<p>Hi, I'm considering applying for Girls State in Massachusetts (a program designed to teach high school students about government), but the website was kind of confusing for me, and I'm having trouble finding more information on it. Does anyone on here know about Girls State (in any state)? Has anyone participated in this?</p>
<p>If anyone knows more, I have a few questions:
1. the website made it seem really conservative and christian- is that true, and if so, what's it like? when they're picking people for girls nation, do they only consider people who agree with them, or will they consider a leader who advocated a different point of view?
2. how is the experience? what exactly happens there?
3. how competitive is the selection for girls nation at the end? how many girls are they deciding between, and how much would you need to stand out to be selected?</p>
<p>Basically, I'm trying to decide whether or not to apply, since going would mean missing the final week of school and rescheduling everything around it, which would be a pain. I love politics, but since I don't know much about the program, I don't know if it's worth it. I recently did Harvard Model Congress and loved it, so I'm wondering if this would be a similar experience.</p>
<p>I participated in Palmetto Girl’s State and it was a terrific experience for me. I’ve heard that we have one of the better programs in the country… and that they all differ, so I can only tell you about South Carolina’s version. I was really confused about what it was before I got there. I don’t think any of us had any clue for what was in store for us.</p>
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Well first of all, you should know that the American Legion Auxiliary is a very Christian, Conservative organization. You can only be a member if you’re a veteran or related to a veteran and so they’re big on “country”. That being said, I knew girls of all faiths at Girl’s State and I’m in the Bible Belt. One girl in my city was Jewish and I met a few who weren’t religious. There were PLENTY of democrats there, which surprised me, seeing as how South Carolina is a very conservative state… so I wouldn’t be worried if I were you.
Well… It really depends on what you do. We had elections for different positions basically every night. We had everything from City Council to State Senate to Gubernatorial races. Every day we had three or four assemblies where we listened to South Carolina politicians. We heard a former governor, news media blogger (who had actually been on national news the week before for causing the scandal about Nikki Haley), people from county and city councils, mayors, senators, etc. We heard all types of speakers and they were all pretty interesting. We got to ask questions after. We sang a lot of songs and did a lot of city cheers. You sing a lot of patriotic songs (including the military songs!)
It really, really, really, really, really depends. Honestly.
Basically, each post of the American Legion Auxiliary raises money to send girls to girls state. If a post has more money, then they can send more girls. Some posts completely sponsor girls (IE pay for their room, board, participation fees) while others only partially sponsor or only nominate girls. My post happened to pay for everything except I think a $40 room deposit which we got back at the end of the week and a $30 registration fee. Other posts in my state didn’t pay for anything, so some girls had to pay like $750 to attend.
My post chose to send two girls from my school, but they chose to send five from another school, only one at another… etc. Nominations for Girl’s State are typically done through your local post. If your post is like mine, they’ll accept a certain amount from each school… but they might just take the best candidates.
A LOT of people have to interview/apply to be chosen for Girl’s State. I did neither. I submitted my name to my guidance counselor and then I ended up getting chosen. Some people had it like that when I went to Girl’s State, but a lot of people who I met said that they had to be interviewed… Again, it’s completgely up to your local post.
So with all of that being said, it could be very competitive (like for some of my friends) or it could be not competitive at all (like for me.)</p>
<p>It’s a really unique experience and I would recommend it, but it definitely isn’t for everyone.</p>
<p>^^thank you for your feedback!! could you maybe tell me a little more about the elections? if i go i’ll be really hoping to be considered for girls nation, so do you know what kind of things you have to do to prepare for those leadership positions? also, would you mind elaborating a little on how everything is set up? i know i’ll probably find out soon enough, but i want to try to get a sense of how the program is run before i decide whether or not to apply. thanks so much!</p>
<p>@billymc, i agree that they really should combine it- model congress was coed and it worked out great, so i don’t understand why they segregate the program by gender. doesn’t really make sense to me…</p>
<p>Some states do have them combined. My state didn’t. However, we met Boy’s State at the Capitol on Friday and had lunch with them and gave each other boys state/girls state t-shirts. I don’t know if that’s just my state tradition, or if that’s a big tradition, but I love my Boy’s State T-shirt. =)</p>
<p>Well, only two people out of an entire state are chosen for Girl’s Nation. Some states only choose Governor/Lt. Governor while others don’t. Mine doesn’t. One of my city mates ended up winning Lt. Governor but was not selected for Girl’s Nation.</p>
<p>Anyways… You’re initially divided into cities which is based on the residence hall that you live in. You make impromptu speeches in your city for the different positions and then everyone votes. If you win, you get the title for that position. Anyways, you progressively go through elections each night. You can run for Party positions, senate positions, city positions, county positions, and eventually state positions (governor, superintendent of education, etc.) I must say that the competition for these positions gets harder and harder as you go through, because EVERYONE has lot of leadership experience, is the perfect student, is the president of their student council, is the president of a million clubs, etc. And when you’re at the city level, the competition is already fierce… Just imagine at the ‘state’ level.</p>
<p>But honestly… It’s a very elaborate program and you really just can’t get a good sense for what it is until you actually do it.</p>
<p>Getting selected for Girl’s Nation is going to be very tough. You basically have to be ranked 1 or 2 in a group of girls that are already ranked number 1 at their high schools. There were something like 500 girls at my conference, so you only had a 0.4% of being picked for Girl’s Nation. At Boy’s State, there were 1000 boys at the conference, so they only had a 0.2% chance of getting into Boy’s Nation. Point Being: It’s easier to get into Harvard. Don’t go with the intention of trying to get into Girl’s Nation. Go with the intent to learn something and have fun at Girl’s State. It’s an honor just to be chosen for Girl’s State.</p>
<p>ok, thanks so much for sharing your experience! i definitely wouldn’t be going just to get into girls nation, i was more just wondering. anyway, that sounds really fun- i guess i just have to decide if its worth my last few weeks of junior year being hell as i reschedule all my finals…</p>
<p>^yeah, i got that from your first post, but i thought that you might be making a legitimate point one the second, since the idea of having the model state run only by women or only by men is in my view just as illogical as actually having a state run only by or made up only of one gender.</p>
could you maybe tell me a little more about the elections? if i go i’ll be really hoping to be considered for girls nation, so do you know what kind of things you have to do to prepare for those leadership positions? also, would you mind elaborating a little on how everything is set up? i know i’ll probably find out soon enough, but i want to try to get a sense of how the program is run before i decide whether or not to apply. thanks so much!</p>