<p>Noril07: The course really exists. I was being somewhat cynical in my last post about the signed certificate from Homeland Security.</p>
<p>I attended NYLC during a winter session back when I was in high school & it was great. I had a meeting with my district's house representative, met with staffers of Dianne Feinstein, met with journalists at the National Press Club and learned about international relations through various seminars. The best part was that I worked with other young people from all over the country. It's a helpful week for those who are interested in government and diplomatic type careers.</p>
<p>You are invited to NYLC and NSHSS based on your SAT scores. Both Organisations have obviously used this method to correlate what are 'supposedly' students of 'calibre'. At least that appears to be the process for International students. I'm not sure whether the same criteria applies for US based students. Also, the program is enhanced if International students participate - so they also apparently check TOEL scores too to ensure that they are comfortable with spoken English - or American (depending on your point of view). Hope this feedback helps.</p>
<p>It was far and away the easiest and cheapest way I could find to send my daughter to DC for two weeks of learning about how government works. She had a good time, but a college hook it's not.</p>
<p>I'm with dmd77. My daughter had missed her DC opportunity in the 8th grade (right after 9/11) and this was a good way to send her off on a similar adventure. She really enjoyed it, but never bothered to mention it on her college aps.</p>
<p>my son went to the program on law -- enjoyed it, met some great kids with whom he still keeps in contact and he learned a ton about the different career possibilities in law. He fees the seminar was well worth attending -- for the knowledge he got, not any prestige factor.</p>
<p>Scholarships are available for low-income kids -- my son only had to pay for his plane ticket -- but I understand the scholarships are pretty competitive. He had decided he would go if he got a scholarship, otherwise he wouldn't go -- so it worked out well.</p>
<p>I did it back when I was a junior in high school. Like people have said - it's not going to magically make you more impressive in the eyes of adcoms or anything like that, but it was honestly just a fun learning experience. We went to the National Press Club, got a tour of Capitol Hill, saw places like the Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial, and some of the group activities we were supposed to do were actually fairly stimulating. The other people I met there were all pretty cool, and one of my best friend's actually went the same week as me and was in my group. All in all, it was a lot of fun and I would do it again. Is it going to help get you into the college of your choice? No. Is it worth going if you can afford it? I think so.</p>
<p>Well, My Daughter just recieved this invitation as well. I found it very similar to other vanity conferences that my (older) son started getting when he was at the same age. </p>
<p>Being in a particularly bad mood this morning, I decided to research this this group just to see what I could find. </p>
<p>I started with the letter addressed to me on Tufts University letterhead from DR Richard M. Lerner. </p>
<p>A quick search on yahoo of Richard Lerner showed no connection to NYLC, but it did show that he was actually on staff at Tufts. I even found his phone number and was going to give him a call, but I figured I`d check out the internet a little more first.
The welcome letter was addressed to me, and it informed me that a second nomination package will be coming. Well it did. Looked like a wedding invitation. It was signed by
Donna J. Snyder, and the address is no longer from Tufts University by from Washington DC. So I yahoo`ed Donna J. Snyder and found her, here:</p>
<p>Envision</a> EMI - Educate, Motivate, Inspire</p>
<p>well what's this I ask myself, why is she not coming up on some websites for NYLC ??? So now I go and check out
Envision EMI</p>
<p>and to my [not so] surprise what is it? A vanity press house that shells out to fake non-profits to collect money on the gullable bunch:</p>
<p>Envision</a> EMI, LLC - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Word</a> of Mouth Marketing Association — Members – Envision EMI</p>
<p>I was going to call up Tufts University admissions as well as my college and just ask what they thought specifically of NYLC but I'm quite sure I've found my answer, </p>
<p>This is nothing more than a money collecting pit preying on gullible students and parents. </p>
<p>I'm quite sure since it targets well educated students and those with thousands of dollars, you get a nice group of kids attending, all with good intentions of a learning environment. I'm also sure that the conference will make sure that the events stay on topic, if they end up on the next edition of <code>girls gone wild</code> this won't help their marketing, but that hardly is enough to justify this blatant attempt to take advantage of parents and their children.</p>
<p>
[quote]
blatant attempt to take advantage of parents and their children
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, you pay money for the conference, it is true, but most of the posters here said their D/S enjoyed the conference and got something out of it. Other than their marketing materials, what's wrong with that??</p>
<p>S1 and S2 were invited to participate in NYLC, the college counselors at each of their schools gave similar advice. "A nice way to spend their time, but doesn't add in a meaningful way to a college application." They had two friends who attended, one found it a very good experience because he knew after that that he never wanted to go into medicine after that experience and the other boy said it was okay. </p>
