My D15 has the opposite concern from the original poster. She wants a HARD summer program (went to Davidson THINK last summer, so that is her benchmark
). 2 college courses in 3 weeks is what they do at THINK. She has heard from friends that CTY is not as rigorous (what is?!?), so said she does not want to go even though they offer some classes more in her specific area of interest (biology). Mind you, she has not been to CTY, just strictly word of mouth.
In honesty, though, if DD could work from home and take an extremely challenging course, she would *love* it. It's the other kids that form their own "she's dumb" or "she is too slow" thoughts that scare her.
Having said that, THINK was her first choice, and it's the hardest summer program. She had heard from others (on cogito, etc) that it's less social and more intense work, so the people aren't judgmental. (not to mention that DD is *not* a social or a camp person, so all she really is going for is to learn) However, they had to offer a speech course, along with 2 other duds in the same time slot. ("I was so excited when I saw anthropology.. but then I saw three courses I *really* didn't want to take as my other option")
From what she's heard (from kids probably in a lower scoring range, mind you), CTY/TIP can be *very* difficult. I guess those claims have to be looked at with more scrutiny, now that I've heard from you that they aren't very hard.
