<p>I too have some CTY Canon music on an MP3 player, including Istanbul and Birdhouse in Your Soul, that my S put there. It helps me feel connected to them. My, how I wish something like CTY existed in 1966 when I was that age. There was nothing in my experience that even came close.</p>
<p>My Son the Philosopher 
went to CTY Loudonville for four years, until he aged out, and absolutely loved it. (They were kind enough to give him a significant scholarship every year or we couldn’t have swung it.) It was a fabulous experience for him, intellectually and socially, and he keeps in touch with a number of friends, some of whom he was able to get together with when we were touring colleges.</p>
<p>In fact, his years at CTY were the activity he chose to write about at greater length on the Common App.</p>
<p>It remains to be seen if he ends up at a campus with any of his particular friends.</p>
<p>I chose not to go due to the $$ it would eat from my college fund.</p>
<p>Was eligible for but did not do CTY. We were turned off by the money making approach. They start off suggesting they are tracking talented youth but basically all they want to do is sell courses. My S who much older that my D was tracked by Duke way back. They gave him a special SAT number and asked him to use it when he took the SAT’s and it updated the program at Duke. There were no courses sold at that time (don’t know if they are still doing it), but it was to track the kids. For my D, JH did not care when she was in HS about tracking her SAT’s or her, just wanted to sell, sell, sell. I sent them a long letter this past year (she is a senior getting this year) complaining about the selling under the guise of tracking and got an initial response asking for more details, which I sent. Nothing ever came back after that.</p>
<p>I am sure the courses are good, but so are a lot of other opportunities that are available. But the approach is duplicitous.</p>
<p>D did 2 Duke Tip programs as sophmore, they were both study abroad. She loved them for both the academic rigor and meeting fabulous kids from all over the country, and we are from the northeast.</p>
<p>hikids, I think you misrepresent the mission of JHU/CTY completely. It is not a sales organization. It is an organization devoted to the education of gifted kids. I find it bizarre that you would leap to this conclusion based on receiving a few course catalogs. What, would you prefer that they do? Keep them a secret? </p>
<p>JHU has done and sponsored an enormous amount of research on gifted kids, far beyond “tracking their SATs.” I think that to call this dedicated group of people “duplicitous” and accuse them of nothing but hucksterism is way over the top. Frankly, it reeks of sour grapes.</p>
<p>Giving you a “special” code so that they could “track” your kid’s SATs while offering no activities for your kid may have had the effect of making you feel special–and cost you no money, which I suspect is what is really the issue here–but I don’t see that it does anything concrete to develop kids’ abilities or enrich their lives.</p>
<p>The CTY courses and the camp experience in general doesn’t begin to compare to anything else my kids did in intellectual rigor, intensity and the type of kids participating. I don’t believe that CTY makes any money at all from their course offerings. The courses were a lifesaver for our family. In addition CTY sent us a number of pamphlets suggesting other resources for gifted kids, reading lists, etc.</p>
<p>Due to our geographical location, our talent search is RMTS (Rocky Mountain Talent Search). DS went to the Summer Institute two years ago taking two courses :Geometry and Egyptology. It was very intense two weeks, with lots of homework and extended projects. Mind you, it was not residential at that time. RMTS Summer Institute has changed since then and they are now offering residential program only. DD is planning on going this year.
I still consider those programs to be quite expensive though. At well over a $1000 /week, plus transportation .
