I have two boys heading into 9th grade. Most of the college sponsored summer programs I've found are designed for rising 10th-12th graders. These were typically STEM oriented summer programs. Can any of you recommend something for rising 9th graders?

Having a HS sr and fr currently I would say don't overthink it. If they want to do some sort of robotics camp or something fine but not a deal breaker either way. Play sports, hang with friends, chase tail, be boys. If you haven't already, have them start a log for any and all volunteering, PT jobs, service projects, etc. Write everything down no matter how little time or effort you put in. It sure is nice to reference when completing apps as a Jr.

Here is our experience...

- Top 10% - makes life a lot less stressful - our Sr missed that mark.
- Top 11-25% - Tons of great options, $$, etc but get involved. This is our spot and the options are almost limitless unless you are looking Ivy. Had he been more involved it would have helped. I'm talked outside of sports and try to be in a leadership role.
- Testing (ACT/SAT) helps even if optional or at least appears to have in our case. $$ tied to ranking/scores
- Don't forget to enjoy these 4 years... they go super fast! Kids/parents will have plenty to stress over so don't add to it by dreaming up additional crap. Most HS have opportunities to be involved you just need to do it.


One extra piece of advice for a boy that is good in math/science but sucks at writing... invest in grammar software like Grammarly! Makes a huge difference.

We did band camp at a small local university, then summer school to knock out Speech class, and then travel until real band camp started mid-August and that was that.

I think we had like 1 week of sloth the whole time which is fine.

Here's an article you all may find helpful to your summer planning efforts.

The Relaxed Summer Student - Intentionally Engaging through Down Time

My 8th grader (9th next year) will be doing Sea Camp through A&M Galveston this summer. He did it last summer and loved it. My oldest is doing YAP (Youth Adventure Program) through A&M in CS and they offer a variety of options for camps. He is doing Forensics. He has done Aggie Stem Camp several summers and loved it. There are a variety of sports camps as well to chose from as well. We've also done the computer science camp through HPRC at A&M but I haven't seen anything posted for this summer yet.

1Aggie99 said:

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Having a HS sr and fr currently I would say don't overthink it. If they want to do some sort of robotics camp or something fine but not a deal breaker either way. Play sports, hang with friends, chase tail, be boys. If you haven't already, have them start a log for any and all volunteering, PT jobs, service projects, etc. Write everything down no matter how little time or effort you put in. It sure is nice to reference when completing apps as a Jr.

Here is our experience...

- Top 10% - makes life a lot less stressful - our Sr missed that mark.
- Top 11-25% - Tons of great options, $$, etc but get involved. This is our spot and the options are almost limitless unless you are looking Ivy. Had he been more involved it would have helped. I'm talked outside of sports and try to be in a leadership role.
- Testing (ACT/SAT) helps even if optional or at least appears to have in our case. $$ tied to ranking/scores
- Don't forget to enjoy these 4 years... they go super fast! Kids/parents will have plenty to stress over so don't add to it by dreaming up additional crap. Most HS have opportunities to be involved you just need to do it.


One extra piece of advice for a boy that is good in math/science but sucks at writing... invest in grammar software like Grammarly! Makes a huge difference.

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Nailed it!

One of the boys wants to get a summer job. He's 14 and will turn 15 in July. He heard he can work at McDonalds. I thought he had to be 16.

Moving lawns isn't much of an option… yards here are over an acre and almost everyone uses a crew with riding mowers.

There is a free cybersecurity day camp being offered on campus. Check it out here: https://hprc.tamu.edu/gencyber/

For all looking for a FREE summer camp, the GenCyber camp is for rising 8th-12th grade students. There are 3 different weeks to choose from:

June 5-9, 2023
June 12-16, 2023
June 26-30, 2023

Drop off is 8-8:30 pm and pickup at 4:30-5 p.m. each day. There will be engaging activities in cybersecurity, Python programming (no prior knowledge needed), campus and lab tours, and career information from professors and industry workers.

You can apply here:

https://hprc.tamu.edu/gencyber/