Kristina Holzweiss Local Guide
31 Jul 2026
I rarely write posts like this, but I feel other parents should know about our family’s experience with Montclair State University’s pre-college summer program.
We paid $1,900 each for our two sons to attend—$3,800 total—because they have enjoyed other pre-college programs and were excited about spending a week exploring possible career interests and experiencing college life.
Unfortunately, both of them cannot wait to come home.
One of our sons enrolled in *The Mathematics of Musical Instruments* because he loves music and is considering majoring in cybersecurity with a minor in music. The program sounded like a creative combination of both interests. Instead, he describes it as approximately 95% math and 5% music, with a great deal of calculus. He is an honors math student entering his senior year, but he has never taken calculus and cannot understand much of what is being discussed. There were no prerequisites or recommended math courses listed in the description, and Montclair reviewed the transcript he submitted with his application.
Our other son is attending the Criminal Justice program. He says the days are repetitive, with students sitting in the same seats for most of the day while professors lecture at them. There are no hands-on group projects that allow students to apply what they are learning. He expected scenarios, simulations, case work, discussions, and opportunities to collaborate. Instead, he has found both the classes and field trips boring. He says most of the students in his program want to go home.
He did not tell us how unhappy he really was at first because he did not want to disappoint us or make us feel that we had wasted our money. I just got off the phone with him, and he told me that he cannot wait to come home. He had been looking forward to this week, and instead, it has taken away a week of his summer vacation.
The residential experience has also been very different from what was advertised. Montclair stated that students would enjoy campus and residential life and that staff would lead evening recreation, sports, interactive games, and leisure time in communal spaces. Our sons have had very few opportunities to socialize. After meals, they have often been sent directly back to their dorms. The recreation center was closed today and will also be closed tomorrow, and the recreational activities on the first floor of the dorm were not available today.
Breakfast is at 8:00 a.m., lunch is at noon, and dinner is at 5:30 p.m. There are no snacks or drinks provided between meals. Our sons are spending money at vending machines, and students are ordering DoorDash because they are hungry. On Tuesday, there were not enough seats in the dining hall at dinner because students from other sports camps were also there.
Our boys have attended other pre-college programs that were less expensive and far more engaging, interactive, organized, and enjoyable. A pre-college program should give students a positive introduction to a university and make them excited about possibly attending in the future. Unfortunately, this experience has done the opposite.
