My son, a freshman in high school, received a letter saying that he was nominated for academic recognition as a delegate representing his high school and the state we live in. The letter says that the Congress is held in Boston on June 25-27. One of the other papers that came with it also said that it costs around $1000 to go. It seems like a scam to me. Is it?
Hmm I have not heard of it before… Definitely worth looking into before putting any money down though.
Yes, I’ve heard of this and my daughter has received letters from them. Scammy.
Here is just one of many previous threads on this organization. Be ready for someone to come on to defend it, it happens every year: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1657765-congress-of-future-medical-leaders.html
Thanks for the link, I thought it seemed like a scam.
There are many worthless awards out there. Some even get HS teachers to give them students to recommend for an award et al. Never pay for any such things, also a true award doesn’t ask for money.
It’s not a scam because there actually is a program. The question is if the program is worth the price. Not to my daughter who also got invited to something (although I thought it was about $3000). She has never expressed ANY interest in medicine or at that time even science.
Scam. Scam. Scam. Run away as fast as you can.
It’s a for profit venture, promising a ton (what commercial item or service doesn’t?). But the “nomination” thing and “press releases” is smarmy in my opinion. They give the applicant a “press release” in which to wow the local newspaper – and to lean on the student to fundraise and get family/friends to cough up the dough. “Look Nana! I’m in the newspaper! Can I have $500?”
Indeed, the company even lists the articles run by the many local papers (who have no context to know that this is simply a huge marketing scheme and simply want more text) http://www.futuredocs.com/in-the-news/
Note that the press release language is the same for everyone… Imagine how this goes over in some small out of the way town. But the actual boost to any one student is next to nil. This is simply slimy in my opinion.
Honestly, don’t even let your kid list it on his list of “honors”. This nor NSHSS or “Who’s Who” either.
Its scammy because they make it sound special. Its not scammy in that you are paying for an actual program, which may be interesting. I would not do it or list it as an award, but if your kid is interested in the topic and you have unlimited funds, it may be of interest.
I hate that they get teachers to make the “nominations”. That part is so scammy!
Marketers to HS students have obtained mailing lists by purchasing them from schools or possibly individual teachers. Or by providing items/services in kind. These days, there are probably more efficient big data methods of getting kids’ info – but making a “donation” to a school to cough up the Honor Roll roster was not an unheard of thing in the past.