<p>I am a resident of North Carolina, and NC Governor's School accepts 600 students. Also, the selection process seems a lot more lax than the Governor's Schools in the Northeast like Pennsylvania and New Jersey, who seem to have a more rigorous acceptance process and accept fewer students. Do colleges weight all state Governor's schools with equal 'prestige'. If not, which Governor's school do you think are the most prestigious and why?</p>
<p>From NC’s biggest counties (Wake and CMS), the selection to Governor’s School is far from lax.</p>
1 Like
<p>As a NC resident, there seems to be less of an academic focus and intensity as seen from PA and NJ’s Governor’s schools, with the lack of an independent research project. Also, their courses more strictly academically oriented [Daily</a> Schedule - West](<a href=“North Carolina Governor's School | NC DPI”>North Carolina Governor's School | NC DPI) Don’t get me wrong, I hope colleges count them the say. I just want to know if they do.</p>
<p>Before you brought this up, I did not consider it, but I assume that if a Governor’s School is more selective, it would be viewed better by admissions officers. I imagine the perceived rigor of the courses plays a large(r) role in the eyes of admissions officers.</p>
<p>By the way, as a PA resident, are our Governor’s Schools even up and running? I know you mentioned it in your post, but last I checked the funding had been cut 100%…</p>
<p>^Funding for the NC Governor’s school was reduced last year as well.</p>
<p>I don’t think that the Governor’s School that an applicant attends will bear any meaningful significance in the admissions process. It’s good enough just to have the opportunity to attend. As it is, most summer programs don’t have a significant impact (except programs like RSI, MITES, TASP, etc.), so I doubt that something as negligible as the competitiveness of your state’s governor’s school will bear any weight in admissions.</p>
<p>Well Delaware Governor’s school I wouldn’t say is prestigious. It’s 5 days and 1 person per school in the state can attend.</p>
<p>A friend of mine went to an ivy league school and said that going to Governor’s School really makes the application stand out. As long as the program is generally rigorous I think it should help you out a lot. If it isn’t too difficult then it’ll help your application but it may not be a huge help.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>5 days might not be too long, but only one person per school does make it seem pretty selective. At least, it does not seem extremely easy to get in…</p>
<p>That’s not true. I know atleast 3+ people from one school (for Delaware) that went.</p>
<p>Yes, it is at least 1 person per school, it depends on size. My school, which has 50 students in a grade gets one student. A larger school I think can have as many as 6. It’s not particularly prestigious IMO and the selection is unfair. A tippy top prep school with 20 kids with 2000+ SAT scores and really rigorous classes can only send 1 of their students whereas MUCH less qualified students from significatly less rigorous schools (like a Christian school with 8 people) also gets to send one of their students.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Luckily, much of this was dealt with by cutting the size (400 to 300 students per campus) rather than instituting a full-price tuition. The tuition was 500$–not chump change, but far from the full cost for each student–and many school systems covered the cost for their students (a surprise, considering the massive budget cuts taking place). The Gov School community has a huge commitment to keeping the program open to all students, and they’re concerned about the inhibitory nature of any tuition whatsoever. They’re trying their best to keep NC’s Gov’s School from going the way of SC’s, where tuition->decreased selectivity->decreased prestige->shutting down. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>At least on East’s campus, every class had some sort of culminating project, and mine (French) did take the form of a research project. What’s different is that the research project isn’t mandated or outlined, so teachers are free to determine for themelves what sort of culminating project is the most relevant. I think the lack of grades, too, is a distinguishing factor. In no way does this make NC less academic than PA or NJ; indeed, you’d often find kids choosing to spend three hours in academic “electives” (more like seminars) every day after classes were over. </p>
<p>I will concede, however, that the selection process for NC (not sure about other states) is not intended to reward the best, most academic applicants; it is very, very demographically motivated. Their goal is not to pick the 600 quantifiably smartest kids from around the state, but to represent the state’s racial breakdown and many counties. For this reason, plenty of bright kids from the largest counties are shut out of the program, while racial minorities, gender minorities (boys in French; girls in math), or kids from under-represented counties find their way in despite lower credentials. </p>
<p>But, again, the process is far from lax. Being from CMS, I saw plenty of brilliant kids turned down, both this year and last, including (deserving) vals from both years.</p>
<p>^I agree with that. </p>
<p>
This is especially true. However, GS is still a great experience and will be looked upon favorably by admissions officers.</p>
<p>NC Governor’s School was one of the first and a model for the nation. How hard it is to get into does depend somewhat on your geographical competition. No one who attends NCGS is a slouch. If you apply yourself and get good recommendations you have a strong introduction into most colleges, but many just continue on to UNC and as I recall they have there own councilor who coordinates classes, research, and admissions with UNC…</p>