<p>I'm glad everything worked out for your son! My son went to Duke TIP for the first time this summer. Because I was busy with other things, DH handled getting son packed and off to Duke. Unfortunately, DH neglected to give son calling card information, so son was unable to contact us until he received my letter with the info! By the time we did hear from him, he was having a great time and, like your son, is ready to go back next summer.</p>
<p>Fireflyscout-
Which session (I assume second if you just heard from him) and which campus is your son attending at TIP? My s is currently on Duke West. They remodelled the dorms and they are very nice, and... more importantly... air conditioned!! And, they allowed the kids to take cellphones this year. So, I just got the "please send more junk food and send more socks" call. The latter one puzzled me, until he explained that he could do one less load of laundry if he had more socks. Figures. Well, I guess socks will make good packing material for the junk food.</p>
<p>Onesharon-
Glad things turned out well. That's great news. As parents, we don't want to see our kids unhappy. Glad your story has a happy ending.</p>
<p>Marite-
Does CTY have programs for rising HS seniors or college freshmen?? TIP has been adding programs (summer leadership programs, domestic and international field studies, debate programs, a pre-college program etc.) for 11th and 12th graders. The campus summer studies programs are for 7-10th graders. </p>
<p>And almost all of the TA's and RA's I chatted with when we dropped our s. off were former attendees. That's a good sign :)</p>
<p>Jym:</p>
<p>The rule for CTY is that the student must not turn 17 before the end of summer. You might try CTD (out of Northwestern) for pre-college and college courses.</p>
<p>Thanks Marite.
I find it interesting that the age policies are different for these programs, since there are otherwise so many similarities. Here it goes by grade, not age (I assume-- I confess I haven't checked into it). We're in the TIP region, so if younger s wants to keep going (which I am not all too sure will be the case, unless they offer an advanced poker playing program!) there are options for him.</p>
<p>Jym626 - my son was at Duke West in the first session. He took Forensic Science, which he quite enjoyed. I think he'd like to go back and take Astrobiology since he is interested in writing science fiction. We were requested to send Cheetos. I also sent him some candy in the shape of skulls, in honor of his class.</p>
<p>I hope your son is having a great time! And do send the socks - somehow my son only came back with one pair, which he was wearing!</p>
<p>fireflyscout-
I've got a pen in the shape of a skeleton finger-- I thought it was entertaining but my kids turned it down-- its still in the original pkg if you think your s. would like it. The pkg says "a bone-a-fide replica of a human finger". Yumm. Older s. can bring it to Houston when he heads back to Rice.</p>
<p>Younger s. is currently taking sports law at TIP. Wonder what would be an appropriate themed snack-- candy laced with steroids? :eek:</p>
<p>Disappearing socks:</p>
<p>When we went to pick up S after camp one year, he and his roommate swore up and down they were completely done packing. I decided to throw garbage where it belonged--in the garbage can--, and in the process, looked under their beds. There were at least 5 pairs of socks there, belonging to both S and roommate. "Oh, that's where they were!" they chorused in unison.</p>
<p>oh how i miss cty...i went for years and it's probably not relavent now but i did introduction to biomedical sciences (which is what i think sharon's son did) and i was just entering 9th grade...and almost everyone was my age meaning kids probably should have been the same age or only one year older...maybe things have changed?</p>
<p>and haha nevermore is a great term...but usually it's supposed to be if you "can't" go back due to age limit you are a no-more and if you choose not to go back you are a never-more...not really sure why? but yea i think the 1st week is usually pretty tough so i'm glad sharon your son came home with a positive impression!</p>
<p>Just picked my son up from CTY Lancaster on Friday. He is so depressed and next year wants to do double sessions. By the way, CTY also now has a program for older kids that concentrates on community service/leadership. It is located in Baltimore but not on the main JHU campus if I recall.</p>
<p>Carolyn:</p>
<p>Why is he so depressed? Because it's over? If you are having fun, three weeks are too short! I know my S started complaining on Monday after the session was over of being bored. Your S is faster! Could he link up with a prof of Classics to guide his further learning?
My S is half-way through his 6 weeks program and is having a blast. But there will be a whole month before college, and I anticipate complaints of boredom..</p>
<p>Yep, he's depressed because it's over. He LOVED CTY this year more than last! He lucked out and had the same teacher and TA for Greek II that he had for Greek I, plus he had two close friends from last year in his class too, so that made it even better. But, mostly, I think he just really loved the social aspect more than anything, especially the GIRL social aspect. :)</p>
<p>Ah! Linking up with a prof would not help the GIRL social aspect :(.
