<p>I am hoping that someone will help guide my daughter. She is part of JHU-CTY, did excellent on her SATs as a 7th grader, taking Alg 2/Trig as an 8th grader.... all honors, honor role.... has attended Concordia Language Villages (French) for three years, Brown SPARK for Astrobiology, MIT's SPLASH etc....</p>
<p>She wants to follow her passion of ..... DEBATE..... GOVERNMENT..... PHILOSOPHY..... INERNATIONAL RELATIONS..... </p>
<p>Most of the summer programs out there are more SCIENCE / MATH and although those are strong suits - that is not where her passion lies...</p>
<p>She is looking at summer programs for 2010 (post 8th grade - pre 9th grade) ...</p>
<p>She is thinking of returning to Concordia and beginning her studies of Arabic or Mandarian (she will be in French 4 as a 9th grader - and will continue French in High School) since these are not offered at our high school.</p>
<p>She is also looking at the following programs and we would love any feedback....</p>
<ol>
<li> Davidson THINK program (accepts 60 students every summer)</li>
<li> JSA - Freshman Scholars at Princeton (AP Gov't, Communication, Debate)</li>
<li> CTY - Carlisle for Philosophy </li>
<li> DUKE - Philosophy - Gov't</li>
</ol>
<p>DD is a SOLID writer. (she is working on her first novel currently and has a few short stories published).</p>
<p>So - what is out there for the "humanities" - "government" type kid ???</p>
<p>Please advise - we are overwhelmed at this point.</p>
<p>Joseph Baldwin Academy–Truman University, Kirksville, Missouri
It offers a variety of programs. My daughter took Latin after 8th grade and enjoyed it more than the two CTY programs she attended, and it is a lot less expensive than Hopkins.</p>
<p>We just learned about THINK last weekend and my daughter has been bouncing around the house this week while preparing her application / getting everything ready. They only accept 60 students in - and she hopes she is one of them. We just don’t know how she will “compare”.</p>
<p>My daughter crazy - compared to me - YES… I had so little motivation at her age to do this. But it is who she is. She is passionate and LOVES academic opportunities. She actually THRIVES on them. This is her first year in school (homeschooled until now) by her choice - and she is realizing quickly how school will not challenge her in many ways. So finding programs like this is what keeps her going !</p>
<p>Can’t comment on all the programs you mentioned, but my son did CTY Philosophy in 2008. He was by far the youngest (age 12, rising 8th grader – avg age was 15). The reading was VERY intense. </p>
<p>My son is ADD & not a fast reader, so he struggled with the homework, but managed to keep up & participate in class discussions. </p>
<p>He LOVED the material. It is VERY different from anything he could learn in traditional high school. He could NOT have explorded the content in as much depth on his own - the discussion based class challenged his thinking in ways he could not have imagined. </p>
<p>His passion after this class was so intense that I will not be surprised if Philosophy is chosen as a college major.</p>
<p>For what it is worth – I only personally know 1 JSA student.
I have heard nice things, but not passionately stellar things about JSA at Princeton.</p>
<p>I did JSA as a freshman and LOVED it, one of the best things I’ve ever done. If she likes International Relations and French a program for her to look at down the line is Tufts Summit, it’s a month home-stay in France where you study french and international relations with about 30 other american kids.</p>
<p>She could also look into boarding school (I don’t know if that’s something you would want to put her into though). I think she might find that many of her peers at boarding school have very similar interests plus a good boarding school will challenge her all the time and not just in the summer.</p>
<p>My D (currently 9th grade) is also applying to THINK for next summer, although I have had a hard time finding other parents whose kids have been (because it is a small program). I’ve found one parent to e-mail with (locally, we live in MN), and that it it… I posted on this forum and Davidson’s forum, with minimal response. PM me if you’ve had any luck finding others to talk to! By the way, my D also went to Concordia for French for a few summers (Hackensack), maybe they know each other :)</p>
<p>Shmluza: I see what you mean, especially in this economy, it’s just not possible for many parents to spend 40 grand a year on high school education. I don’t think she’ll have any trouble getting Financial Aid though. Many schools are need-blind as well.</p>
<p>My DD went to Concordia’s Lac du Bois for the last two year. She is now in school (homeschooled until this year) and is taking French 2 at school… so she is starting a 2nd language via private tutor and will likely attend Concordia for this language (Arabic). </p>
<p>I would love to speak to the mom whose child attended THINK in the past. Would love to hear some feedback about it. </p>