<p>I have three good options for the summer
I can study at St Andrews in Scotland for four weeks with a program for hs students run directly by the university</p>
<p>I can attend the Junior Statesmen of America (thereby getting AP government out of the way, its a requirement for graduation)</p>
<p>or I can attend a volunteer program for 2 weeks within the US, near to my home, that I attended last year and loved</p>
<p>I am going to be a senior in HS in fall of '08 and I am working on finding an independent historical research project as history is my true academic passion. are there any good history programs anyone knows of?
and which summer program is best?
this is my first post, thanks for answering : )</p>
<p>If you have to do AP Gov, JSA is a relatively painless way to do it - the classes are not too intellectually taxing and you have a lot of freedom to run around a campus / explore a city. If you’re really interested in the material, though, you may be better off taking it at school, depending on how good your school’s gov classes are.</p>
<p>I am sorry to call you on this quere, but you have no freedom at JSA. If you want to leave the campus you have to leave in groups of three and on top of this you can only leave on sundays after you sign out. I would encourage that you go to St. Andrews or volunteer because the summer i spent at JSA was probably one of the worst summers of my life. PM if you have any questions or if you are considering JSA still, because it is a terrible decision… I promise!</p>
<p>I did JSA, we had no restrictions like that on how you could explore. There was a limit to how fare you could travel, but not really enforced, and you can’t get that far walking anyway.</p>
<p>I did it last summer (APUSH) and am doing it again this year (AP US Gov). Was great fun and a great learning experience last year, should be fun this year.</p>
<p>I am unsure of what campus you were on but the georgetown campus is terrible with restrictions and rules. JSA is a rip off program that is focused towards making money.</p>
<p>I attended JSA and I completely agree with BJMc2008. At JSA (I went to the one at Georgetown), the administrators acted as though we were two year olds. To be honest, I am surprised they didn’t hold my hand while I was crossing the street. It is nothing like a true college experience. </p>
<p>I have not heard much about the study program at St. Andrews so I can’t really comment on how good it is. But, if I may, I’d like to suggest another program to you which was truly AMAZING. It’s through Harvard University and is called the Harvard Secondary School Program. Although it’s not too difficult to get into, there is ABSOLUTELY no comparison between SSP and JSA. Harvard SSP is better on every front. More freedom (it truly mimics the college experience), better professors, tougher classes and more students. If you really want a summer filled with fun as well as challenging academics, I’d suggest SSP. </p>
<p>In any case, I strongly urge you to save your money and avoid JSA.</p>
<p><strong>note to quaere and thebeef</strong> I’m not exactly sure what you mean by explore the city. We were only allowed to leave campus on Sundays, in groups of 3 or more, after signing out with the administration. For most of the three weeks I spent there, it felt as though I was being imprisoned within the confines of the Georgetown campus. I am still unable to understand why it was forbidden to leave campus on days other than Sunday (if anything, it’s probably more dangerous outside on weekends)</p>