<p>This is for anyone who has done LEDA in the past–How was the LEDA program? Did it live up to your expectations? How was your experience?</p>
<p>How was the program?</p>
<p>I think this thread is pretty much dead, but I might as well post. Does anyone have any info on how the application process was?</p>
<p>Hey guys,
Sorry for not replying. I haven’t gone through the summer programs thread in a while. LEDA was the BEST summer of my life. I honestly didn’t expect it to be as great as it was. We had leadership class; it was very much discussion based. I never looked forward to going to class so much before. We had writing teachers (PhDs from Columbia and Princeton) that helped us on our writing and that are helping me right now as I write college admission essays. We also had an stardarized test prep class. The best part, however, was the people. I gained a new family there. We have a facebook group and we talk every day and have skype sessions. Everyone is extremely nice and motivated. We had olympics, movie nights, Talent show, pizza nights, everything. We also got the opportunity to visit Yale, Wesleyan, Columbia, Swarthmore, UPenn, Johns Hopkins, and Georgetown during the weekends. If you have the opportunity to go, GO!!!</p>
<p>@ Francesca for the update! How was the test prep? Do you feel it helped you? Do you feel that this program has helped you grow? Please fill us in on daily things… activities, were you allowed to have family members visit? How was the food? Did you meet any other CCers at the program? Just curious, did you apply to MIT MITES also?</p>
<p>The test prep was good. However, I already had a 2270 coming in the program so most of the stuff they were teaching i already knew. The full weekend morning SAT practice tests did help. Other kids who came in with somewhat lower scores did improve. One started with a >30 ACT score and now after LEDA has a 34 ACT. The test prep teachers come from pretty good schools (graduates from Harvard, Yale, some with 2400s). Absolutely. Everyone has a particular story which was why they were chosen (adoptin, homelessness, immigration, etc) and just seeing how other kids who had it honestly way worse than me were still succeeding was inspiring. My writing instructor (PhD from Columbia, teaches a freshmen writing seminar) was super tough (not one person got an A). I got Bs on every assignment, but he made me see what I need to change in my writing to get an A in college. Daily…we woke up…you either went to breakfast or the cafe…i liked the cafe better since it was right next to the classes. You got 2 meals(breakfast and dinner) at the dining halls and $9 dollars a day for lunch or breakfast at the cafe. $9 was a lot. The last few days, all of us spent our money like crazy buying as much as we could xD. We went to classes, got out at 5:30…afterwards we had dinner…and then sometimes the residential staff had fun events planned for us but most of the time we had free time to do homework or chill (there’s Nassau street that has restaurants and clothing stores, some kids played at the volleyball courts, etc) Yes, family members are allowed to visit. I liked the food. Some kids were more picky and didn’t like it as much but it’s tolerable. There’s always Wawa a block away. I didn’t actually 
. I did. I had only written two of the four essays because I thought the deadline was going to be midnight but it was 5 pm -.- so at 5pm I read on CC it’s due and I freaked out wrote whatever came to mind and send it in at 5:30. I didn’t get into MITES, but I got into E2@MIT, the one week version of it.</p>
<p>Wow sounds like a great summer! Its odd b/c you here much about the program AFTER the students attend for some reason. Which I find odd. Taspers tend to come back and tell of their experiences. I am sure everyone is busy with college apps and all. Again, thanks for the info! You have been a big help.</p>
Hello pentupeguin,
I applied to Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America and, I am still waiting for the response to my application. I wanted to ask several questions which are below
-What questions did they ask in the interviews?
-What did you write on your essay?
-How many and what extracurricular activities do you have that represent leadership?
-How many academic coursework such as Honors, APs, and IBs have you taken?