<p>My D did the forum on medicine the summer before her junior year. She and I both thought the experience was worthwhile. They did very little “sightseeing”, only a couple of excursions in the evening. She visited several hospitals, did some shadowing, went to lectures given by patients with chronic diseases, etc.</p>
<p>I guess this means we “drank the Kool-Aid’; but in spite of reading some of these same comments a year ago, and having no thoughts of it being for a college app, my daughter attended a forum on medicine at UCLA and it seemed to be worth missing the girl scout camp she has attended for the last 10 years. Camp was cheaper. She was “nominated” to one on Law but it was easy to change the “nomination”. It helped that it was only a cheap flight from home, she got to see her favorite uncle AND it is now her 1st choice for schools. She mentioned there were some complainers but the good news was I really liked the way she handled it. I must admit my main goal was to see if she’d get stoked about medicine and UCLA and she did. Not sure how to measure what its " worth”. I’ll also say they are trying to get us to go to NYLF and help with recruitment and we have done neither.</p>
<p>The DoD one my son was interested in and had been nominated by a favorite AP teacher. The timing just didn’t work to take him out of school for it because of other commitments. I don’t think of it as something that would help with college admissions. In fact, I would probably have discouraged him from putting it on his app unless there was an essay-worthy experience.</p>
<p>Not a big hook, not a scam, IMO. My s did the congressional one and enjoyed it a lot. I know plenty of bright kids who were recommended for it (not the only way to go, though, true enough) have done it and enjoyed it. At the elite school level I think it <em>could</em> still be a small positive if and only if it’s something that is not done in a vacuum but demonstrates and points to a consistent interest level in the subject. On the other hand, we toured a very reputable (non HYPSM level) school for D that promoted the number of entering freshman kids who had done the program, right on its marketing materials, so debating whether or not it’s a “waste of time” may depend on what type of school you are talking about.</p>
<p>Maybe the Tech forum treated attendees differently (unfortunately it is no longer offered) but there was never any pressure on parents or students to do anything more. We were fully aware of what it did and didn’t offer before signing up and had talked to previous attendees and teachers. We were aware of the difference between self-selection and nomination. We did not expect it to make a difference in college admissions. We did not care about a glittery certificate. We cared that our son would have some new and exciting experiences and expand his knowledge of his potential career field and the program certainly accomplished that. </p>
<p>There have been many threads on these programs and the responses fall into two categories - those who haven’t gone and believe it’s worthless, and those who have gone and know what the actual benefits are and are not. If the public refused to participate in any activities that involved some hype, our culture would grind to a halt! :D</p>
<p>Marilyn,
My son also attended the tech forum. Maybe the same one your son did?
I had the same experiences. He gained quite a bit out of it. I did not pay for it thinking it was a great EC or great thing for his college apps.
It was expensive. My thoughts at the time were that he got access to some great lectures, got to tour some companies I would like to tour, had the “being away from home” experience, etc.