<p>A suggestion to those who are looking for ways to add leadership to their resume is to spearhead a project in your community. Projects such as a coat drive, food drive, getting students together to tutor younger, disadvantged kids, cleaning up a vacant urban lot, cleaning up a park, volunteering at a food pantry or soup kitchen, a toy drive for a local shelter,...there are so many things you can do to help others that do not cost your parents a lot of money and will look great on your college application. Do something you enjoy doing, it will show when you talk to the admissions officer!</p>
<p>I think the wording of jleslie might be a bit too harsh -- would you expect to send you kid to Washington D.C, or whereever the program is, for nothing?</p>
<p>The costs might seems somewhat high -- but they are also in line with all the other "packaged" programs out there. My son's middle school is offering a five day trip to Washington D.C., with a whirlwind tour of all the main sites for $1200 (plus you pay for lunch each day and a tip for the tour director and bus driver -- so add in another couple of hundred, at least). Seems awfully high cost to me -- but these "packaged tours" or "conferences" include tour guides, scheduled events and, of course, some profit in there. For kids who don't have the opportunity to go with family or friends, it might well be worth the expense.</p>
<p>I think what bothers most people is the fancy invitations and the idea that the program is exclusive. In a way, most of these programs are exclusive -- neither NYLC or NYLF or Presidential Classroom (all three offer similiar programs) or my son's middle school tour want kids who are poor students, troublemakers, etc. So if you get decent grades, follow the rules and don't rock the boat -- you are a member of the exclusive club.</p>
<p>I think it's wrong to suggest that people who take part in these conferences are suckers who do it to (mistakenly) pad their resumes. </p>
<p>Our son attended the one in DC, and would NEVER have considered listing it anywhere on his college application or resume. On the other hand, coming from a family with four kids, and not having had the chance to travel much (and never alone), he def. found it a valuable experience. He wished they hadn't spent quite so much time on role-playing, but admitted he did learn a lot. He thoroughly enjoyed the excursions into DC and the behind-the-scenes visits to the different houses and the meetings with representatives, though I think the high point was breakfast at the National Press Club. </p>
<p>Basically, it was very different from any experience we could have given him on a family trip. The boy from our school who had attended a year or two before had said it was one of the most fun things he'd ever done, which was probably the main reason we decided to give it a second look. I DO agree that I'm not fond of their over-the-top packaging/marketing, but don't regret sending him. For a student interested in government and/or politics, I think it offers a good experience, and there didn't seem to be any misrepresentation in what they advertised vs. what they offered.</p>
<p>Just my two cents. To each his own.</p>
<p>youarenumber6-what is your problem? Did you ever attend NYLC? Let me just tell you that you have the wrong view of this program. We met with a woman who worked in Homeland Security. We met with Senators and members of Congress. The people I met there are, without a doubt, future leaders of America. I don't know why you're being so elitist, and maybe if you had actually attended one of these programs you would know that. </p>
<p>By the way-NYLC also gives out scholarships to members who go home and start a Grassroots campaign. How is that not leadership?</p>
<p>Anyways. I put NYLC on my apps, but it definitely wasn't a selling point for me.</p>
<p>I had an amazing time...I still talk to a few of the people 2 years later. It was definitely well worth the trip and gave me some great connections in that I got to meet my congresswoman and actually sit and talk with her for a half an hour, which resulted in her offering me an internship if I was ever in need of one. I still have her business card somewhere. (I also got to ride in an elevator with Hilary Clinton, but I digress.)</p>
<p>Also, you might look at LeadAmerica. Again it's not very prestigious, but I enjoyed LeadAmerica even more than NYLC. It was AMAZING and I learned a ton..and with LeadAmerica you even get 1 or 2 (but you have to pay for the 2nd and it's pricey) college credits!! And they have different conferences themed around different themes (I went to the Crime Scene Investigation one). If you have any other questions, feel free to IM or PM me...these were both amazing experiences and I would definitely consider doing NYLC. It was awesome.</p>
<p>Oh. Also. NYLC was great because it was the first time I really traveled by myself...really gives you a sense of independence. Just a little sidenote. ^_^</p>
<p>This is the BEST advice I have seen about this matter. I got the invitation today for my son and decided to do some research before making a decision. Thanks for the insight and the eye-opener!</p>
<p>My son just finished this program. In fact, he is just heading back home from there. The breakdown was that they didn’t verify his travel information and he didn’t have a shuttle scheduled so he had to take a taxi ($74) which ended up taking him to the wrong airport! Naturally, he missed his flight and I had to pay another $70 to get him to another airport. When I called on Tuesday to speak to one of their representatives, I was assured that their representatives would take care of participants. I know my son is not a child but this doesn’t not occur as someone making sure that he was getting home safely.</p>
<p>Envision runs these conferences all over the country with loose affiliation with prestigious schools. S just got invited to a law-based conference at Stanford, signed by a Stanford dean. The only affiliation Stanford has (it appears) is renting out space on their campus to envision and putting their dean’s name on the invitation. While I’m sure it would be a great experience if we could afford it, we can’t. </p>
<p>MODERATOR’S NOTE: Please use old threads for reference; if you have a question, start a new discussion. Closing.</p>