Outdoor activities s/o TIP, CTY, etc reviews thread

[raptor_dad]

Do any of the elite academic camps(TIP, CTY, Mathcamp, RSI, Hampshire, etc) offer rigorous outdoor activities on the weekends?

 

I never went to CTY or TIP but I did go to free selective state run TIP analogues and a nationally selective(2 kids per state stem camp). The state camps had hiking, caving, whitewater canoeing, and maybe climbing. The national camp was set up originally in '63 and it was obvious that just as the academics were inspired by a post sputnik New Frontier ethos, its activity program was heavily influenced by the founding of Outward Bound USA and the Peace Corps. It had multiple weekend backpacking trips, climbing, caving, and whitewater kayaking. 

 

My camps had plenty of hanging out and playing ultimate or volleyball or egyptian rat screw or D&D. But the outdoors activities offered an additional opportunity for both socialization and personal challenge.

[Kathy in Richmond]

Mathcamp offers lots of outdoor activities on the weekends, all optional. My kids went swimming, hiked nearby mountains (usually hikes were offered at different levels for more or less experienced hikers), went berry picking, white water rafting, caving, bicycling, and just explored new cities by foot.

 

It's definitely a "work hard, play hard" atmosphere. I appreciated that my kids came home in good physical shape with nice summer tans in addition to learning new math!

 

You can read more on the web site:

Activities at Mathcamp

Field Trips

 

[raptor_dad]

Mathcamp offers lots of outdoor activities on the weekends, all optional. My kids went swimming, hiked nearby mountains (usually hikes were offered at different levels for more or less experienced hikers), went berry picking, white water rafting, caving, bicycling, and just explored new cities by foot.

 

It's definitely a "work hard, play hard" atmosphere. I appreciated that my kids came home in good physical shape with nice summer tans in addition to learning new math!

 

You can read more on the web site:

Activities at Mathcamp

Field Trips

 

Fabulous! My question was partially motivated by looking at what the MathPath kids would be up to locally which seemed to be mostly bike rides and swimming in lakes which I found a little light. I don't want to pick on MathPath or TIP or CTY since I know running these camps is complex and financially fraught enough without adding in other stuff. But, I'm thrilled to hear MathCamp has the sort of supplementary activities I value. 

[Kathy in Richmond]

Yeah, MathPath does do outdoors excursions, but they're a little tamer, especially when camp is held in an urban location like it will be this summer. All the activities are mandatory at MathPath, & there are more safety concerns when you have kids as young as eleven in the group. My dd was a counselor one summer when they took the kids on a bike trip, and one girl in her counselor group had never been on a bike before. Kind of limits the rigor of the trip! But during other years, my MathPath campers had good hikes (in the Black Hills) and white water raft trips (in Colorado). In cities, there are also more opportunities for museum visits, which take the place of outdoorsy stuff. In the Black Hills, outdoorsy stuff was about all there was to do!

[JoanHomeEd]

At Duke (TIP), the activities were pretty mild (frisbee games, scavenger hunts, card games, etc.) but fun enough by DC's standard. It's probably different now.

 

In case other people are interested, at CTD (NUMATS), the activities were also about the same. 

 

BTW, TIP's Bevan Scholarship can only be earned in 7th grade, but can be used in either 7th or 8th grade summer camp.

NUMATS's scholarships, on the other hand, can be earned in 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th grades. 

And, the scholarships can used anytime (6 thru 12th grades) for both online classes and summer camps.

 

hth 

Edited March 8, 2016 by JoanHomeEd