<p>I'm a rising freshman and was wondering about CTY because I don't have time to search through the website for information.</p>
<p>Do you have to do this talent search thing in 6th-8th grade or can your scores on the SAT and other tests from later down the road count to get you in to the program?</p>
<p>Is the program only for younger students or for high school students also?</p>
<p>Are the classes for credit or for fun?</p>
<p>And are all the classes held at John Hopkins?</p>
<p>Not all the classes are held at John Hopkins.</p>
<p>To participate in the talent search program, you have to take the SAT before high school.</p>
<p>You can attend CTY programs without the SAT regardless of your age. </p>
<p>You can appeal for credit, but you have to talk to your school to see if they will accept CTY courses for credit.</p>
<p>Wait, I thought you had to take the SAT to participate in the programs. You don’t?</p>
<p>To qualify to take CTY classes, you do have to have taken the SAT and got a score equal to the average of HS students taking the exam that year. It is highly beneficial to have taken this SAT BEFORE the summer preceding your first year in HS, since these scores will not be included for purposes of college admission later. Taken after that point, they will be.</p>
<p>JHU CTY offers many programs. Their summer classes are located in college campuses across the country. Higher scores on the SAT gets you into the higher level CTY classes, Slightly lower scores can get you into the CAA classes, less plentiful and less interesting. CTY also offers on line classes in a number of subject areas, pre-high school, AP and a few college level (e.g. linear algebra, MV calculus and differential equations in the math series.)</p>
<p>Whether the classes are taken for “fun” (enrichment) or credit depends on the arrangement you set up with your school district. I will say that CTY provides plentiful information with which to make your case with your HS. Give yourself some lead time for this if you’re in a public HS.</p>
<p>In the case of my S, who goes to a public HS, he opted not to include his three summer sessions for credit since these were not graded and would have pulled down his GPA (but CTY will provide a transcript nevertheless, so we have the paper documentation of his summer efforts.) He did arrange with his HS to get credit for graded on linear algebra (last year) and MV calc (this year.) The only annoying part with this (having nothing to do with CTY) is that, unlike with his other AP classes, he gets NO weighted credit for busting his butt on this class, which was clearly, by far, a step up from any AP class. Nevertheless, the shining A will be there for all to see on that transcript and further, the MV calc in progress his senior year when he applies for colleges, which is just around the corner.</p>
<p>My friend has never taken the SAT and she participated. Not all CTY classes and programs require your SAT score.</p>
<p>get a job instead</p>
<p>you’ll learn much much more</p>
<p>^It’ll look better on your app too. AND you’ll earn money instead of wasting it.</p>
<p>EDIT: But seeing as you’re only a rising freshman, it might be wiser to put off the job hunt :] In that case, have fun at CTY!</p>
<p>finally somebody agrees with me on this lol</p>
<p>Okay, first I would like to say that I just got back from my first CTY program and just completed my sophomore year. It was a phenomenal social and academic experience. Many people on this forum will tell you CTY is not particularly valuable with the admissions requirements virtually nonexistant. However, this is not the case. You must be in the top .5%ile (99.5%ile) to qualify; almost everyone is just brilliant. The social experience is absolutely unparalleled for the people there are so unique and interesting. As for a summer job being more valuable, I think it depends on the person. On a second note, why not do both? This summer I have a prestigious internship at the lieutenant governors, along with going to CTY. I would recommend attending CTY to anyone who has the opportunity. And along with it not being beneficial to college. Sure, it may not be the tipping point on your applications, but CTY is an excellent networking tool that can provide excellent connections for college and employment along with showing on your applications that you are quite bright and pursued interesting coursework. Now, to answer your questions:
Do you have to do this talent search thing in 6th-8th grade or can your scores on the SAT and other tests from later down the road count to get you in to the program?
No, you can use any SAT or PSAT scores you have obtained.
Is the program only for younger students or for high school students also?
It is also for high school students and while I was worried I would be the oldest, I was surrounded by many many peers. I’d say the average age would be 14 or 15 with many students almost 17.
Are the classes for credit or for fun?
A few classes are for college credit like Intro to Engineering. All can serve as high school credit if your school allows it. However, you cannot obtain a grade unless requested prior to the program.
And are all the classes held at John Hopkins?
