Summer DiscoveryReviews of summerdiscovery.com

It was disappointing

Staff was way too strict, horrible experience. I had a way better experience at another summer camp the year prior so there is no excuse for the staff being as strict at all. (Could not leave our building at 9 pm)

As a commuter, I was pratically ignored. They did not give me lunch, and the organization of the trips was very poor. They had three buses when we needed four, meaning the buses were three to a seat. Not to mention that for all the money you spend you get school buses, not a coach. Also, as a commuter we were not allowed in the dorm, meaning it was nearly impossible for me to actually build relationships.

l enrolled my son in this summer program with very high expectations, especially considering that both he and his friend each spent approximately $24,000 to attend. Unfortunately, the experience fell far short of what we expected from a program associated with Yale. One of the first concerns was the food. On orientation day, my son scanned the QR code for one of the meals and found an ingredient list containing around 60 ingredients. Because of this, he and his friend chose to order their own food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day instead of eating the meals provided by the program. The housing conditions were equally disappointing. My son and his friend stayed together in one of the suites, and when they arrived, there was no air conditioning at all. They had to purchase fans themselves just to make the room bearable. The suite was also extremely dirty, covered in dust, and there was no room or suite cleaning provided by staff throughout their stay. The common areas became so messy that they found themselves asking other students to stop throwing trash around. We have photographs documenting these conditions. Academically, my son enrolled in both the Business and Neuroscience courses. We were surprised to learn that neither instructor was a Yale professor, but rather teachers from other schools. The Business course was one of the primary reasons he chose this program, yet he came away feeling that he learned very little. Additionally, the two guest speakers were brought in over Zoom rather than in person. According to my son, the presentations were so unprofessional that even the Business instructor remarked that they would not be invited back in the future. For the amount we paid, we expected a program that reflected the reputation of Yale. Instead, our son experienced poor housing conditions, food he did not feel comfortable eating, and an academic experience that did not justify the cost. We have photographs supporting the concerns regarding the accommodations, and we hope the program takes this feedback seriously so future students receive the quality of experience families expect when making such a significant investment.

My child shared that the teacher spent a significant portion of the class playing videos, with relatively little direct instruction or interaction. As a result, the lessons felt monotonous and it was difficult to stay engaged. Overall, the learning experience did not meet our expectations. My child felt that they did not gain the knowledge and skills they had hoped to learn from the course. We hope the school can provide more teacher-led instruction, classroom interaction, and hands-on learning activities in the future.

Terrible value. Had I known what actually went on there I would have never sent my daughter. The "professors" are high school teachers and even middle school teachers who had zero experience in the field they were teaching. A far cry from the professors and industry experts that were promised. The capstone projects (one of the reasons we enrolled) were not actual capstone projects and they were just simple projects done in class without any interaction with businesses in town. What a total scam!