<p>My dd has just been recommended for Governor’s School. What experience good or bad have other families had with this program?</p>
<p>My DD went to one in our state this past summer. It was six weeks, and to sum it up, it was the best experience of her life. The level of passion in the 700 students there was something she had never experienced. I know some states have schools in different locations, but ours was all together. She was there for foreign language, although I think the performances by the musicians, dance troupes and theatre majors were her favorite part. It was also great experience to get a small taste of dorm life.</p>
<p>I second GA2012MOM-- the experiences are terrific and the networking can last a lifetime. In our state, it’s highly selective to be a nominee and nearly impossible to be selected. Congrats and good luck to your d!</p>
<p>Thank you to both of you. I am just proud of her for being nominated!</p>
<p>S attended Govenor’s School this past summer, in a 5 week program focused on science. He greatly enjoyed the program academicaly and socially. It was an amazing, top flight program from what I could see. Any chance to attend a GS should be pursued vigorously. It is an honor to be accepted, and a valuable, fun experience.</p>
<p>I’ll try not to hijack the parent discussion, but there are some good student perspectives in [this</a> thread](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=400077]this”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=400077). Personally, I’ve been to two of the Vermont Governor’s Institutes and had an amazing time, as did my friends at other institutes. “The best experience of my life” would be a pretty accurate assessment…</p>
<p>Besides being a fabulous experience, i.e. you are being exposed to top-notch teachers, research, and thought-processes, are surrounded by the very brightest in your State, the Governor’s programs are very selective and prestigious, and would be an sdmissions stand-out.</p>
<p>There are a few steps to the process; I believe within each High School students apply, write essays, and get nominated by a teacher-panel. Those nominations are then sent to the State panel, where a handful are selected to attend each G.S. program.</p>
<p>Good Luck!!</p>
<p>I would love to hear from other students that have attended Governor’s school. Anyone know anything about the application process?</p>
<p>If you want to hear from students, you may want to post here:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=400077[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=400077</a></p>
<p>In any case, each State could have an entirely different process, just as some States do not even have a Governors’ School.</p>
<p>We have both year-long (meaning for the full academic year) Governor’s school programs, as well as summer versions lasting only about 6 weeks. </p>
<p>My D attended our regional Governor’s school for Science and Technology. She studied Calculus-based AP Physics. But there were other disciplines available, such as biology, Environmental Science and Computer Science at the AP level. This program attracted students from as far away as an hour’s commute. Students spent the first two hours of every day at this facility, and were then transported to their regular high schools (where all other non-science AP courses were available) for the rest of their school day. It was at Governor’s school that D’s passion for physics was kindled. She’s now about to graduate from a top LAC with an undergraduate degree in the discipline.
</p>
<p>The summer before, D was nominated for Gov. School courses in German and Art, but turned down those opportunities in order to apply for two summer research internships. </p>
<p>We live in Virginia, whose Governor’s School programs, I’ve been told, enjoy a strong reputation.</p>
<p>My son, who graduated from college in 2006, attended our state’s Governor’s School for science after his junior year of h.s. It was a very demanding and high level 5 week program which he greatly enjoyed. He still keeps in touch with some of his Governor’s School classmates and even meets up with them every so often, even though six years have passed.</p>
<p>oakleaf mom, regarding the application process, yes I am sure every state is different. Ours entailed being nominated at school level by teachers, then submitting material to be “officially nominated.” They then had a countywide interview, then a state interview. State interview was in the beginning of February with notification in the beginning of May, a very very long time! I would suggest that you contact your childs school coordinator regarding specifics. Besides the interview at the state level, DD took an extensive written test which was factored into admittance.