No, classes are held at Franklin and Marshall, Dickinson, Skidmore, Loyola Marymount, Hawaiian Pacific University, and JHU.</p>
<p>ok first of all, i wouldn’t call cty a networking tool. few people/fewer staff members will remember you after six months. </p>
<p>i’ve seen the type of kid that goes to cty, i’ve had many friends/classmates that went to cty, i wouldn’t say you’re surrounded by the future of america, i would say it feels more like an honors math class.</p>
<p>also, i strongly urge you to get a job before deciding that cty experience = job experience. and i’m not talking about your internship, as impressive as that may be. your internship is set up and designed for your age and abilities, and you will probably have a mentor that is used to dealing w/ teenagers and is pretty lenient. </p>
<p>get a job at a fast-food restaurant- you will learn how to deal with an angry/stupid boss, deal w/ impatient customers, deal w/ difficult situations, and learn to keep moving forward even though you feel like you want to quit. you’ll also gain some experience in teamwork, cooperation, and communication. when you get into the real world, social skills will matter much more than technical skills.<br>
in the big picture, intro to engineering teaches you very very little</p>
<p>Hmmm, this doesn’t really seem to make sense to me. First off, you’re making false assumptions. Saying you’ve seen “the CTY type.” How many CTYers do you know? It’s nothing like an honors math class; I’m in honors math at a pretty good school. The kids there are there because they work hard and have pretty good grades. The kids I’ve met at CTY are all about learning, exploring new material, conversing, and debating. And I know you think I come off as cocky about my internship, but guess what, it’s not for high schoolers. I’m the only high schooler there, every other intern is currently a law student. My work includes visiting high schools and evaluating they’re progress over the past five years by looking at data, interviewing students, teachers, and principals to see if they could be eligible for an Excellence in Education Award. And dare I say, there are many internships just like these available, though they may not be advertised. I personally was able to find 5 in my state just by simply emailing my resume and asking about any available opprotunities.</p>
<p>While working at a fast-food restaurant may give some valuable experience in dealing with different types of people, I think they’re are many more valuable ways to gain very similar experiences that are more intellectually stimulating and challenging. </p>
<p>To rebut your next statement that in the “big picture” intro to engineering is not very valuable might be correct for someone who has aspirations of working in a fast food restaurant, but I see it as an excellent experience for someone who hopes to gain experience in a college environment. Just like you need baby steps to ease your way into full-time work, it can also be tremendously helpful to baby steps to ease you into college. In addition, it provides mental and social stimulation that certainly isn’t available at any high school in my area.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why you seem so cynical.</p>
<p>dude try not to exaggerate the CTY type. About 1/4 of my grade went in 7th grade, and again, smart but not genius. If you don’t believe me, use the search tool and get some stats on some cty’ers. It would make sense that they would be more passionate about academics since they bothered to pay and show up in the summer, but this doesn’t make them extremely intelligent, as you like to put it. maybe you got a really smart group of kids, but the average attending kid is not highly intelligent. </p>
<p>and i have news for you
since you just attended CTY, you’re probably going into 10th grade, maybe 11th grade. if you’re the only high school kid there and you’re working with people in law school or college,
a)they are very short-staffed
b) they know that the work is very simplistic
or c) your parents know somebody.</p>
<p>it doesn’t make sense to admit a 10/11th grader over any college student, let alone a law school student.</p>
<p>also</p>
<p>“prestigious internship at the lieutenant governors”</p>
<p>“And dare I say, there are many internships just like these available, though they may not be advertised. I personally was able to find 5 in my state just by simply emailing my resume”</p>
<p>really? if you just emailed your resume and got accepted, i wouldn’t say it’s too prestigious. even McDonalds wants to see you in person first</p>
<p>i also don’t know what you mean by “easing” your way into a college environment.<br>
step 1- show up.
done.
Freshman year will not be that different from your senior year. You’ll be with the same kids.</p>
<p>if you developed social skills this summer w/ adults and customers, you’d be much more prepared to make friends and fit in at college.</p>
<p>“In addition, it provides mental and social stimulation that certainly isn’t available at any high school in my area.”
when you go to college, you’ll be going to college with a bunch of high school kids. If you don’t fit in at high school and you don’t change for college, you won’t fit in at college. Also, i’m sure your school offers several AP classes. if you want intellectual stimulation. Take 4 AP classes and then tell me high school isn’t challenging. unless you’re one of those kids who has already completed AP BC and chem, i wouldn’t talk about the lack of mental stimulation.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure why you seem so cynical.”
