<p>I got a brochure for the Junior Statesmen Summer School (programs @ Gtown, Princeton, Yale and Stanford), and it actually looked kind of interesting and something I might want to do over the summer. Has anyone here done this program before? Was it worth it? It's about $4000, which is kind of a lot and I'd probably have to pay for the whole thing, so if I'm going to do it, I want it to be worth it. Oh, and they talk about getting scholarship money, does anyone know about how much they give? Any help/advice is appreciated! Thanks!</p>
<p>Words of my GC: If it asks for money, it's no good. </p>
<p>$4000? <em>mouth falls on floor</em></p>
<p>It's a good program, and everyone has a good and enriching time and people do rave of it. Some kids even go back every year...
It's really pricey, but they do help you with fundraising if you contact the office (I know the head guy and he's really supportive).
If you still can't afford it, there's always other opportunities, but JSA Summer School is rewarding if you can afford it (and you don't party 24/7 while you're there).</p>
<p>i did it and i actually really enjoyed it. it does ask for money but most of that goes towards paying speakers and stuff.</p>
<p>i did it at georgetown and it was one incredible experience. i learned a lot in my class and i made good friends. but most exciting was the unbelievable speakers we had. dennis kucinich, pat robertson, andy card, and tons of others. even just the nametag was awesome because it helped us get behind-the-scenes tours in the capitol building (on the underground tunnel and all). i met john kerry and barack obama (before the presidential campaign!) and i got to spend three weeks in washington dc.</p>
<p>so all in all, if you can afford it, then i would say go for it. if you have any more questions you can pm me.</p>
<p>yeah, i got that in the mail too...it looks absolutely amazing. really amazing. i went to a program in DC a couple summers ago, and it was rather mediocre, but this sounds like the real deal.</p>
<p>of course, i don't have 4,000 dollars, and my parents would ask, you're going to college next fall anyway, why go? we definitely don't have the money for it. and they'd point to my experiences at NSLC. Plus, I'm a senior, and do seniors ever go to these things?</p>
<p>And how competitive is it?</p>
<p>But it sounds so coooooooool. :(</p>
<p>I got that in the mail as well and it seemed great. I was really interested in the one at Princeton but unfortunately, I already have an internship that is for the whole summer and pays $1000 dollars. So, I have no choice unfortunately. Does anyone know if seniors can do it?</p>
<p>My D did Georgetown two years ago,...the program surpassed all expectations, from teachers, to programs, to access to the capital, to speakers, it was AMAZING...</p>
<p>she met our Senators, and if you know California, you know we have some amazing and powerful people, she met Obama, she met Pelosi, Boxer, she went to the DoD, the French Embassy, the AP Gov class she took was incredible</p>
<p>One of my best friends did it and loved it! Its really prestigious to get into though, she had straight A's, but she didn't get into Stanford and ended up going to Yale.</p>
<p>it's one of the best experiences of my life and has defined me as a person. trite? yes. true? definitely.
i did the georgetown summer program for two summers. the second year i went back because i absolutely loved it. sure, there are classes, term papers, lectures, and weekly schedules that "forget" to include time to do homework. however, don't let that deter you. you meet people from all over the country, all over the world, all over the political, religious, and socioeconomic spectra. oh, and did i mention meeting famous people? but you don't just listen to them...you ask them questions after a usually informative lecture from them. i asked a question to senator chuck hagel (R-NE), so when i see him in the news, it's pretty cool.
just in case the "wow" factor hasn't materialized yet, here's a list of some of the people i have met, seen, and/or questioned in a scant six weeks (two summers):
- josh bolten (bush's chief of staff)
- chuck hagel
- elaine chao (secretary of labor)
- barack obama
- dick durbin
- dennis kucinich
- sen. mark dayton (D-MN)
- sen. lisa murkowski (R-AK)
- a lobbyist who might have known jane fonda very well, ahem
- christine todd whitman
- the french ambassador to the US
- mike mccurry (clinton's press secretary)
and it's not just about meeting famous politicos, either. again, the friendships you make are amazing and i'm still in touch with many of my close friends from both years of JSA. the professors are outstanding and you will continually be challenged. whatever program you choose (stanford, georgetown, yale, princeton), you'll be happy, but the speakers program at georgetown was out of this world, given its location in washington DC. bottom line? do JSA.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all of your help! I'm definitely going to see if I can do this over the summer, it sounds awesome! Thanks again!</p>
<p>This sounds fantastic-- is there a way to take a course and get credit for two semesters during this program?</p>
<p>my parents said I won't be able to do JSA this summer because they can't afford it right now but i'm only a Sophomore. Do most people do it the summer after their Junior year? I was thinking about doing JSA then. The program sounds amazing though. Is it really hard to get into? I'm jealous of all of you who got to meet Barack Obama. :-)</p>
<p>I'm thinking of going to one of their conferences. Those are around $400 (w/o the extra zero), held in many states, and also looked quite fun. I'm going to send the app over Spring break next week so we'll see.</p>
<p>If anyone could answer my questions about the program that would be great. I'm kind of frustrated since a lot of people do it after Sophomore year.</p>
<p>I did it after my junior year.</p>
<p>It was pretty amazing.</p>
<p>Anyone going to the OSU conference?</p>