<p>Does anyone have experience with these programs? The Paris one in particular? What kind of kids do they atttract, what is the quality of the progam like? thanks so much!</p>
<p>(this is the private outfit, not the ox. school)</p>
<p>My daughter went to Oxbridge last summer after her sophomore summer. Not Paris, but Oxford. I highly recommend it. She made friends from all over the country. The programs sounded extremely well thought out and were not easy, but there was plenty of time for play, too. She and friends talked about going back to Paris this year, but we are doing U.S. The students who had been to Paris talked well of it to the others.</p>
<p>Our experience was two summers ago, and was at Cambridge in the younger student's program. Our daughter, who has always loved academic summer camps, especially loved this one. The letters we got from her from Day 1 said she was happier than she had ever been in her life and now she even wants to apply to Cambridge for college. I'ts mildly selective and bills itself as being for gifted kids, but if I recall correctly the criteria were quite modest. Thus the kidsa aren't all as bright as CTY, for example. They were different in other ways too - almost all of them were interested in the world at large (hence the travel to England) and most were outgoing and energetic. She made loads of friends. She did mention that there were a lot of drugs in the older kid group. In her program two scholarship boys were sent home for having pot in their room. That's another good thing about the program - they do have a good-sized scholarship program. From a paren'ts perspective, they had a bit too much freedon. They were dropped in London by bus and told to meet the staff that evening at 9:00 half way across town. For my then 13 year old, this was a bit of an assumption! Also Cambridge is very touristy so lots of bums are around propositioning people all the time. </p>
<p>As for academics, it's mixed. Her medicine class was not great, but drama was excellent. However she wished she'd taken two academics rather than an art as her major to learn more. I know someone who's child did drama at Oxford which was also wonderful. </p>
<p>I felt a little out of the loop as a parent as there was little feedback. It all turned out great, but a few worries on this end. I do highly recommend it though!</p>
<p>My daughter is currently a sophomore in college and is still in touch with people that she met while doing the Paris branch of Oxbridge after her sophomore year in high school. She thoroughly enjoyed her instructors and thought that her classes were interesting and covered a great deal of material. Students can take their classes in english or participate in an immersion program where everything is taught in french. The Paris campus is located on the Left Bank at what is a boarding school during the school year. It is just off of Luxembourg Gardens. My husband and I have stayed in the area many times...it is a pretty neighborhood and quite safe.</p>
<p>There were a very small group of students attending because they had nothing better to do but the majority of students were like my daughter.... who had no problem finding people who were there to learn and have a great summer exploring an amazing city. </p>
<p>Years later my daughter still talks of Oxbridge as a wonderful experience. The program was well run, with some supervision but plenty of freedom to explore the city. There were excellent weekend activities for those who wanted to participate. The level of freedom offered was perhaps too much for a middle-school student but IMHO it was just right for someone who would be heading off to college in two years.</p>
<p>This program is not for rule breakers. I don't know if this still applies but students were not allowed to drink when my daughter attended, even though many were technically legal in France. Two boys were caught drinking at a local cafe during the first week of the program and they were immediately sent home.</p>