Just a funny afterthought, DD state test/interview was held the same day as she was to compete in High School State AAAAA swimming finals. The interviews were running behind schedule, so she explained her situation to them. There were several gracious students who let her go ahead of them for her interview. As soon as that was done, we rushed out to the parking lot of the college it was being held at, and both of us changed clothes in the “mommy mini-van!” Squeezing into a competition size suit (skin tight) was hilarious for her in the back seat as I was scrouching down in the front changing as well as campus security patrol was driving by! I then drove “a little” (oops) over the speed limit to get to the swim facility. Warm ups were over, but she did it herself in the diving well, and swam in event #2. Great interview, great swim, great day!</p>
<p>The process for Governor’s Schools does indeed vary state-to-state, and in my state it even varies school-to-school. This state has five or six different programs, and each of them is run pretty independently.</p>
<p>My daughter did a fiction-writing program at the Governor’s School for the Arts. It was extremely competitive – over 400 applications for 20 writing slots, 10 in fiction and 10 in poetry. She was the first alternate in 10th grade, and was selected in 11th grade. As I remember it, the process involved an application, a test (given simultaneously at 9 or 10 specific sites around the state), a very substantive interview with two members of the selection committee, and a lot of waiting.</p>
<p>The program itself was great. Five weeks at a small college campus a long way from anywhere, very strong kids and teachers, really interesting kids in the other arts programs. Free. My daughter still keeps in touch with three or four of the kids she met there.</p>
<p>I have no idea whether it was a plus in the admissions process or not. Most of the kids she knew wound up going to a state school – Pitt or Penn State, a couple Temples. A few went to Carnegie-Mellon. (The kids in the Arts program were overwhelmingly from the Pittsburgh area, where there is still apparently a lot of funding for in-school arts programs. This particular Governor’s School explicitly eschews any consideration of geographical diversity within the state, unlike almost every other public program.) The person she thought was the most talented writer in her cohort was accepted ED at Columbia.</p>
<p>The child of our best friends did the international business program. She liked it a lot, too, and has stayed very close with some of her friends from it. The application process there was less involved and less anxiety-ridden.</p>
<p>JHS and I live in the same state, but the rules for the science Governor’s School must be different than for the Arts one. For the science one, it was required that at least one student come from every county in our state. I think the reasoning behind this rule was that in some counties, the educational opportunities are much greater than in other counties and a little boost was needed for applicants from counties with weaker school systems whose applications would otherwise likely be weaker than those from the more affluent counties.</p>
<p>I am quite certain that the science Governor’s School is a huge plus for college admissions. Many of the students went on to attend top universities and others to the honors college at our state university. At the end of the program, the director of the program writes a very detailed letter of recommendation for each student (which the student may see). This is done by gathering input from each of the student’s teachers and from his or mentor for the independent project which is a major component of the program. I understand that a strong letter of recommendation from this program carries a lot of weight in college admissions, as the admissions offices are familiar with the program and respect the opinions of the faculty of the program.</p>
<p>In any case, the quality of the program and the way it was run was fantastic, just as JHS reports for his daughter, and, as he said, it was totally free. I finally felt like I was getting something great for all of the state taxes we pay!</p>
<p>Tennesse has 12 programs. My D was one of 80 in the 5 week Humanities GS and it was a marvelous experience. She was thrilled to spend time with other students who loved to read and write as much as she does.</p>
<p>AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES - UT Martin </p>
<p>ARTS - MTSU </p>
<p>COMPUTATIONAL PHYSICS - Austin Peay State University </p>
<p>EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES - TN Technological University - Cookeville</p>
<p>ENGINEERING - UT Knoxville </p>
<p>HUMANITIES - UT Martin</p>
<p>INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP - TN TECH - Cookeville </p>
<p>INTERNATIONAL STUDIES - University of Memphis </p>
<p>PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS - UT Chattanooga</p>
<p>SCIENCES - UT Knoxville </p>
<p>SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION OF TENNESSEE HERITAGE - ETSU </p>
<p>SCIENTIFIC MODELS AND DATA ANALYSIS - East Tennessee State University</p>
<p>D was also in the Arts Governor’s School in the same state as JHS. Was very competitive to get in, required portfolio, audition, interview etc. She had a great time and keeps in contact with fellow students, plus TAs and teachers.</p>
<p>Kevin Bacon also attended the program back in his day.</p>
<p>Our state does not have one…</p>