<p>HisGraceFillsMe-Thank you for your words. Sorry if I sound defensive-- my son had a great experience that changed his life. It shouldn't always be about the "prestige" of what appears on a college application. I'm not a big fan of paid summer experiences and he's never done another, but I knew our family would NEVER get to Australia. We sacrificed alot so he could go (and didn't solicit for hand-outs) and if we could afford it, he would do it again in a heartbeat, regardless of the opinions posted on CC.</p>
<p>hello5, it's great you son had a life-changing experience, but I'm sure that says far more about him than it does about P2P. It doesn't alter the fact that P2P does not limit its attendees to "the best and the brightest" while nonetheless selling itself to parents as if it does. Different schools may have varying criteria for sending a list to P2P, but the organization accepts a wide range of students overall. Of course the attendees tend to be better students, because families that can afford that sort of trip tend to stress education and achievement. However, once a child goes on one trip, the door is open to anyone else they "recommend". So long as the "recommendee" can also scare up a teacher recommendation, he or she is accepted. </p>
<p>As I said, I do think the P2P runs a very nice program, and I have no regrets about my daughter's participation. I just don't want anyone to be choosing it for the wrong reasons. It's not highly exclusive. It's educational only to the extent each participant wants it to be. I'm sure colleges know that it's no more than a travel program for kids who do decently in school and can afford the high cost and that, by itself, participation says little about the student. Hence it would be a mistake to send a child on a P2P trip for resume-building purposes--and let's not kid ourselves into thinking that resume building isn't of primary interest to many of those who are looking at this particular sub-forum.</p>
<p>If you want to go on a People to People trip and you don't get a letter inviting you, you can nominate yourself:
People</a> to People Student Ambassadors Nominate a Student</p>
<p>My daughter is considering sending her 11-1/2 yr old son on the P2P European trip next summer. How old was your daughter when she started? Thanks for reading and responding. REC</p>
<p>To HisGraceFillsMe: Please explain what CSLC and NYLC are. My grandson is going to be 11 in Dec. and we are looking at a European trip with P2P but I am concerned about what I have been reading here. Maybe there's something else he can do. Thanks.
REC</p>
<p>Hello5,
I'm glad your son enjoyed his experience with P2P. I was fortunate to travel abroad during HS. It was a great experience, on many levels - including opening my eyes to how other cultures differed from ours. Lucky for me, my trip was free because another country's government sponsored us.</p>
<p>I think we all benefit from travel experiences and I don't dispute your son learned a good deal from his trip. I hope ALL P2P participants have his positive experience. But the trip sounds similar to the trips offered to our HS students who are willing to pay for a supervised summer trip - or the trip offered to vocal students - or the soccer kids who have the chance to go play in Italy - or the kid who want to go study marine biology.... if you're willing to pay, they're willing to bring you. It's a travel business. Regardless of the P2P's marketing materials, it's simply a nice supervised summer travel experience. Around here, it's seen as an expensive substitute for summer camp. </p>
<p>All three of my kids received invitations year after year, through middle school and HS. They all took SATs in middle school and did well and so I assumed that's how their names got on the list. In HS, the invitations cited a teacher's name, but again, it reflected high GPAs, probably nothing more. </p>
<p>When the first invitation arrived, my oldest thought the trip sounded interesting and I agreed, but the cost was prohibitive for us. What kid wouldn't enjoy a couple weeks vacation in another country? Heck, I would have liked to go. But anyone who can come up with the money can go. If not "invited", a student can simply nominate themselves. So, how is this selective? </p>
<p>But for those who want and can afford to send their kids abroad (and don't want to go with them), P2P is a viable option. But there are other similar supervised trips for students available. P2P isn't any more of an "honor" than those trips.</p>
<p>Dear parents who are worried about sending younger teens and children on People 2 People trips,
I do not recommend sending children under the age of 15 at all. I went to Europe with P2P when I was 13 and don't remember a thing. I have pictures and all but it was when I was too young to remember or appreciate anything I was seeing. It's a decision that's up to you but I don't recommend it.</p>
<p>mommaJ has it right..it is a fun thing for kids to do if they have the money...my sone came back from australia much more mature and self confident and had a great time but in no way is this a one of a kind honor.it is a safe,fun and sort of expensive way to travel with a bunch of other kids with a safety net and no mommy</p>
<p>My daughter attended the People to People at Washington DC. To put it in my husband's words, it is 'an expensive vacation'! I would say it was very tiring for the kids. Every day they would spend all day touring places... listening to lectures on the bus, eating some fast food.</p>
<p>hypermom</p>
<p>I have never gone with People to People, so I cannot say anything about their program, but I can tell you by being on two CYLC programs that they are a complete waste of time.
