So how was CTY this year?

Parent Cafe
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<p>Since it seems there are a decent number of our kids who attended CTY camps this summer, I thought I’d start this thread for post-camp observations, discussions, reminiscences, whatever seems appropriate.</p>

<p>I picked my 15yo younger S up from CTY at Loyola Marymount U. in LA yesterday. It is SO uplifting for me to watch him at CTY, especially at the end of his sessions (this was his sixth): he knows EVERYONE and is constantly calling out farewells to people (kids and staff) he sees. There was a lot of hugging going on, and lots of promising to keep in touch, and threats that if so-and-so didn’t come back next summer, well… they’d just better come back, that’s all. The only drawback I could pinpoint this year is that there seemed to be more thefts than in previous years: I heard of 2 iPods/MP3-players stolen, along with a laptop (left in an open classroom), $50 from a wallet, and several board games (S’s “Axis and Allies” disappeared from the empty dorm room where they’d set it up on a bedframe).</p>

<p>The academic course S took (Electrical Engineering) was excellent – they learned the principles of electronics and did labs (with lab reports) and hands-on projects for 3 weeks involving taking apart old VCRs for parts, and building solar-activated little robots (about 3 or 4 inches long) that drove towards or away from the sun, or went in circles or backwards, etc. They also did a day-long field trip to JPL which was a great experience for them: they spent time in the Mars Rover room and seem to have had a great tour. When S got home, he and older S (S1) started talking about electrical parts: S2 had no exposure to this topic before and S1 is a whiz at it, so the fact that they had a long conversation (which I couldn’t understand :slight_smile: ) led me to believe S2 had learned quite a lot. Ask me sometime about the special screening we had at LAX with the little robots in my carry-on: suffice it to say that there were half a dozen TSA employees, TSA supervisors in suits, and 3 police officers with bulletproof vests and handguns peering at the little robots before deciding that we were right, they were a science project. (The CTY director had given each student a letter explaining this, anticipating some questions at the security screening, but of course the letter wasn’t enough.)</p>

<p>Most importantly for me re: CTY, S’s instructors and RA (residence hall counselor) had great things to say about him, his participation in class, and his general positive effect on those around him. This is a kid who is quite different and will have an “interesting” chore of choosing colleges to apply to next year: he will not qualify for any of the schools we considered for S1 based on his habit of not turning in homework. If we can find a college he likes that works similar to CTY, where his quirks are acknowledged and his strengths are allowed to work for him, I’ll be really happy. I was sitting in the final ceremony listening to the director thank everyone, and I started crying happy-tears at how wonderful this has been for my sons and how this would be our last year… until S reminded me that he won’t be 17 until Sept. 2006, so technically he <em>could</em> go to CTY next summer. I wonder whether it’s the best plan to spend the summer before your senior year at CTY, but I guess there could be way worse choices.</p>

<p>S informed me on the way to the car that he would be coming back to CTY as an RA after his freshman year of college. (“The nurse says they always have a shortage of male RAs, and I just have to get a 3.0 GPA so I can do that.”) I have NEVER heard him make any such long-range predictions before, or even to talk about any future plans: I believe this is the first time he’s found something he wants to make a goal. This made quite an impression on me.</p>

<p>So. CTY was fantastic for us again this year. How did your family’s experience go?</p>

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<p>Thanks for starting this Mootmom. My son had another wonderful year at CTY. He took Ancient Greek II at Franklin & Marshall. He’d taken Ancient Greek I last year (at St. Mary’s) and loved it so much that he and a friend from that class had started a letter writing campaign to convince Johns Hopkins to offer AG II this year — he was thrilled when they did add it. Even better, he had three really good friends from last year in this year’s class and the teacher and TA were the same ones he had last year. He adored the teacher and TA last year and his relationship with both of them seemed to really grow this year.</p>

<p>Socially, he had a terrific time as well — he can’t wait to go back for his nevermore year next year and is already asking if he can do BOTH sessions. Unfortunately, with his sister going away to college that might not be possible, but we’ll see. Like your son, he’s already talking about being an RA when he’s in college.</p>

<p>I think CTY is an awesome experience. The academics, of course, are great, but I think it is the growth and maturity I see each year after the program that really makes it worth the money.</p>

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<p>Mootmom and Carolyn,
So glad your S’s had a wonderful time at CTY this summer! My S, a rising college freshman, is considering applying as an RA for next summer. He spent four happy summers (2 at Loyola, 1 at Skidmore and 1 at JHU) at CTY, and H and I are huge fans of the program. It was weird for S not to go to CTY or any summer program this year.</p>

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<p>“peering at the little robots”</p>

<p>Oh Mootmom, I had to laugh at that. A few years back we hosted an entire robotics team, and they left Seattle during one of the heightened security alerts. Even though their luggage was checked, my DS and I spent almost an hour with the TSA people explaining what those things were in the <em>checked</em> luggage before they’d send it on to the plane. Among other things, there was a remote control board for a hydraulic device… These days, coming to and from MIT, DS has learned to leave most of that stuff behind—or ship it.</p>

