<p>Parents, I like humanity or writing. math is okay but i may not qualify. i don't remember and don'e care -- CTY has a lot so i prefer to do humanity or writing. have your kids done any of those at the end of 7th g? I'm debating among several, like "Beginning Ancient Greek", "Etymologies", "Logic: Principles of Reasoning", etc. I don't think i'm into any serious philosophy course yet. please give suggestions. thanks and merry xmas, santa claus may come with suggestions? i doubt it so i am waiting for you all. :)
I also love writing. i've taken process of writing and writing for an audience online. am not sure about going to a camp for 3 wks just do writing though.</p>
<p>S took existentialism and philosophy at CTY/TIP programs, and enjoyed both. Before he selected those programs, I didn’t know he had any interest in philosophy. In fact, when I was guessing what he would pick, I immediately assumed he wouldn’t pick philosophy.</p>
<p>Be aware that the programs fill up quickly and you may not get your first choice.</p>
<p>Pick whatever you’re most interested in, and do allow yourself to stretch and explore something that perhaps you haven’t had a chance to dive into before.</p>
<p>My son did “Reasoning, Logic, and Formal Proof.” It was very math-y, which he loved, so it may not be for you.</p>
<p>I agree with Northstarmom. It’s only for three weeks, so stretch yourself.</p>
<p>Both of my kids did a heavy duty math class, but what I can tell you is to do which ever one you are most interested in, and will enjoy, don’t do what others think would be “good” for you. They really go in depth in this, so don’t do something that you only have a small bit of interest in. You can look online and look at last year’s curriculum to get a better idea. They had a great time, it is challenging but very social. There are many activities besides just schoolwork to keep you busy. Have fun!</p>
<p>My D did “Beginning Ancient Greek” and “History of Disease.” The Ancient Greek was the best! She stayed in touch with a lot of those kids for years afterwards! And Greek is terrific for writing/humanities related reading, culture.</p>
<p>I think you should do whatever you think sounds like fun. I also know someone who did Greek and loved it. My son (mathy guy) did Game Theory, Cryptology and Fast Pace Chemistry. The first two were the most fun, the last he did to skip a high school course and it had less wiggle room to do interesting things. I know in Game Theory they watched a movie about the Cuban Missle Crisis and discussed pricing wars along with learning Matrix Algebra. In Cryptology they took a field trip to the NSA museum.</p>
<p>I’m afraid I won’t be much help here, since I basically took a bunch of mathy classes at TIP (similar to CTY, yeah?). But my brother took the Logic course and that was also somewhat math-based, so if you’re not into that sort of stuff, you might want to be wary of it.</p>
<p>That said! Lots of good stuff there. I’m sure you’ll be glad with whatever class you land in. Just find some stuff you like, rank accordingly, and if you don’t get your top choice, well, maybe you’ll discover a new passion. ;)</p>
<p>@ mathmom: I took the Cryptology course at TIP. One of the best courses I’ve ever taken, period. I still get stars in my eyes thinking about it sometimes, and it made me consider the entire cryptology-related career. Course, this was before I discovered that such a career requires some high-duty computer programming skills, which I don’t at all possess. Heh.</p>
<p>I’m impressed that a 7th grader is posting here. Good for YOU. :)</p>
<p>D did Etymologies after 7th grade at the JHU campus and loved it, as well as the whole CTY experience. Whichever course you take, I hope you have fun!</p>
<p>I did CTY for 3 years and took Crafting the Essay, Logic, and Philosophy of the Mind.</p>
<p>Crafting the Essay turned out to be less writing than I expected and more reading and discussing personal essays and the techniques they used. We did write and strongly edit 3-4 personal essays over the 3 weeks, but the emphasis was definitely more on techniques, on hooks and structures and that stuff.</p>
<p>Logic was the BEST. My dad pushed me into it, and I was afraid it’d be a bit too theoretical for me, but it was actually by far the most useful class I took at CTY. We discussed how arguments work, learned how to prepare stronger arguments (techniques I still remind myself of and use on a pretty regular basis more than two years later), debated morality and ethics, and wrote a really fun and interesting paper about the morality of a popular children’s book. It was interesting, useful, and lots of fun. We did some truth tables for a day or two at the beginning, but no real math. I highly recommend you take Logic at some point, though I’m not certain I’d recommend it to a 7th grader (no offense!), because those who took it at 15 or 16 in my class definitely got more out of it than the 13 and 14 year olds.</p>
