more worthwhile, but you shouldn’t go to one simply because it is prestigious,” Liu said. 

Upper and Leadership in the Business World (LBW) applicant Celine Gu agreed. “I don't think prestige matters with summer programs. I think it's a chance to demonstrate and grow your interests which has nothing to do with the prestige of an institution.”

Gu heard about LBW from her sister and soon became curious. “I am interested in the opportunity to take classes from current Wharton professors as well as hear presentations from business leaders. I also want this chance to learn more about the university to see if it's somewhere I can see myself at,” she said. 

While many Exonians choose to apply to such programs, Science Instructor Alison Hobbie encouraged students to find local, accessible opportunities: “Anyone should be encouraged to explore opportunities for doing science in the summer, [and] the best experience students can have is [something] anybody can do,” she said. 

Hobbie encouraged students to “look around their hometown, especially if they live in a city or near a larger college or university, and to explore the possibility of working directly with scientists.” 

As for Exeter’s summer program, Page emphasizes that the team is looking for a broad variety of students: “Students with a keen interest in travel; students who have not had the opportunity to travel; students looking to deepen their academic and extracurricular interests.”

Page also explained that it’s important to “be real in your application, read the program description carefully so you understand the purpose of the program, and show ways in which you will be a flexible, communicative member of the selected group.”