I am looking at a few options for my kids and was wondering what thoughts are...
1) for my 14YO PG DD I was looking for opportunities for her to do AP courses over the summer. Right now she is doing AP's through CTY - and can take them over the summer through their AP intensive program - but it might be nice for her to be able to do them in a more fun, social summer camp setting. We were also maybe thinking about THINK - but she does not have official SAT scores - and the next SAT isn't until march - and I think that brings us super close to the application deadline...
2) for my 12 YO NG DD I was looking at the CTY summer camps. (we were looking at Franklin and Marshall) has anyone done this? What did you think?
DD is 15, 10th grade and she did all kinds of different camps for a while. Last year we decided on a plan on what her purpose wanted to be and she is focusing on marine science and technology. She did 2 weeks at UNC last year and will do a 3 week research program with professors this year. She is involved in technology app team competitions and things like that during the year. She also sails competitively so that affects the summer. But instead of looking at AP -- she is taking 2 this year, 4 next year, she is focusing on her interests and how she can present herself for college.
Yes - wren - so I have thought about that route as well.... I'm just a little torn. Right now she is only taking 1 AP course (9th grade) - and it already feels like a lot to me. Next year - the way her tracking is- it looks like she will have 4. I am concerned about the workload - so I thought it might be nice to be able to space it out a bit and maybe do 2 over the summer and 2 during the academic year - that feels more manageable. If she homeschools them - she would be able to do some other non-camp stuff here... that may or may not look good in terms of packaging for college depending on what I can find. But homeschooling 2 APs over the summer does not seem like a ton of fun - so I thought maybe in a camp-like environment with other kids and other fun activities- might be ok - but I don't see anything like that. She is a 2 sport athlete - so that also affects her time during the academic year/summer. So I hear you on that too.
My kiddo and his buddy do CTY . Both are gifted. Honestly, I am not exactly how much they learn (and they, unlike most of the gifted kids here, do not seem to care if they learn much and do not want any "homework" in the summer) but they do have a blast and I do think they learn something. They love it. I like it because it gets my most diffcult and challenging son out of my hair for three weeks, he is not playing video games non-stop for three weeks, he is not pretending to be 'dumb' like he does on a regular basis with his hockey team and in other settings, he is exposed to kiddos form other countries and places and most important - he is learning some independence, i.e., he has to do his wash, he has to get himself up, he has to remember his lanyard and to brush his teeth etc. He has to plan the projects he does with his classmates, etc.
Anyway not sure how much of a help it is but it is the only camp he has wanted to do in the past three years. So I do recommend it - but it is very expensive.
Thanks so much Irena - which one did you do? Do you have any idea if they are all of similar quality or are some considered to be better than others? Yes- they are super expensive - so that is absolutely a consideration for us...
My son did the one at Ursinus year before last (dorm is a dump they say - and no hot water for showers) and last year they did Haverford (dorms also a dump I am told hahaha). Despite dumpy dorms they still had a blast. I heard Franklin and Marshall is very good and very good facilities. This year they are going to Muhlenberg.
Trimom, have you looked at AI at Stanford? It is only for 9th grade girls. Only time you can apply.
It is really good for college CV to have programs that are competitive to get in, rather ones you just sign up for.
Generally speaking, the programs that I have seen from Stanford are crazy expensive- and we are in one of those spots where it would be completely unaffordable- yet we would likely not qualify for aid. Looking though the website it seems that many of their summer programs require you to be 16- so we don’t meet the age requirement too... it looks pretty amazing tough!
https://ai4all.spcs.stanford.edu/This one is for 9th grade girls. It is very competitive and you can only apply while in 9th grade. Applications close in a month. You can apply for aid on this one. If you don't get it, you don't have to go. But it is one of those top programs to have. Stanford looks at girls that get into this program.
Trimom - my DD (now off in college) did CTY for three summers. She did one summer at Franklin and Marshall and two at Dickinson. She like F&M fine and enjoyed that summer, but she absolutely loved Dickinson and the slightly different culture there. The classes she took were: Cognitive Psychology, Neuroscience, and Ethics.
As an aside, if your child is interested in Neuroscience, it was much easier to get into it at Dickinson.
Here is a post, from a couple of years ago, of my reply to a similar topic:
http://giftedissues.davidsongifted....John_Hopkins_CTY_Program.html#Post241112Best of luck,
--S.F.