<p>Hey, I am actually a student, but couldn't help not posting on this thread from my summer experiences.</p>
<p>I have done the Summer for High School Students at Columbia University and absolutely loved it. The workload is not terribly difficult, and the possibility to discover New York City is invaluable. This is one of the main reasons why I applied to Columbia ED.</p>
<p>I also attended the Stanford Discovery Institute for Philosophy. This program was extremely heavy in workload, does give you college credit and allows you to take classes with real professors at one of the world's most reknowned universities. I also loved this program and the friends I made are amazing. The problem is that it is very selective. From the admit stats I heard the year I applied less than 20% got in, so it is also competitive, but the students are well driven.</p>
<p>Very interesting thread - a nice repository of info to have on hand.</p>
<p>I'm wondering if anyone has attended or has had a son or daughter who's attended Walnut Hill in the summer - not their ballet program, but their visual arts and/or writing program and what they thought about it?</p>
<p>jaug1, thanks for posting about Columbia's program - glad to hear you liked it so much. I'd love to hear what in particular, besides the being in NYC part, you really enjoyed about it - was it the course content, the teachers, the interaction with other students, etc.? Thanks!</p>
<p>I took the Engineering Design Via Real Designs (Gateway) course. The Gateway course is a mandated course that all engineering students take at Columbia and the program was a shortened version. The teachers at this course, and I believe all the others as well, are the actual teachers during the year. I loved my teachers and still talk with them very frequently. </p>
<p>Living in the dorms (I was in a suite in Wallach Hall) was a great experience. Suites for high school students allow for immediate interaction and friendships. They seem to set up the dorms really well and the entire suite I was in got along. There were some suite activities, but the majority of the time was spent hanging out and interacting with other kids. It was very enjoyable because there were almost 1000 students in the program, so no shortage of activities or people.</p>
<p>The work load was not difficult at all, but it did help me realize that I did not want to be an engineer. I am thrilled that I am going to be attending Columbia in the fall and my main reason is that I enjoyed the program so much. Hope that helps!</p>
<p>Thank you so much jaug1 for taking the time to answer my questions. I really appreciate it - and find it especially interesting to hear that by taking this program in Engineering Design that you realized you did not want to "be an engineer". Naturally, I'm interested in what you think you might want to do - but I'm also glad that when one door didn't look good that you obviously found another that seemed interesting - and/or that you were wise enough to recognize a good school and see that you could follow another pathway through it.</p>
<p>I've seen that a lot of people have mentioned the program by Landmark Volunteers. I am currently looking for a week-long spring break opportunity to volunteer and I was hoping that you, parents, might have some information on some. Thanks for all the help and advice that you have given me in the past, it has helped me tons with my important decisions!</p>
<p>Blumini, I actually want to be an Intellectual Property Attorney when everything is settled, and possibly go into politics. I think that Columbia can offer me the liberal arts background needed for logical thinking as well as hosting a mathematics, economics and philosophy department that are second to none.</p>
<p>Another thing I forgot to mention, the project we worked on was helping to design playground equipment for disabled children at at Marcus Garvey Park near P.S. 79, one of the NYC Public Schools for disabled children. What was great astonishing about the program is that they will continue to work on this project during the school year with real students and develop and enhance our preliminary designs, and possibly get a patent for them. It really was a real life project and very worthwhile as well.</p>
<p>Thank you jaug1 - it does sound like a very interesting and worth while project, for sure - and as you wrote "real life" too. Interesting about your goals - Intellectual Property certainly seems the way to go these days and these upcoming days, as well. </p>
<p>Check out the Appalachian Institute for Creative Learning. My daughter has gone every summer in high school, and she loves it. It is physically located at Emory and Henry College in southwest Virginia. You can choose from a wide variety of classes. My daughter gravitates toward the art and social science classess, but they also have robotics, chemistry, etc. It is run by a very creative bunch of instructors who are largely graduates of the program (teachers, a librarian/artist, graduate students, medical students). It was started by a mother who was frustrated by the lack of programs for the gifted in Tennessee. She has since passed away, but her son and others have continued the Camp. It is laid back and creative and fun. The children become very close. I highly recommend it. The cost is always about $500.00 per week. You can attend one week or more. BTW, the dorms are very spartan, but the kids don't care.</p>
<p>Has anyone had any experience with the different Explo programs? (<a href="http://www.explo.org%5B/url%5D">www.explo.org</a>) I've received some information about the senior one, which I'm particularly interested in. I'm curious about how the courses and students compare to those at TIP or CTY. They seem to have some interesting courses.</p>
<p>My two Ss attended Explo programs. My older S went to the senior one, my younger S went to the junior one (after 5th grade). Explo is far less academic than CTY. Classes are held in the morning; afternoons are devoted to recreational pursuits (sports, movies, games, and so forth). My older S enjoyed his classes in the humanities (I forget what he took exactly); my younger S was not sufficiently challenged by the science class he took, though he enjoyed himself at Explo and would have been happy to return for the social scene. In fact, one counselor told us to investigate CTY, as the science curriculum he'd done that summer was as far as the junior program would go. That was the first we'd heard of CTY.