I think the word you’re looking for is honest.</p>
<p>plus i just want to say that I’ve been in CTY and I’ve gotten a job, while you have only experienced the former. you should get a job before you evaluate the value of a job and CTY.</p>
<p>and again
job>CTY
job>intro to engineering
social skills>baby steps into college</p>
<p>It is possible I got a particularly bright group of students, I’ll give you that. Also, it’s possible that your classmates attended CAA, which is a lower tiered version of CTY still run by CTY.</p>
<p>You honestly think I didn’t interview for my internship? After seeing my resume I was allowed to apply for the job. And by asking why they would accept a high school student over a law student, why would an employer accept a grad right out of college over a PHD? Perhaps because it seems despite having less education, they could do a better job at whatever work was provided. It’s not all about the cold facts on paper. </p>
<p>And by easing your way into college, I meant understanding the rigor of college before completely immersing yourself in it. I don’t mean the social aspect at all. And using your logic, the same thing could be applied to a job. </p>
<p>I sure hope the kids at my school who visit tanning salons daily and aren’t aware of any current events are those who would attend Brown (dream school). And I have a group of friends at school who I enjoy socializing with, but they’re not the kind of friends who I enjoy as much as those I met at CTY. In addition, I have taken several AP Courses and done quite well in them. While they are more difficult than honors or college prep courses, I wouldn’t exactly call them truly intellectually challenging. It’s mostly about teaching to the test and memorization. Our class discussions are virtually nonexistant simply because we must move onto lesson x at 1:33. I’m hoping in college to find classes that are not only difficult, but thought provoking. </p>
<p>I have had jobs other than my internship. I worked as a lifeguard, swimming lessons instructor, cashier, tutored kids, and sporadically babysit. Sure, it taught me how to mindlessly follow commands. And while that was somewhat valuable in that it did teach me practical problem solving, I found CTY more valuable. </p>
<p>I guess I’m not disagreeing that jobs are valuable. I do think that they serve as a practical life experience and help to prepare you for the real world. However, I just found the benefits of CTY to far outweigh those of a job. At CTY I was truly enjoying life while also, I feel, learning a lot and gaining some other valuable life experiences. I think that it’s great to get a job AND go to CTY.</p>
<p>I’d like to know what CTY programs you’ve participated in so I can steer clear of those because it sure doesn’t sound like you had a great experience.</p>
<p>Heh I did a CTY equivalent online because I didn’t wanna pay so much money for it. I was deprived of the experience, but I learned an equal amount because I put in a lot of effort and cared about the grade. Got the same certificate as everyone else so… yea. Plus, my friends tell me that they don’t actually finish the curriculum. </p>
<p>I know so many people who do it, but don’t even JOKE that only the top 0.5% of people get in. Almost anyone who takes the test is qualified in.</p>
<p>^Actually, that’s not true. CTYOnline has CAA requirements instead of CTY requirements, the minimum scores are a full 100 points lower. 80% of people who take the SAT through CTY qualify for CAA while 25% qualify for CTY summer programs. I found this info on the CTY website, cty.jhu.edu.</p>
<p>“Also, it’s possible that your classmates attended CAA, which is a lower tiered version of CTY still run by CTY.”
I love how you just assumed I was lower than you, even when i told you that i attended cty, as did 1/4 of my school.</p>
<p>“And by asking why they would accept a high school student over a law student, why would an employer accept a grad right out of college over a PHD? Perhaps because it seems despite having less education, they could do a better job at whatever work was provided. It’s not all about the cold facts on paper.”
The difference between a college grad and a phd is negligible for most jobs, since what you learn when you obtain a phd is not applicable in most areas. Once you’ve proven that you reached a certain level of education, it comes down to the interview and how well they like you. however , the difference between a high school kid and and a college kid/law school student is huge. you’re talking enormous differences in maturity, experience, writing skills, social skills, and any other skills you can think of. I do not believe(for good reason) than any employer will ever higher a 10th grader over a law student. Refer to my 3 reasons to see why you got the job. </p>
<p>“In addition, I have taken several AP Courses and done quite well in them. While they are more difficult than honors or college prep courses, I wouldn’t exactly call them truly intellectually challenging.”
please tell me, which ap’s have you taken. im guessing you haven’t experienced any math or science ap’s.</p>
<p>"And while that was somewhat valuable in that it did teach me practical problem solving, I found CTY more valuable. "</p>
<p>That’s because you maintained the pompous attitude that you’ve demonstrated on this thread. if you don’t want to learn anything, you’re not going to learn anything.</p>
<p>I never once indicated that you were lower than me. I stated that it might be possible that some of your classmates attended the slightly easier version of CTY. And, you still have not included what CTY program you attended.</p>
<p>Why couldn’t it come down to the interview for anybody, not just a college grad? I’m not calling myself a brilliant or intellectual genius, but perhaps I did seem more capable of doing some of the work that is provided. The work that I do certainly does not require a law degree. For example, visiting schools and evaluating their progress wouldn’t require a lawyer, it would require someone who has experience in the education field, which, I have already done educational research. </p>
<p>Your absolutely right, I have not taken any science AP’s yet, but I’m terribly excited to take AP Physics this coming year. So far I have taken AP Euro, AP Art History, and AP Stats. </p>
<p>I stated in my previous post that I have learned things from my work. I have learned how to deal with ridiculous, over-bearing parents, delt with an occasionally unreasonable boss, and gained some understanding on how to deal with money. However, I have about 70 years left to continue to gather that experience, while CTY, I feel, has taught me how to better think, tackle different academic and social situations, and gain a greater sense of happiness. While CTY may not change everyone’s life, it has changed my life and I fully hope that anybody who has the opprotunity to attend, does, so maybe it can bring them happiness as well.</p>
<p>to each his own</p>