Forget ghost stories and campfire-cooked marshmallows.
High school students are flocking to a different kind of summer camp ? workshops where they?ll learn how to write college admissions essays, polish resumes and fine-tune interviews.
College preparation camps are catching on as the competition to get into universities grows more intense.
Consultants offered camps in other cities for years, but the Baltimore area will get its first this summer.
“In an increasingly complicated and competitive admissions environment, doing the application process at the same time as homework and studying for tests can be very overwhelming,” said Craig Meister, an admissions consultant running two one-week sessions in June at the Jewish Community Center in Owings Mills.
“Students want to get it out of the way.”
With the high school class of 2009 anticipated to be the largest ever, more families are expected to turn to admissions counselors and summer camps for a competitive edge.
Michele Allen, of Reisterstown, hired Meister to help her son, Ryan, 18, get into his dream school, the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
“With every parent talking about resumes and essays, I got a little nervous,” she said.
Jenna Silver, 16, a rising senior at Owings Mills High, signed up for Meister?s summer camp with the hope of making her application sparkle so she?s admitted to the University of Maryland, College Park.
“I keep hearing how much harder it is to get in,” she said.
One in four of this year?s freshmen at private colleges used independent counselors, said Katherine Cohen, founder of college consulting firm IvyWise.
Camp prices range from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands.
Howard Community College offers a $140, one-week summer class that critiques college essays for students 14 and older.
“It?s a smart thing to get started on college applications but not spend the entire summer doing it,” said Cohen, who recommends students also travel and work.
Camps capitalize on parents? anxiety, some argue.
“The math of the situation pushes people to do whatever they can,” said Bruce Poch, admissions dean at Pomona College in California. “In some ways, these camps are living on that fear.”
