<p>Has anyone done/heard things about the Junior Statesmen Summer Programs?</p>
<p>You take AP Gov't and Speech classes at different colleges (yale, Stanford, Georgetown).</p>
<p>I got invited, but I'm not sure if I'm going or not. I've gotten invited to other programs I'd rather go to.</p>
<p>I did it two summers ago and really didn't like it. The curriculum was pretty rushed - we spent a lot of time on the speakers program (which was maybe 10% valuable and 90% a waste of time) and really didn't get enough focused time in class to actually learn much. In addition, the teacher really wasn't that great. He spent a lot of time ranting about his own political opinions and didn't really give us helpful information. It also seemed like a lot of the students were just there to pad college applications and didn't really take the experience seriously.</p>
<p>That said, to provide some balance:
- The speakers program is only at Georgetown, so that particular complaint wouldn't apply to other sites
- I had hallmates whose professor seemed to be more serious about teaching
- You do get the experience of living on a college campus with a relatively large degree of autonomy. You also have some free time to explore DC, which is nice.</p>
<p>i did jsa georgetown after my freshman year of high school... the speaker program was really hit or miss, but i enjoyed the debate part of the program a lot...my professor was really great. however, i got the feeling that the other students were not taking the program seriously at all. i think it's really what you make of it. also, i felt that their rules regarding leaving campus (you have to sign out, be with a group of at least three, early curfew) were kind of stifling.</p>
<p>in contrast, this summer I went to harvard ssp. the courses were much more serious and in-depth...there were real college and grad students mixed in. this meant a lot more work, but i think that it was more rewarding. also, we had much much more freedom. we didn't have a curfew, and we were free to go to boston whenever.</p>
<p>so, i think for a younger high school student (rising sophomore, maybe rising junior) jsa might be a good fit, but for an older, more serious student (rising junior and up), i wouldn't recommend it.</p>