<p>I was invited to all three. I did research and understand that they don't count for anything college-wise, but I'm interested in going to one for the laid back but still semi-academic environment.
which of the three do you think is the best?
any information from past participants would be GREAT
and if there have already been threads about this topic, links would be appreciated</p>
<p>to clarify, the program in lead america i was invited to is the National Leadership Summit</p>
<p>also-- how much of each of the programs (nls, nylc, nslc) are devoted to touring dc? because i live in the dc suburban area and im definitely not interested in visiting the monuments/mt vernon a ton.</p>
<p>NYLC isn't academic at all, more leadership-building type stuff. You know what I mean. They do do a lot of touring of DC, though, and you meet your representative-person in the House, if you can. From my camp there were a whole bunch of New Yorkers that saw (but didn't meet) Hillary Clinton and at my friend's somebody ended up in an elevator with John Kerry. But yeah, not academic. Laid-back, yes. Fun, yes. Learning experience, not so much, unless you count the simulation of the House of Representatives, which ... still. But yeah.</p>
<p>My son went to NYLF-Med in Chicago last summer. Got a lot out of it. He also attended NSLC, National Security and Intelligence. Lots of touring of DC, so you probably wouldn't want to do that. But he did get to go to the Pentagon, CIA, NSA, places not open to the general public. Got to stay at two different college campuses in two different areas of the country. That alone was worth the money, exposure to dorm life, meal plans, meeting people out of your geographic region, and out of your socio-economic, ethnic, religious group. We're regular middle class, and son has gone to an all boys Catholic school since fifth grade, so actually interacting with girls in a classroom type setting was a great experience for him.</p>
<p>alright thanks for the info!</p>