THINK seems to be a better deal, financially that is :-)</p>
<p>CTY is the only place my son has been where he can be with a lot of intellectual peers. Even more important are the social connections he makes by participating in their programs.</p>
<p>One need only read what CTY students themselves write about the program to know some of what they got out of going. “Life-changing” appears quite often.</p>
<p>Sure, it’s expensive. It’s a struggle for me financially to send him, especially since he double-sessions each year… and it’s worth every penny!</p>
<p>hikids, “money making approach?” CTY is a non-profit organization which specializes in providing educational courses to gifted kids. There are a number of other organizations out there which pretend to provide “educational” courses to kids, which charge far more money than CTY while providing far less intellectual content. I totally agree with Consolation that your statements misrepresent CTY.</p>
<p>Hikids,
I agree with the others re: your take on CTY. I think if your S had actually participated in a CTY program you would have an entirely different viewpoint. It is a lifesaver for gifted kids. CTY also offers financial aid for those who qualify but can’t afford the programs. Bottom line is you’re totally wrong about the purpose and intent of the CTY program.</p>
<p>I’ll chime in with all the other CTY defenders. The program is superb. The only downside in our experience (S1 has gone for the past two summers) is that it is so hard to come back. S1 has had “withdrawal” problems leaving the best educational and social environment he’s ever experienced.</p>
<p>It is a real shame that the price (justified, in my opinion) is too high for many. They do actively raise funds for scholarships. I’ve gotten fundraising phone calls from them.</p>
<p>They are providing a unique service that is badly needed by the brightest kids.</p>
<p>Anyone who has not participated in CTY can get a flavor of the whole experience beyond what you get in catalog by looking at the entries in Wikipedia under Center for Talented Youth or at [Main</a> Page - RealCTY](<a href=“http://www.realcty.org%5DMain”>http://www.realcty.org). It is not about selling courses.</p>
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<p>My sister went to CTY at LMU when HP7 came out. Perhaps you might have run into her. I think she did session 2, or whichever one that started in mid july. We just mailed her the book because I wanted to read it before. I ended up not reading the book though :(</p>
<p>My sister seems to get a lot of financial aid for CTY…perhaps it’s because she’s been going since like 5th grade. She always fights with my mom over what classes she’s going to register for. Every year. Without fail. She ends up registering for something not her first choice, whines about it all the way to the airport, and when we pick her up, she always loved it. Without fail. Every year. </p>
<p>I was going to apply to TA there this summer but CTY requires work experience dealing with kids. I’m qualified in every other respect (i.e. “good” GPA, good school, fairly hard course load, never gotten in trouble…ever, people who I’m sure are willing to write me recommendations) except I don’t have work experience. I babysat my sister when my mom would work late for, oh, FOUR years. That counts for nothing?</p>
<p>Oh well, a good 25 law firms are going to get my resume in the mail in the next couple weeks. And hopefully, by the end of the semester, I’ll have a job offer from one of them.</p>
<p>S2 qualified and went for two summers. The first summer was at Loyola Marymount in LA, and he enjoyed the campus, the course, and the kids. The second course was at Mount Holyoke, and he had the strangest roommate . . . and didn’t care for the course or the campus. Two years was enough for him.</p>
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<p>“Post-CTY depression.” Seems a common affliction among those who go. There’s an active message board for CTYers called “Post-CTY Depression,” named after the malady.</p>
<p>Re: Harry Potter, the bookstore on the campus my son was on for CTY didn’t open over the weekend – oh, the pain and agony!!! A former CTYer’s dad who lives in the town the campus is in, a man I don’t know (and neither do I know his daughter), picked up two Harry Potter books early in the morning the day the book was released and dropped them off at the CTY office for my son and another student. Very kind of him to do that, and the kids were very excited to get their books so early!</p>
<p>Take a look at what two alums say about the experience:</p>
<p>[CTY</a> First Person](<a href=“http://cty.jhu.edu/about/firstperson/index.html]CTY”>http://cty.jhu.edu/about/firstperson/index.html)</p>
<p>two summers for my son at the JHU campus. very heavily supervised by the way…perhaps almost too much for very independent kids who don’t recognize the need on the Baltimore campus…always RAs around.
Academics far exceeded expectations…very very excellent teachers and well chosen teachers aides…my son LOVED his courses for their content and for the peers who were ready to discuss and take it on at a higher level with pleasure. Nice mix of no competition in the atmosphere too…relaxing…fun hours strewn through each day…Some students work harder than others but they are all learning a lot.</p>
<p>I have a question for all of you experienced parents. My S has qualified since very young, but we haven’t been able to afford a summer program (yet we aren’t on free/reduced lunch which they told me they base the scholarship app. on) The Question: we think we could send him for a summer program the summer after grade 10, but with the system where returning students get first placement, is there any likelihood he would get accepted as a first-timer at that age?
Thank you</p>
<p>orjr, yes, I’m sure he’d get accepted as a first-timer at that age. He might not get his first-choice course/location, but there are still courses open now, weeks after enrollment started, so yes, not a problem getting a course after grade 10 for a first-timer.</p>
<p>There are courses which have prereqs, and he’s more likely to have them at that age than a lot of other students, so he actually has more courses available to him than younger, first-time students.</p>