Blissful, time-wasting summers in the rear-view mirror, I was nevertheless overjoyed to receive news that I had made it into a summer science research program at UC San Diego.  I threw APUSH summer homework in the backseat and immediately began to read up on the piles of pamphlets the program sent, deciding this was the perfect place to explore a possible career path in medicine.   

One reason for burying myself in books lay partly in the check my parents had paid for the camp — $3,000 for three weeks. 

I had been uneasy when school counselors told my mom that most of these summer programs charge “ridiculous amounts” just to make money for themselves. In addition, some of my family and friends told me that this money should be going for my college tuition, which these days can strain even relatively well-off households. The question for me, at least, was whether or not what I would gain — experience and benefits for my college application — outweighed the hefty cost. 

Despite my concern about the tuition, my parents gladly agreed to send me away to camp. After three of the most life-changing weeks of my life, I came to realize that education and experience are in fact worth the money. 

For the motivated student, summer camps provide environments in which students can explore their interests in the real world. While the programs are expensive, they can be extremely valuable — if the student makes good use of it. 

At my camp, I spent the majority of my time working with Professor Kit Pogliano and my mentor, a PhD student named Katrina Nguyen. Professor Pogliano guided me through my project by going over procedures and background information with me, while Katrina oversaw all my experiments and taught me how to use various types of lab equipment like  a dishwasher-sized electron microscope and  microcentrifuge.  

The cost of paying mentors and teachers is the main reason these summer programs cost so much to attend. Due to the personalized nature of most of these programs, students usually get individualized attention by either a trained professional or a teacher. One-on-one learning — no matter the case — is always expensive.

At the same time, one-on-one learning is extremely valuable because students are able to learn at their own pace and get help on whatever they don’t understand.  

In my high school science classes, it is sometimes difficult to get all of my questions answered, simply because of the size of the class and the time restraint. On the contrary, at the research program, I was able to ask Katrina or Professor Pogliano anything that I wanted answered — even if it was only loosely related to what we were doing.

In addition, because a mentor spends time every day working with the student individually, they can be one of the most qualified people to write a letter of recommendation for college.  In fact, when the lab ended, my mentor told me that, when the time came, she would be happy to write me a letter.  

Tuition in a summer program also pays for equipment.  I can tell you firsthand that working with tools you’ve never encountered before can be challenging. Over the summer, I broke a micropipette (costing about $500), cracked several beakers and unintentionally melted many plastic pipettes.

  One time, after I disinfected the counter with ethanol, a highly flammable substance, I used  a little too much gas to light the bunsen burner, and the entire counter lit up in flames.  

Tuition can be viewed as a sort of insurance policy for the program. That way, they can not only buy equipment for the student to use, but can also pay for the potential damage. And, in all fairness, the $3,000 cost was warranted considering my clumsiness. 

Students’ experiences in summer internships make these programs worth the money. After all, the knowledge a student gains from attending them is truly priceless.