CTY Alum here too - what a bummer to hear! Nearly all the fun was a pretty safe space to learn to be a teenager, with other kids who liked to learn. A shame to hear it's changed.

When I was in middle and early high school I did a few JHU-CTY programs that I absolutely loved. I know they still exist, but the latest reviews I've heard have been that these programs have gone down hill to some degree and are overly restrictive of the kids participating to the point they can't even go to the bathroom by themselves. Part of the fun of these camps was getting to be an early teen around other geeky, nerdy kids and start to explore that... I want my daughter to have that experience, too.

Are there other academic/gifted summer programs that provide more autonomy to the kids? Others' experience with CTY that differs from the above?