To each his own as to whether above posters choose to send their kids. As we say on CC, your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>Just a correction - I meant to say that whether or not it’s any kind of HOOK may depend on what type of school you are talking about. IMO it’s not a not a waste of time if it’s something that is of interest to you and you can afford the time/money.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.presidentialclassroom.org/[/url]”>http://www.presidentialclassroom.org/</a> My son did the Global business this past spring. His school (a public HS btw) paid the tuition for 5 students to go. All it cost me was business attire and transportation (amtrak from Philly). he had a great time.</p>
<p>I could never have afforded to pay $1600 for the week</p>
<p>It sounds very much like something my son got from “Global Young Leaders Conference” (w/an impressive list of politicians on the advisary council, huge, elegant invite). But, it was based solely on PSAT scores (I know by the spelling of my son’s name) so I’m not considering it a substantive option (plus CC people here advised same).</p>
<p>While these kinds of programs may have value for some of the students who choose to attend, there is definitely some “scam” attached to them. The letters they send out definitely imply that a student has been selectively singled out for their achievements. While some students may get “nominated” by someone, they also send out letters implying that students have been nominated by their school - they reinforce this belief by putting your school’s name on the outside of the envelope.</p>
<p>I know several students who went just because they thought it was an “honor” they couldn’t pass up. And while they had fun, it was only something they did because they thought it was selective. When they compared notes and realized almost anyone could go, they felt a little foolish.</p>
<p>I agree that the impression of these jaunts being merit-based is deceptive. There might be value in attending them, if this is something the student is interested in; I’m just offended when someone tries to “sell” me on something that isn’t really true. Making students think they were “specially selected out of all the rest” is the scam.</p>
<p>i just got one of these letters for the medicine forum… i’m not interested at all in medicine, (although i did put chemistry as my field of interest on my PSATs)… </p>
<p>i think i am not going to do this… especially since i don’t even live an hour from the capitol and have been there many times, so the sight-seeing part is useless… </p>
<p>so it really doesn’t look that good on a college ap? cause if it doesn’t then there’s no way i’m gonna make my family pay all that money…</p>
<p>Hi,
My child never went to the forum, instead focused on volunteer and school work and was recently accepted by a University.
They must have cared more about the essays and grades. There are a lot of factors the admission officers look for, but paying to go to a forum ain’t one of them.
It’s really not that complicated: get good grades, broaden you horizon by volunteering and taking advantages of clubs at school and just be you.
Now there is plenty of money to blow for proms, car maintenance etc.
You will do great without ever setting foot into a high priced “forum” vacation.</p>
<p>S got the same thing…I’m very skeptical…will probably toss it.</p>
<p>I went to the CSLC program, which is kinda the same thing, and I had a BLAST. And I still talk to the people I went with. 
One girl even drove down from Palm Springs (2 hours or so) for my birthday, we had a ton of fun.</p>
<p>Anyways…i think it’s well worth it if it’s something you’re interested in, but not necessarily for college apps (I put that and NYLC on mine, but it wasn’t even close to a selling point or anything). </p>
<p>Also, as to the “specially selected” part…alumni and teachers can recommend students, so they didn’t necessarily just buy your name from a list. Just thought I’d throw that out there.</p>
<p>My son attends a medical magnet program and was nominated by a teacher to go. Students who had gone in the past from our school had found it worthwhile. Because of HIPPA, the opportunities for our students to shadow in a hospital setting have become more limited (in our area) but NYLF gets the kids into places in a hospital to see things they would never otherwise see. My kid also went to the one at UCLA which for us was a short drive away. He had a great experience. I thought it was worth the money for him to get a closer look at the field of medicine as opposed to potentially discovering halfway through medical school that it’s not for him. He really learned a lot in the short time he was there.</p>
<p>I know a student who went to a medical program, located in Massachusetts. (I can’t keep all of those things apart in my memory, since S, like many kids, received invitations to so many of them.) He apparently found it worthwhile. He’s now at Brown PLME.</p>
<p>I think that some of those programs are better than others, even though they tend to blur from this perspective. Perhaps the one where kids are nominated by teachers is better?</p>
<p>You can be nominated by a teacher or by a parent. Makes no sense to me.</p>
<p>I am attending NYLF/Med this summer and here are my opinions about the program:
- It’s not as competitive as you might think it is, but consider this- Who is more likely to decide to attend the program: a motivated student with a genuine interest in learning more about medicine, or a slacker?
- The program is expensive, but that’s because they need to pay for housing for 10 days, 2/3 or the meals, private transportation, the many speakers that come to the programs, security, the site visits, etc. Also, scholarships are available, and the website has a lot of information about fundraising.
- You definitely learn a lot about medicine, through thought-provoking discussions, debates, lectures, medical school visits, and most importantly, site visits to different medical facilities.</p>
<p>All of these reasons, and more, were what made me decide to attend this program.</p>
<p>i was chosen to go though my school, my explore test (Its like a pre act)score and a survay we had to fill out that asked about what our future intrests were. From everyone I’ve talk to they said it was worth it and that they had a great and edu. time.</p>