<p>For anyone with background knowledge of CTY and/or Duke TIP:
1.) What are the merits of these summer programs?</p>
<p>2.) For CTY, how can I set up a "MyCTY" account?</p>
<p>Thank you all,
infinity17 </p>
<p>I went to Duke TIP two summers in a row. You want to go only if their courses interest you. I heard you can try to get credit for the classes, but none of my friends or I have tried so I’m not sure. Duke TIP is an awesome place to learn things you probably won’t learn in school (I took Medical Science my first year and then Biology of Cancer my second year) and you make a lot of great friends and great memories. </p>
<p>@pattychoco thanks. I was wondering: do I have to take a course in all of the different subject areas or can I chose if I want to take some sort of a math class or history class? </p>
<p>@infinity17 whatever course you choose and get into will be your class for the 3weeks you are at Duke TIP. so if you choose abnormal psychology, for example, as your class of first choice and they accept you, your course would be ab psych for three weeks, nothing else</p>
<p>@pattychoco good to know. thanks!</p>
<p>The main benefit for our family was for the students to be around other bright, motivated kids who were interested in their academics. Middle school and early high school can be a time of asking “what’s wrong with me,” and to find an entire community of high-achievers that have more in common with one is very affirming. As @pattychoco says, you make great friends and memories. This attitude really infuses your school year and is motivating. I would not be sold on this feature in advance, but believe me, the energy and excitement/motivation was worth its weight in gold.</p>
<p>There are online resources and community to enhance your experience, as well. The courses themselves are great and you learn a lot, but the other aspects of the camp can be like oxygen depending on your home-school experience.</p>
<p>I do recommend getting a grade and asking your school to give you credit. It is a great boost to your GPA and really costs little in time or effort (on the part of the parents).</p>
<p>Your MyCTY account credentials will be emailed to you when you have signed up for talent search.</p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool thanks + i had a couple questions…
- For the GPA, are you saying that it could become MORE than a 4.0, unweighted in middle school?
- If I retake the SATs more than once, will CTY see all my previous scores or just the ones I send them? </p>
<p>For your questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>I am saying if life happens and you need it, there is always that extra “A” along with a larger denominator to help lift an errant misstep and reduce its impact on your GPA. Say your buddy and you each received a single “B” in middle school taking the identical schedule. Your GPA would be (slightly) higher than hers.</li>
<li>idk. It doesn’t matter. They are looking for threshold scores and will take the highest score. It’s not like you are competing against anyone. It is simply a threshold requirement. The scores will not follow you into high school either.</li>
</ol>
<p>@ItsJustSchool Thanks again!
I’m just slightly confused… How would my “friend” have a lower GPA even with the same single “B”?
For the SAT’s, would 2200’s place me in the running or should I aim for near perfect?
Oh Yeah, did you attend one of the programs at CTY before? How was it, if you went? </p>
<p>GPA calculation example. You each take four classes at school. In additions, you get a grade for your CTY class (A=4.0). Your grades at school are 3 A’s + 1 B: Friend is 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 =15 GPA=15/4 = 3.75. You are 4 + 4 + 4 + 3 + 4 = 19 GPA=19/5=3.8. You have a slightly higher GPA with the extra class from CTY to average in.</p>
<p>Your scores need to be something like 560 or so per subject, which is very high for a seventh grader. For SET you would want more like 700 per subject. The exact numbers are on the website. Just do the best you can, and see what the outcome is.</p>
<p>My kids went to CTY over the summers and had nothing but positive things to say about it.</p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool Thnks again for the explanation. Would I need to talk to my counselor about the GPA issue? </p>
<p>At the time that you have registered for a class at CTY, you will want to ask the instructor for a grade at the same time as giving you your written end-of-session evaluation. You will also need to present the syllabus to the school (your parents can talk to your guidance counselor) and ask the school if they will award credit. You should get the approval in advance- schools prefer it that way.</p>
<p>If so, you would bring the grade in at the end of summer/beginning of the school year to be added to your file. Just keep it low key, it’s really not a big deal. The benefit, in addition to the additional grade on your transcript, is if there is some question about whether you should be in Honors or not, or accelerated or not, or anything like that; having it in your official school record will just be another piece your parent can use to make the case that you are a serious student and you are worth “betting on” by putting you in the more advanced class.</p>
<p>Again, it is unlikely that getting a grade on your record for the CTY class will help in any way. However, if you need it there for an unforseeable reason, you may be really glad you took the incremental additional effort to be sure it is in the record.</p>