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<p>MIT sounds like a perfect fit for kids like that.</p>

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<p>What is CTY?</p>

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<p>CTY= Center for Talented Youth. The Southeastern equivalent is TIP- Talent Identification Program. There are other programs in other areas as well. I believe UAB (U Alabama at Birmingham) hosts a program, and I am sure there are others.</p>

<p>My s. enjoyed his TIP program this year. He actually did his laundry too! He took a class in Sports Law. He and his roommate were the only two rising 10th graders. The rest of the class were rising 11th graders. Non-the-less, he did well, quickly grasped the concepts, and enjoyed being with people whe knew as much about sports as he does. Apparently, however, people in this specialty of law end up pursuing jobs as sports agents. How hard is it to break into that field?? I’d imagine that’s no easy task.</p>

<p>My s. tends to hold his cards close to his chest, as it were, but I think he had a really good time.</p>

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<p>I’m so glad someone made a thread for this! I’m a rising junior who lives in the southern part of VA, and I just returned from CTY, and I’m still in the after-CTY depression shock :frowning:
I met so many amazing people, and while I also could <em>technically</em> do this again next summer, I don’t think I will. I’ve done CAA once, and CTY once, and I want to vary up the things I can do each summer.
I was also at Franklin & Marshall, I did the Advanced Chemistry, which was only offered in Lancaster, PA. Amazing course, you learn so much so quickly, we covered the 5 hardest chapters with the most calculations. Even though we did not cover the whole cirruculum, I’m most definently sure that this will help during the year when I take AP Chemistry.
Classes were from 9-12, usually consisted of a lecture, and sometimes labs for demonstration purposes, to “prove” what we learned. Then 12-1 was lunch, 1-3 was lab time. 3:30-5:30, mandatory activities, but they were fun, and you could sign up for a variety of things (learn japanese/ultimate frisbee/swimming/track/chillaxin, etc etc)
Then you had to go to dinner, you could return to your dorms at 6, then from 7-9 was study hall, and after that you pretty much had free time till 9:45. 9:45-10:00 was the hall meeting, then lights out at 10:30.
It’s a fantastic experience meeting so many diverse people and interacting with them, plus my sleep schedule is saved … over the summer I would stay up all night and sleep into the afternoon for no reason, and my parents were afraid I wouldn’t get used to the upcoming school schedule.
I miss everyone already, and since so many of them were from NJ, it’s harder to keep in touch. You get so close to those people because you’re there on campus for 3 weeks, and you’re not allowed to leave, so you see those people like 24/7 in a way.
My brother was also there for 2 sessions, he did Fast Paced Chem & Fast Paced Physics. On the car ride home, my bro and I would talk about all the stuff we did (i’m a titration expert now, haha), and my mom was also in “awe” like you all seem to be. You gain so much knowledge, like I heard parents sent their kids just for the social aspect of the program too.
I also told my parents I want to be an RA when I grow older. My TA said she wanted to come back as an RA or TA, because she did CTY twice, in 97 & 99, so that was cool too. My RA goes to NYU and she never heard of CTY, she found the job advertised on the NYU site or something, and she never really dealt with kids before, so she was afraid she wouldn’t like the job. But, she was a pretty good RA, she also said she had an amazing experience and would recommend the job to anyone.</p>

<p>Edit: I wanted to add that my brother changed a lot since going. He spent 6 weeks there, and when he came back, he was much more into “sarah let’s go play frisbee” then the usual “leave me alone, i’m on the computer”. If anyone is wavering on sending their kids or not, I would say to send them, the positives gained will probably outweigh any negatives.</p>

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<p>It’s really nice to read about everyone’s experience in a kind of sad way. I teach for CTY, Distance Ed now, though I taught two summers at Baltimore, too. But mostly, my son did three summer programs, and he’s about to go way to Tulane. He used to talk about becoming an RA for CTY, but now he thinks he won’t want to leave NO once he gets there–or if he does, he’ll go to Mexico or overseas. There’s just SO much life ahead for him! </p>

<p>It’s good to hear about these great experiences and remember my son’s, too! Thanks!</p>

<p>(Edited to “sad” because this program thinks w<em>i</em>s<em>t</em>f<em>u</em>l is a nasty word!? What’s that about?)</p>

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<p>Sarorah:</p>

<p>My S did Fast Paced Physics and Fast-Paced Chemistry in different summers (first one at Union College, second one at Skidmore). He enjoyed both sessions very much, especially the chemistry one because the experiments were so cool and he got to bring home some goodies. Both courses prepared him extremely well for the APs. I hope you and your brother will feel that way, too!</p>

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<p>(ctymom: it’s because of the middle letters, s -t -f -u, which are a common abbreviation these days for an impolite way of insisting that someone shut up. The substitution scanners don’t discriminate between real words and the rude abbreviation, they just substitute those asterisks blindly.)</p>

<p>I’m guessing the “I want to be an RA” feeling may fade with time, but I think it’s such an awesome tribute to the program that so many of the older kids are thinking of it as a program they’d like to stay involved with and help other kids have great experiences there.</p>