<p>Philosophy was too abstract and theoretical for me. There was a LOT of reading (academic, 30-40 page papers every morning) and we memorized lots of names and ideas but didn’t really get to discuss our own ideas. It was definitely a very fact-based intro sort of class and I couldn’t really delve into one aspect of it like I could in Logic.</p>
<p>If you skipped the giant mountain of text 
I just think you should take Logic, but probably a couple of years down the road if you’re planning on sticking with CTY until you’re 16. I’ve also heard great things about Ancient Greek. But Logic is awesome.</p>
<p>So I’m borrowing my mom’s account to respond to this post…</p>
<p>As a CTYer approaching my last year of the program, i’ve only taken one of the courses you listed (Logic). It was an interesting course but could be a little dry at times. however, i have heard that different teachers at different sites teach it differently, and some are way more fun than others. there is a bit of math type stuff in Logic, but not a ton. </p>
<p>I’ve heard a lot of good things about both etymologies and Greek, but having never taken them, i can’t really say much. </p>
<p>If you do qualify for Math, i HIGHLY suggest taking Cryptology. It was my favorite course, both for the people in it and the subject. It can involve quite a bit of math, especially depending on your teacher, but the fun things you learn usually overshadow the math aspect. plus, at some sites, the class gets to do a scavenger hunt around the campus for their final. </p>
<p>Whatever you do, you’ll have a ton of fun at CTY. even if it turns out your course isn’t all that fun, you’ll meet great people and do lots of fun activities. I’ve met some of my best friends at CTY. but the courses are usually fun, so i wouldn’t worry too much about it.</p>
<p>IF you want to know more about CTY in general, there are a lot of websites around that can give you information, such as realcty.org.</p>
<p>I just asked my son which his favorite CTY summer program was, and he said, “Probably Cryptology.” Cog Psych was his second favorite. He took six other :eek: courses, both humanities and mathy ones, but never got around to Crafting the Essay, despite a LOT of encouragement from his mother to take it!</p>
<p>My S took International Politics and really enjoyed. it.</p>
<p>Crafting the Essay can be done online during the school year. My daughter did it, and it was not difficult to fit in with the rest of her schoolwork. Spread out over a full term, it required only several hours a week to complete the assignments. My daughter wrote some lovely essays, which really boosted her confidence in her writing skills. I would have preferred more feedback, but overall it was a good course and a good experience for her.</p>
<p>I have a related question. My kid qualified for humanities classes, and just missed qualifying for math/science, but is much more interested in math/science. Should he take a humanities class, or math/science at the CAA level? Thank you.</p>
<p>vvs2010: Would your child be interested in taking a class that’s technically labeled as humanities but has some math/science elements to it? i.e. Logic, Cognitive Psychology.</p>
<p>Yes, he’s considering one of these classes, maybe Logic. Is it better than taking a CAA class?</p>
<p>I very much appreciate all your input! Thanks, enjoy the last hour of 2009 Christmas. i really love CTY and I’ll stay with it as long as my parents let me to.</p>
<p>Son went through our state located GT program- WCATY- and the courses aren’t as important as just being there with intellectual peers for a few weeks. Enjoy the experience. PS- his courses were good as well.</p>
<p>Regarding CAA, I have heard not great things about the program. I know that if you miss the score cut off by 10 points you can apply for an excpetion through CTY. This coming summer will be my last summer of CTY and I am so excited. Last year I took History of Disease. This summer I’ll be taking either Critical Essay Pop Culture or Utopias and Dystopias. I have heard mixed things about Ancient Greek, some loved it, and some said it got quite dull. I have heard very good things about Logic and it was the most popular class at Lancaster (there were 3 sections). What site are you considering attending? I don’t recommend JHU.</p>