What Does “Pay-To-Play” Mean, and Are Such Programs by Default Bad?
Another misunderstood term in college admissions is "Pay-to-Play." If a parent were to look up this term online, they might be led to believe that every summer program charging tuition—such as BU RISE or SIP—is "pay-to-play" simply because of the high fees. Even worse, they may dismiss genuine "Pay-to-Play" programs as inherently negative, assuming they are not worth their child’s participation. This mentality reveals a misunderstanding of both the college admissions process and the role that summer programs play within it.
So, what exactly are "Pay-to-Play" programs? They are programs that strive to be non-selective by actively scaling the supply of mentors and principal investigators (PIs) to meet student demand. A telltale sign of a "Pay-to-Play" program is its boasting about having mentors from prestigious universities such as Harvard, Princeton, MIT, and others. By reaching out to numerous universities and companies, these programs can offer almost any willing high school student—a student who can afford the fee—a research opportunity or internship.
Programs like BU RISE and SIP, despite charging tuition, do not have an endless supply of professors from which they can recruit to meet student demand. This is because they only recruit professors from their host institution. As a result, they are quite selective due to the limited supply of research positions they can offer, while demand for these programs remains high. In short, "Pay-to-Play" programs are less selective because they can adjust the supply of opportunities to meet demand, whereas programs like BU RISE are inherently more selective due to their reliance on a limited pool of professors from Boston University.
Now, are "Pay-to-Play" programs not worth your time? Absolutely not! If you are comparing a "Pay-to-Play" program to MIT’s RSI program and lamenting that it isn’t viewed as favorably by admissions officers, then you are missing the point. It is true that listing a "Pay-to-Play" program on one’s college application may not be particularly impressive on its own. However, if that program results in a published paper in a reputable journal, it can significantly strengthen an application.
The real benefit of "Pay-to-Play" programs is that they provide students with essential research experience, which in turn helps them secure admissions to more selective, non-"Pay-to-Play" programs—thereby enhancing their college applications. Unlike colleges, many summer research programs do not prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); they simply aim to admit high school students capable of contributing meaningfully to a professor's research group.
Pay-to-Play programs allow students who begin high school with little to no research experience to acquire the necessary skills during their freshman year that will enable them to become competitive for more selective programs in their sophomore year, enable them to cold-email professors for long-term research opportunities, and eventually prepare them for ultra-selective programs such as MIT’s RSI, The Simons Program, and the Anson L. Clark Scholars Program. For many, it is an excellent way to kickstart their research journey in high school and eventually secure a position in a program whose name carries significant weight in the college admissions process.
Parallel to the U.S. college admissions process, there is a high school summer research admissions process. In this system, "Pay-to-Play" programs can assist students in beginning their research journey in their freshman year, positioning them to secure spots in the most selective programs by their junior year and ultimately optimizing their chances of admission to their dream college.
Parents should do their due diligence when determining if a "Pay-to-Play" program is of good quality. Programs that don’t allow students to switch mentors free of charge, guarantee that their students will publish papers, or lack transparency about their employees and founders are red flags.
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