<p>My daughter (now 19) did a P2P trip when she was 13. She went out and got a job to make all her spending money for the trip. She didn’t know anyone going on the trip but totally initiated everything (researching things, getting her passport, etc.). They met once a month before they went and had homework assignments.</p>
<p>It was a great learning experience for her in many regards. She still talks about things she experienced on the trip. They did home stays, a service project, and lots of educational and touristy stuff.</p>
<p>No, it’s not selective and if you are an experienced traveler you can do it cheaper yourself. But for a 12/13 year old it was an incredible time for her.</p>
<p>DS went. His biggest grouse was that the travel preparations for prospective parents and child, was extensive to the extreme. He was already well travel by then. </p>
<p>A friend of mine (who is a middle school social studies teacher) goes every year as a teacher/chaperone with a p2p trip. She speaks glowingly of the things the kids have gotten to do. I know her groups have done home stays with families, and that’s not something you’ll do if you travel there as a family.</p>
<p>Not a scam but I went on a P2P trip to Europe two summers ago and it’s definitely not worth it! It wasn’t my first time to Europe but I wanted to go with people my age (instead of just my mom because my friends couldn’t afford a trip to Europe).
It started out fine but then the incompetency of the home office and the selected leaders was made apparent to me.
Drug use is supposed to be prohibited while on the trip and any violation of this rule is supposed to mean the offender is returned home (no questions asked) with one of the leaders accompanying him/her. However, a few students violated this rule and were they sent home? No, because neither of the leaders “wanted” to go back with the student nor did the home office want to enforce its own rules. In other words, they were slapped on the wrist for a clear violation of rules.
Also, as other people above me have stated it is NOT selective at all, whatsoever. The selectivity is basically determined by the particular leaders of the group. The leaders of MY group were selective in that they chose well-behaved students who had something to offer and would project a positive image of Americans abroad. However, the leaders of the group that we were sent on the trip with (two groups are brought together to go on the trip) were CLEARLY not selective: the kids in their group were mostly ill-behaved, rude little things who, I’m sure, projected a negative image. Even the behavior of their leaders were were - for lack of a better word - DISGUSTING: they spent their time NOT taking care of the students in their group, disregarding rules, and even spreading rumors about our group and the leaders of our group (mind you one of the leaders was well beyond her 30 and you’d expect some adult-like behavior, but no!). </p>
<p>I will say one positive thing however: our homestay was in Germany and I greatly enjoyed it. I’m still friends with the girl whose home I stayed at and I even befriended her friends. I plan on visiting again sometime soon. </p>
<p>In short, if you decide you have the $$ for this trip and you honestly want to take a chance with it, go ahead but don’t expect too much from this company.
IMO, just find a regular tourism company and travel with them for MUCH cheaper and for a better time! =) OR if you want something to put on a college app AND a GREAT experience, just do a regular foreign exchange.</p>
<p>If you have strong grades and/or good test scores, you will find that you will get a lot of mail. Some of it will be on lovely paper with embossed seals and big name sponsors. Be careful. Most of these are profit oriented enterprises. A few may not be. </p>
<p>One friend did P to P, going to Washington DC. He had a blast. He saw the sights. His parents were very proud. I think it was about $4K. </p>
<p>One of my guys went to National Scout Jamboree. Saw the Washington sights. Had a blast. Slept in a tent. Parents very proud. Cost was about $1500. </p>
<p>But I wouldn’t conclude the two experiences are interchangeable. Scouts isn’t for everyone. And the P to P probably did introduce the kid to his Congress folks and some other movers and shakers (who meet hundreds of people every week). </p>
<p>You are doing the right thing – asking lots of questions and researching carefully. You only have so much money and so much time. Don’t be seduced by flattering words – but do explore your options. Good luck!</p>
<p>The aspect of it that bothers me most is that a lot of naive people think it really is some kind of ambassador/service thing, and present it to their community that way. A kid we knew had articles written about him in the local paper, and ran fundraisers as if donations were needed to help him do some kind of community service. I think the family really bought into that aspect, and the papers did, too. My impression is that P2P somewhat leads families into believing that.</p>
<p>I’ll say that P2P IS an ambassador/service thing. They do service projects while they are there, and they have to do extensive research and discussion before they go over there. I can believe that some groups do not get fully into the spirit that they say is their mission, but our group did. My D felt the entire time that she was representing the kind of “American abroad” that we all hope we will be - respectful, wanting to learn, etc. - and not just a tourist goofing around. Her homestay was absolutely wonderful. And, as I mentioned before, her experience at Normandy was unforgettable, and only was possible as a P2P student. She definitely felt that she was representing our country among many countries honoring a historical event and people who gave their lives.</p>
<p>Whether the ambassador mission is made meaningful in a group you may be considering traveling with is something you’ll have to determine for yourself. It definitely was a strong theme when my D went.</p>
<p>We will always wince a little bit on what that money would otherwise have been used for, but we made a careful choice at the time. Travel is expensive, no matter what, and we chose to give her this experience, which we did and do feel was unique, rather than pay for a trip for several of us to somewhere else.</p>
