Introduction Are summer programs just for your resume, or are they the key to getting into a prestigious college? Every year, thousands of Georgia high school students enroll  in summer camps, hoping that it will help them get into schools like Georgia Tech  or Emory . But here's the problem: most students return home with a certificate but no evidence that they learned anything. Admissions officers for the 2026 c lass  have caught on. They understand that "participating" in

Introduction Why do so many talented students still not get into the best computer science programs if good grades and AP Computer Science scores were sufficient? Until senior year, when results no longer match effort, parents and students seldom ask this awkward question. Thousands of talented students sign up for summer programs  in the hopes of "adding weight" to their applications each admissions cycle. However, a lot of those experiences don't result in strong admission

Introduction What if your high school diploma is more important than your GPA? Colleges are running out of ways to differentiate students who appear to be academically identical on paper, not because they suddenly stopped caring about grades. The unsettling reality that many families learn too late is that the majority of high-achieving students apply with excellent grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities, but they still don't stand out.  When selected properly,

Introduction Why do the majority of high school "AI programs" still resemble glorified coding camps if AI is revolutionizing national security, finance, and medicine? Enrolling in any AI research summer program is often seen by parents and students as a way to impress elite universities. The truth is more severe: admissions officers are able to distinguish between genuine research experience and superficial exposure right away. Why, therefore, do exceptional students—those w

Introduction What if the expensive summer camp you just signed up for is actually invisible to an admissions officer at MIT or Stanford? It’s a fear many Texas families share, and unfortunately, it is often true. You can spend weeks at a prestigious campus, but if you leave with nothing more than a certificate of attendance, you haven't differentiated yourself. Selective universities have stopped rewarding "intention" (learning about a subject) and started rewarding "evidence

Introduction Why do elite admissions committees accept two applicants with identical GPAs, test scores, and coursework while rejecting a third with the same credentials? The difference usually begins well before application season, with how a high school student  chooses to spend their time outside of the classroom. And here's the uncomfortable question that many NYC families are quietly grappling with: What if your activity choices mattered more to admissions than your acad

Introduction What if the "perfect" passion project that admissions officers rave about isn't the most complex, but rather the most intentional? And what if your Passion Project  could quietly demonstrate how you think, build, and care, in ways that test scores and generic clubs cannot? The Passion Project has become one of the few places where high-achieving students can still express their individuality. Not as a résumé filler, but as proof of intellectual direction. This gu