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<p>My son was very sad that he didn’t get to attend TIP this year. He especially missed his friends (he still talks online with several of them from the past 2 years). But he went to governor’s school, which overlapped both TIP sessions, and it was free! He had a great time, but would have liked to do both. He enjoys the social aspect and the academics, and mom likes the maturing that goes on. </p>

<p>He is still talking about wanting to be an RA when he’s old enough.</p>

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<p>ooo I attend CTY last year. Well actually it was JHU CAA (center for academic achievement) same as CTY but not quite as good lol. I went to the Roger Williams U. campus in RI and took algebra & its applications, although now i wish i’d taken philosophy instead. truth be told, i value and will remember the social experience and the friends I made much more than the 7 HRS a day classes. I wont be attending again, I hope to go on to get a summer job and hopefully more prestigious programs, preferably TASP @ Cornell junuior year. PS> My Ra was awesome he went to UMAryland. And i made friends woth one Ra who was from the same town as me and goes to Tufts.</p>

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<p>Sarorah mentioned that her brother did six weeks at CTY (two 3 week sessions). Has anyone else’s child done this? My son is begging us to let him do two back-to-back sessions next summer, which will be his last CTY summer. I’m just wondering how many kids actually do this and what they do during the weekend in between. And, of course, we’d have to find a way to swing it financially.</p>

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<p>My younger S did back-to-back CTY sessions 3 summers ago. I arrived (in MD, from CA) during the weekend in between, on my way to meet up with H who was in Italy for a conference. S and I moved to a hotel for 2 nights, did laundry and shopped for snacks for Session 2, and took a day-trip to DC, roaming through Air & Space and having a picnic on the Mall. I deposited him back at CTY on Sunday morning and flew off to Italy that afternoon. Took some creative arranging, but it worked out. (Older S was at a different CTY site for Session 2, traveling there with a friend, so I didn’t have to worry about him.) Younger S loved both sessions that year, although Session 2 was clearly his favorite. He flew home by himself at the end: I was a bit tired of flying by then, as you can imagine. ;)</p>

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<p>I’m glad they helped with the APs, that was the main reason for taking adv. chem since AP chem isn’t offered in my school, even though I plan to take the test. It was easier for us, because all 3 of the courses (both of my brother’s and mine) were all located at Lancaster, PA. So he stayed there over the weekend, called intercession, $75 per day, and when my dad and I came to get him, he only needed a few more extra supplies, which we bought at one of the local stores. 2 people (1 guy, 1 girl) in my chem class also were there for session 1, they each did fast paced chemistry. The guy had to leave on monday of the last week because he became terribly ill, his roommate made a lot of people sick … i’m not sure what he got exactly, but people were running around with sore throats, throwing up, coughing up spit, and fevers. I had a bit of a sore throat while I was there and my brother came back with a nasty cough. But I’m sure that doesn’t happen at every site … and the girl stayed till the very last day, but left early on the last day because she lived in California and had to catch her plane. But she seemed happy to be leaving, 6 weeks is a long time. I noticed that my brother was a little grumpy at the beginning of session 2, maybe because he was there too long? By the time we left, he seemed cheerful again.</p>

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<p>Sarorah:</p>

<p>I should specify that my S did AP-Chem and AP- Physics after taking the Fast-Paced courses. He just wanted to get out of the year-long courses in those subjects. At the time, there were no Honors courses in those subjects at our high school, and he would have been bored to tears in the CP courses.</p>

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<p>I also did CTY for 4 years (6th-10th grade) and had a wonderful experience with it. my last 2 years I did CTYI (Ireland) and I highly reccomend it. It’s held at Dublin City University which in and of it’s self isn’t the best school, but the program is wonderful and there are tons of fun activities and depending on your class you get to take lots of awesome fieldtrips.</p>

<p>Within this, the Archaeology class is AMAZING. We got to g all over Ireland and see bogs and newgrange, and it was just amazing. I cannot reccomend it enough.</p>

<p>I know I would deffinetly like to be an RA some summer, at least if I don’t land an internship somewhere else. It desn’t pay very well (basically it’s just free room ad board) but it seemslike it would be fun.</p>

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<p>I’m glad people like CTY. I went to it for quite a few summers, although I got tired of it after a while and didn’t go for my nevermore year. I wanted to be a TA and I still think it would be a fun thing to do. Lancaster was a good site; it has a lot of traditions. I always went second session LAN and there were always people who had been there the year before. If I could redo CTY, I’d choose more classes that weren’t offered at my school (like Logic or History of Disease as opposed to Fast-Paced Chem).</p>

<p>I’ve done CTY reunions before and I think it’s cool that even if you’re like me and not very outgoing you can forge long-term friendships with people at CTY.</p>

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<p>Oh yeah, deffinetly. In fact, one of the people I’ve kept in touch with the longest I met doing CTY. We and three others got together in NYC for new years 2002 (after 9/11) and had a blast, as well as several beach get togethers, and now that I’m going to college on the east coast, on our journey there we will be staying with her and her family, actually, tomorrow night. so yay for CTY(I)</p>