My DS12 has taken a number of CTY classes and one EPGY regular program class. These are high school classes, but I expect that things are comparable in a lot of ways.
Overall, I think that CTY is a lot more organized than EPGY. CTY makes requirements and registration procedures crystal clear.
Dealing with EPGY can be frustrating. For example, unless they've changed things substantially since last semester, figuring out how you qualify and how to register can be frustrating. Don't even get me started on frustrations with the online high school. "We will make a decision shortly." "When is shortly?" "Shortly is soon." (Turned out to be two months, and we got a letter dated two months before DS had applied, and so had to contact the Dean to see if, in fact, they had sent the correct letter to the correct kid).
The classroom experience for EPGY was very good. They use a system allowing kids to see a teacher and classmates in real time. I don't know if all their classes use this system.
CTY classes can be session-based or independent. DS has done both. The session-based classes upload a new lesson every week and assignments are usually due a week later. So you don't see classmates. Overall, the session-based teachers have been incredible: the lessons are great, there's lots of contact with them, etc. I really can't gush enough praise for them.
The quality of the independent study courses varies. IMO, quality is lower courses I call "canned," which means Some company somewhere developed this course and we in-licensed it and hired someone to teach it. IMO, these courses are NOT worth the steep price tag you pay for them. Maybe some are better than the two DS tried and dropped like hot potatoes. I don't know.
Alternatively, so far, the quality is higher in the home-grown independent study courses. This means that the course was developed specifically for CTY. The teachers tend to be enthusiastic and knowledgeable.
Soapbox alert:
I fear that home-grown courses will become scarcer because they require more work and probably (I'm speculating here) aren't as profitable as something that OnlineCourses_R_Us developed by committee and licenses out. IMO, the problem with these types of courses is that they aren't developed for gifted kids.
My understanding from a conversation with someone at CTY is that they're considering in-licensing a slew of humanities courses made by a company that targets at-risk low achievers. I have no idea if they'll pick up these classes or not, but I personally don't like the idea. At-risk low achievers can have very different learning needs than gifted kids have. I'm also not convinced that I like paying several hundred to 1K+ dollars for something that was developed by committee and is available elsewhere for a fraction of the price.
I understand that online ed. is getting to be huge and that Hopkins sees itself competing with companies like K-12 and the like. But CTY was always about the special needs of gifted students, and I fear that too many canned courses designed for the needs of the majority will dilute their brand and damage one of the few really good options for very smart kids. /soapbox rant