I participated in a National Youth Leadership State Conference, and this year I went on the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference. </p>
<p>The NYLSC was 4 days of me and other kids from the surrounding states in a conference room in a hotel. We talked about what it was to be a leader and played "games" that weren't very fun. I felt bad for those who came to New Orleans for the first time because they never left the hotel - we didn't see actual sunlight for four days. This was a waste of time, but the other students from my school and I just figured that it would look good on our college applications. </p>
<p>This January I went with their program again to Washington D.C. to see the Inauguration of the 44th and first African American President. I figured that they would have everything planned out, set up and that everything would run on schedule. This never happened, and you can type it into google to hear numerous accounts of other students who weren't fed, didn't get to their hotels until 3 o'clock in the morning, or even didn't get to see the Inauguration. I have typed up my account of what happened to me the days I went there and as of right now it is almost 6 pages long. It details how we had to wait in line at the airport for almost 2 hours to get checked in (we never really did ) - how others we talked to later had stood in that line for 6 - 7 hours and never got food - how I was almost separated from the other girl I was flying with - how we were just dropped off in the middle of no where and told to just meet up in a couple of hours - how we were deserted during the actual inauguration and were surrounded by no other scholars - and this list goes on and on. If you think all this sounds bad, think of a little kid doing this as well as PYIC also had 6th, 7th and 8th graders participating - and just think , I live in New Orleans, and I am used to the crowds during Mardi Gras and the antics that happen there, but a little 6th grader who lives in some small rural town in Minnesota would have no idea how to get out of the large crowds we were in, and would have been left on multiple occassions as the bus I was on did to multiple students.</p>
<p>Please I urge you to not send any of yourselves or your children on any of the CYLC.org programs. Your child has not been nominated as a select scholar, they send out more invitations than spots and the students who are chosen are chosen by random.</p>
<p>I did People to People in my sophmore year of high school and it was a joke. It was basically a summer vacation with a bunch of kids from other schools. I highly recommend applying to Junior Statesmen of America Summer School at Yale, Stanford, Georgetown or Princeton. I went to Yale this past summer 2008 and it was terrific. I was able to meet with Katie Couric, Brian Williams, the Executive Director of UNICEF, and Geraldine Ferraro during Speaker's Day in New York City. And since we were at Yale, we got to meet with the Dean of Admissions. It is quite a rigorous program, but completely worth the experience.</p>
<p>Dear Members,</p>
<p>I have just registered for this site. I am a Turkish student who lives in Istanbul. Currently, I am a sophomore. I have taken the PSAT exam in October 2008 and my score is 178. </p>
<p>I have received this letter from People To People. It had all these fancy words like “honored” and it started with “dear parents of…”… So, as you can imagine, it really impressed my parents. </p>
<p>I have been asking my friends about it, and they have all told me that it will just be an incredibly expensive week in Harvard. Not all of the people who have taken the PSAT in my school have received this letter of invitation. (though many people had).