By contrast, CTY is seriously academic. My S was in class all day (but loved it!) rather than half a day. After 7th grade, he took high school classes that enabled him to go straight into AP classes.
If you want your child to have a mix of academics and summer fun, explo is a good though expensive option.</p>
<p>Nceph, my daughter attended Explo this past summer (senior program), at that time she did it primarily for the college living experience, and secondarily to get a closer look at Yale (which was her first choice when she applied for the program). She did not think it would help her to get into Yale, at all, other than it allowed her an opportunity to do her on campus interview (we live in Alabama).
She had a great deal of fun, had something of a hard time getting the courses she wanted (we registered late) 1/3 for first choices, and got shut out of a weekend trip she wanted to take (to visit Brown, so it dropped off her list), decided after 3 weeks, she didn't like Yale, and didn't apply.
She made TIP, and we browsed through the catalog every spring, I think overall the Explo classes were "lighter weight" than TIP, but she wasn't really there for the academics.
I would have preferred her do a more academically rigorous course, but we had some time constraints because of pre-planned trips, she originally wanted to go to ALaska on a wilderness camp, and we also considered Landmark - my son may well do Landmark summer 06, after he is 14.</p>
<p>All three of my children attended the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) summer programs. The oldest S went for astronomy, fast paced chem and a comp scie course three summers in a row since 7th grade. LOVED IT! The second S went to CTY for fast-paced chem and math. from 8th grade on. ALSO LOVED IT! and the last..My D went for fast-paced math, genetics and astronomy from 8th grade on. ALSO LOVED IT! They all made great friends who they eventually met up with in college...it is a small gene pool out there!!!</p>
<p>I got something in the mail about one that sounds interesting for the right kind of kid. It's a free program for teens to work on conservation projects (building hiking trails, restoring habitats, etc) in nat'l parks and forests. <a href="http://www.theSCA.org%5B/url%5D">www.theSCA.org</a></p>
<p>Marite and Cangel -- Thanks so much for the information about Explo. My S is also thinking about a TIP (like CTY) program, as his sister had three wonderful summers with TIP at Davidson and Duke, but we're concerned about the dates for the programs, as we're trying to fit things in with his soccer schedule and trying to see which 3-4 week period might be the best to be away. It sounds like Explo wouldn't be as intense academically but would still have enough of an academic component that my S's brain might be somewhat engaged while he's there.</p>
<p>Some great suggestions on this thread. Would love to read some more on visual arts and, again, hear if anyone has any knowledge about Walnut Hill's visual arts summer program. Thank you!</p>
<p>jasmom; My daughter did the Burklyn Ballet Theatre, Vt, two summers. I think the session lasted two or three weeks. Good features were D had a great time, there was a major performance for the public last evening, professional photos, and after her first year daughter received a prominent role in one of these performances. The girls stayed at a state college dorm in a small Vt town. It was a very classy program.<br>
zpmqxo; The Landmark programs are great but apply early if your want your first choice. They have a number of Spring break 1 week projects, but if interested get in there early. One of the projects is cleaning up a DisneyWorld nature preserve.</p>