At S's camp, girls and boys are segregated into different dorms. Maybe that's why they need "mandatory fun" on Fridays? ;)</p>
<p>Carolyn....a girl..... THAT would do it!</p>
<p>(but yeah, three weeks can feel too short when you are having a great time)</p>
<p>Not just A girl, Susan, but many, many girls apparently, at least according to his RA who said he couldn't keep track :) I had a good chuckle when son's class was headed to the stage to do their little presentation at the closing ceremonies: Girls in the audience were actually screaming his name and others were shouting "We LOVE you G!" as son walked up to the stage. He was smiling and waving like a rock star. It's hard to return to the real world after three weeks of THAT. ;)</p>
<p>Carolyn:</p>
<p>Hey, nothing like that happened to my S at CTY! Maybe he should have taken up Greek, eh?</p>
<p>Carolyn, Marite,</p>
<p>I have a question for you. Looks like my S would be OK to do CTY next year as a rising junior - he won't be 17 until spring of junior year. So, can you give me any idea of boy profiles who like CTY? i.e. are some of them athletes? Are some of them the wise-a** in the back of the classroom? Do any of them spend 80% of their brain power on role-playing video games or tracking college basketball statistics? Do any of them have deep crushes on the prettiest girl in the class? Read US Weekly to see if Eva Mendez is featured that week? Do any of them have a horror of acting uncool? Are any of them sad to be on the AP/Honors track because the other kids they like best aren't?</p>
<p>I am just so ignorant about teenage boys. I come from a family of 3 girls and a boy, and by the time the boy was a teenager I was at boarding school and then college. And I never was one myself...And I only have one and so this is my only shot...Perhaps the traits I list above are common. I am sort of like the first time bird watcher, exclaiming over the Stellar Jay - Look it's blue! while the experienced just smile at me.</p>
<p>Alumother, I just returned from dropping S#2 off at CTY in LA -- drop me a line, I can give you the full low-down on teen boy profiles, they are all over the map.</p>
<p>YES there are wise-acres (ask me how I would know.. ;) ). YES there are athletes (S's RA told us there's a group that gets up at 6:30am to run :eek: and there are week-long activity choices involving footballs and frisbees, among other things), YES they have intense RPG addicts, YES there are plenty with amazing crushes (and many develop just such crushes during CTY, and the girls HAVE CRUSHES ON THEM BACK, which has never happened before to many of these guys), YES many are afraid of acting uncool, but one thing about CTY is that people there are all about being who you are... and guys who show up afraid of acting uncool when they're themselves, often find by the end of the three weeks that, at CTY at least, it is perfectly acceptable to be yourself and no one makes you feel uncool!</p>
<p>I am elated right now: it was SO SO SO empowering and exciting to watch my S slide into CTY this year. He's been at the same location for 3 years now, and knows some of the staff -- and they remembered him. ("Hey, P, wow, you're a lot taller and MAN your hair got long!" "What's up, man, you still play the drums?") He is Big Man On Campus this year, and it was amazing to watch his self-esteem just go flying up to Maximum in the few hours I was there with him.</p>
<p>Here's a clue: while I was standing around in his dorm room chatting with his roomie's mom, he ... MADE THE BED and UNPACKED HIS CLOTHES AND PUT THEM AWAY IN THE DRAWERS. This morning at the hotel just before we went to the site to check in, he ... BRUSHED HIS TEETH, UNASKED!! I nearly had a heart attack, I've never seen this behavior before. Then he wandered down the hall to meet the new guys before settling into a game of Risk before the hall meeting.</p>
<p>It's CTY, man, it's so good for him. Your son may very well love it, Alu -- drop me a PM if you want more crunchy CTY goodness.</p>
<p>Alu:</p>
<p>Mootmom probably said it better than I could.
I have to say my S was never afraid to be uncool, so I would not know; but at CTY it's okay to be smart, so you don't have to hide it. You can really be yourself there.
The only thing I would say is that the putting-clothes-away-in-the- drawers only lasts through camp; it disappears when maid service (aka mom) is available. And I still have to remind him to brush his teeth. Only two more months till college. :(</p>
<p>Alum,
If your son is on the cusp for CTY, I would urge you to try to get him into one of the programs at either Lancaster (Franklin & Marshall) or Carlise (Dickinson). These two programs seem to attract older kids then some of the other campuses, and they are also larger, therefore more of a variety of kids. My son is a football player who could be considered a wise a*s in the typical classroom in that he always has driven his teachers crazy asking questions. Son is a video game addict BUT does not miss the computer OR TV at CTY (the kids are not allowed either for the three weeks) Part of the appeal of CTY for him really is that the pace moves so fast that he doesn't have time to get bored or frustrated like he does in "regular" school. I would say just based on observation that the math, computer science classes and some of the science classes (like physics) seem to attract mostly males while the humanities classes tend to attract more of a balanced male-female ratio. The nice thing about CTY is that it is really a very social place, and everyone seems to fit in. Feel free to PM me if you have other questions. For my son CTY has been an amazing experience and he is already talking about being a CTY RA when he goes off to college.</p>
<p>By the way, just wanted to mention that there was a film crew at CTY Lancaster first session. They are making a documentary about "smart camp" which will either be in theaters or on television. Son was a bit chargrined because he felt that the students that the film crew followed during the session were as he put it,
"stereotypical poindexters" and he feels that most of the participants don't fit that mode.</p>