So, my parents think that it would look prestigious on my resume (also considering the fact that I am planning to chose a international relations or PPE major). This program that they offer will take place Harvard, and will last for a week only. During the previous summer, I have taken PPE lessons in Oxford with really enthusiastic and talented students form all over the world. It was more than an Europe trip to me. I would like to have the same experience again this year, but I am not sure if it’s going to be possible with P2P, having read all the things that have been written.</p>
<p>By the way, I am living in Turkey, so I don’t need supervisors to put me on a plane to fly over the Atlantic. If it’s only going to be a “travel experience”, then I would rather catch the next train to Greece and plan my own trip. </p>
<p>I know that it is a serious amount of money, so I am asking if it is really going to worth it or not?</p>
<p>i sent my forst child with ptp to australia. he had a great time and matured a lot. the second is already mature and the price is crazy ($7000)…the whole family could go for less! so i would suggest that you save your money and if you want to see harvard come on your own. my kids have turkish teachers at their middle school and we visited turkey with them…if you want personal message me and i can get you hooked up with them. they have haeld trips tot eh ivy league schools (although my child will nto be applying to them) to encourage kids to aim high!!</p>
<p>The problems with programs like these are that they send out “invitations” to sign up that are very appealing and appear as if they selected you as one in a million. They imply that this “prestigious” program is an honor to be invited to.</p>
<p>While in reality, while they do provide a service that is undoubtedly fun from what I hear, that’s for from the case. I can appreciate the if you have the money to attend and are interested it’s a great opportunity, but I think it’s despicable that they go so far as to be misleading especially to lower income families that are actually trying to give the best to their children, to assist them in their future or otherwise.</p>
<p>Hey all, i was just back a month ago on a P2P event called Peace Camp. It isnt the sort of program mentioned above as this one is a totally different kind of thing. It is managed by the P2P International itself, travelling with their CEO Mary Eisenhower. The camp was a 12 days trip to Jordan, where we sessions on peace related topics and some sight seeing. It is highly selective and from many countries (48 ppl from 27 countries). it isnt the sort of pay-to-go trips like other ambassador programs of P2P cuz this one is by scholarship and we pay nothing at all for the whole experience.</p>
<p>this might be the sort of thing you might want to look out for from P2P. The Ambassador programs i agree are way not serious enough. This one, along with their Global Youth Forum, both managed by People to People International (the HQ), is worth going tho.</p>
<p>The site is [PEOPLE</a> TO PEOPLE INTERNATIONAL](<a href=“http://www.ptpi.org%5DPEOPLE”>http://www.ptpi.org)</p>
<p>I just signed up to CC…
I was looking to find any comments on the National Young Leaders State Conference for my son going into 7th grade. Is it worth the time? All I am trying to do is to supplement his experience in a “good” (not my assessment) public school in the NorthEast. </p>
<p>He attended the P2P Washington, DC trip this spring after being nominated by his elementary school teacher. We thought it was appropriate since our school district doesn’t travel there anymore. He had a wonderful time! He seemed to have lucked out with the group he was in, because one of the best things he got out of the trip was the fact that he was in the company of other kids who “liked to learn and do stuff”. We live in an affluent area where many kids feel and act privileged and tend to have an indifferent attitude.</p>
<p>Do you have any other ideas/suggestions about programs for my son? He is a very strong student and I am hoping to keep up his love of learning. I am NOT (!!!) looking for any of this for the purpose of it looking good on his future college application.</p>
<p>Thanks for any comments…</p>
<p>these posts helped me save a ton of money… like the previous poster said, we skipped the ptp trip and the whole family went to turkey for 2 weeeks…awesome trip!</p>
<p>I would suggest not to do it. I too got a letter, and it’s not based on your academic achievements, it’s just a tourist company:< For more reviews go to:
<a href=“http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/peopletopeople.com[/url]”>http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/peopletopeople.com</a>
I was disappointed but it saves your family a lot of money:)</p>
<p>P2P is not that selective, from what I’ve heard. It’s expensive, but yes, I’m sure that it is a fun experience because you get to travel somewhere you haven’t been. However (and i haven’t been on a P2P trip so i could be wrong) it seems very touristy, and I would rather go on a program that was less expensive and involved volunteer work and being able to explore academic interests as well, and staying with a host family. (like where there be dragons but less expensive lol).
Also, a kid DIED on a P2P trip. [People</a> to People Faces Wrongful Death Lawsuit](<a href=“http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/p2p_hill.html]People”>http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/01/p2p_hill.html)
I would never want to pay an organization who neglected a student, leading to his death. He even asked them to take him to the hospital, and they did not comply. That completely disgusts me.</p>
<p>All those programs that cost $2000+ for a couple weeks are completely unselected, and generally are just to cheat you out of your money.</p>