<p>“If you have strong grades and/or good test scores, you will find that you will get a lot of mail.”</p>
<p>How could anyone find out your grades and/or test scores. It certainly does not come from your high school, maybe if you take standardized tests at an early age, they might be able to get a list of names for certain range of scores. More logical conclusion is that they find the names from whatever sources they can get their hands on and blast everyone with the brochures. The problem is that they give the impression that it is selective and hype up their program with nice stationary and picture of presidents to get you interested and eventually pay way more than reasonable amount for what it actually should cost. If nothing else, this kind of tactic is a little bit sleazy to me.</p>
<p>I don’t like that way it leads some parents to believe that their “special” child was hand-selected. Virtually any child with the bucks can go. Not an honor.</p>
<p>"How could anyone find out your grades and/or test scores. It certainly does not come from your high school, maybe if you take standardized tests at an early age, they might be able to get a list of names for certain range of scores. "</p>
<p>Companies buy lists of students who do things like take the PSAT, SAT, etc.</p>
<p>“Companies buy lists of students who do things like take the PSAT, SAT, etc.”</p>
<p>They still don’t know your grades or test scores, maybe just a range of test scores that you are in. Like my D, a lot of these kids got their mailings way before taking PSAT, obviously they don’t get the names from just PSAT or SAT. I have no idea how they got my daughter’s name but my older son who has even better SAT score never got any mailings from them.</p>
<p>They don’t need to know their grades or test scores. The companies know that the students are probably college bound so are more likely than are others to have parents willing to pay for expensive educational opportunities.</p>
<p>There probably are other lists they can buy, even perhaps names of people subscribing to magazines for teens or participating in certain sports, ECs or summer camps.</p>
<p>Zip codes also probably are used to screen for students coming from families who can afford such trips.</p>
<p>My sons started getting such mail after taking the SAT in 7th grade.</p>
<p>Then I completely agree. I thought you were trying to defend their practice and argue that it actually is a merit based program. My original point I was asserting was that they do not care for grades or test scores, and even if they care, they cannot find out about it unless they have your permission. If you are saying that they are casting a wide net trying to attract anyone that would be willing to pay, then I think you are correct.</p>
<p>Most legitimate program, you need to personally apply and present your qualifications. Any mailings I got similar to this go right into the trash.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a good, relatively inexpensive way for your 17-18 yr. old to travel overseas, check out Children’s International Summer Village (it’s on the internet). There are several chapters in cities across the US. My kids have been traveling with them since they were 11 and we’ve been very pleased with the program. The program for 17-18 yr olds is called Seminar. 1-2 kids from each of 12 countries travels to a foreign destination (changes every year) for a 3 week camp. They travel alone, but there is adult supervision once they arrive at their destination. We were host family for 2 kids from Norway last week after their camp ended and we had so much fun showing them Texas (although 105 degrees in the shade was a little much for them!)</p>
<p>There are many good programs that are called or questioned by young people as possible ‘scams’.
The very mention for the possibility of a program being a scam, could discourage people/students from investigating the program, themselves. </p>
<p>Asking questions is commendable. Asking badly worded questions that slants the question/answer is bad. Please, OP, if you ever need to know, Never, ever use the phase “I’ve heard…”</p>
<p>My D went to Europe with People to People, and while she had a very positive experience, particularly enjoying the home stay, and we had no complaints about the trip itself or the chaperones (all high school teachers), in retrospect I do feel that the organization’s sales methods are scammy. They strongly imply that the invitees are a select group (which we totally fell for at the time, believing D had been nominated by her teachers), when in fact anyone who wants to go can self “nominate” and hop on board by just filling out an application and supplying a couple of recommendations. They also strongly imply that the students are somehow representing the US in the places they visit, that the governments of the visited countries are in some way involved (i.e., the “ambassador” terminology), when in fact they are just one more group of well-heeled teen tourists. (D’s trip had no service element–I believe most don’t.) Then there is the invocation of the Eisenhower name, which means nothing but gives a gloss of legitimacy. Bottom line, P2P is just a decently run student travel company, nothing more, one whose sales techniques do verge on the fraudulent. It should be examined in comparison to other teen travel companies, and only chosen if it is a good fit for the student and the parents’ pocketbook.</p>
<p>Students and parents should advocate for common sense ethical policies in their school districts that protect student privacy by:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Require that students or parents give expressed written permission to have the students name and other information be sold or given out to anyone not part of the approved curriculum.</p></li>
<li><p>If student information is sold to anyone, require that the terms and amount of payments be publicly disclosed.</p></li>
<li><p>Forbid staff or volunteers from introducing ventures that make money for themselves or their family.</p></li>
<li><p>Adopt a policy that protects student privacy internally and externally, e.g. The school board should publicly admonish the college board for selling student lists.</p></li>
</ol>