My niece just spent a week there in the novel writing institute and came back raving about the experience. It sounded amazing! I hope the OP's daughter has a great summer.

I was a camper as a teen for 4 years in the 90's (flute and piano) and a counselor in 2000 and am a huge cheerleader for all things Interlochen. I made lifelong friends who now range from internationally-renown performing artists to government attorneys and everything in between. It remains one of the defining experiences of my life and just thinking of the beautiful campus takes me back to my "happy place." As an adult, I've volunteered for Interlochen a little bit locally and met (nervous) parents sending their children to camp and the boarding school there. There is little downtime for the kids to be homesick and the exposure to the arts and people from all over the world is unparalleled. My teachers back home were shocked at how much I improved each summer, especially in my sight reading. I suspect every camper or student comes back with at least 10 new, great friends, if not more, and an appreciation for what their cabinmates and friends are doing. No, it's not a resort. It's pretty rustic, the food isn't amazing, kids are off the grid without their devices, there's a fairly unflattering and old-school uniform required... so it's not for everyone, and of course, it's not terribly close to the DC area and it's expensive. I only have a two year old but I'm already dreaming of the day I can drop her off at Interlochen and sing "Sound the Call" with her. I'm happy to offer more info if anyone wants to email me offline: toby dot bulloff at gmail dot com

OP here. I just dropped her off at camp and I am spending the night in Ohio because I couldn’t make it all the way home in one day. The counselors seemed very nice. It wasn’t any problem getting her checked in. This will be her first time away from home so she is a bit nervous. She also has multiple anaphylactic food allergies which always adds a complex layer to everything. She starts her classes tomorrow so I will update people as the month progresses. She is staying for two sessions of the Junior division where there is a little more handholding than the intermediate division. She could have done either as a rising seventh grader but she chose juniors.

The Junior division is not competitive. Children are able to submit an audition for an honors recital and my daughter did get herself a spot in one of the honor recitals during her stay. She will be focusing on one instrument in the first two weeks and her second instrument in the second two weeks. The girls in her cabin had other majors so there is a good mix. She will have two electives each day. There is mandatory recreation hour for all the juniors at 4 o’clock. The lake is breathtaking so I hope she enjoys swimming there.

I’m very curious what her experience is and I’m happy to share. Please let me know if there any specific questions so I can address them.

Would love to hear about how it goes OP. My DD was wait listed this year and will be trying again in 2019.

My company has a connection to Interlochen and brought in some of their young musicians for an event. The students were incredibly impressive! I’ve heard only amazing things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is there right now. She has been there a few times and loves it. Everyone is so friendly and kind. They wouldn’t let my initially shy DD stay by herself. At first, she was a little intimidated by how talented all kids are but her new friends supported her and showed her that they equally admired her talent by attending her performances and giving her plenty of encouragement. Her instructors have geat confidence in her and encourage her to push herself beyond her perceive limits. It has been a great experience for her and your DD will love it too.

This sounds like a 100% made up post.

Why?
This the reason I don’t post on this forum.
You can check it out yourself. Their performances are webcasted and pictures are posted daily.
https://ica.smugmug.com/Camp

No, I believe the camp is excellent its just your schmaltzy post that I find difficult to swallow.

It was a very positive experience for my DD. Positive enough for her to be willing to eat very blend cafeteria food, give up her phone for a few weeks, and share a very rustic cabin with 11 other girls and 2 adults. It depends on what your DC wants to get out of this camp. Some kids return year after year. Others prefer the comforts of indoor AC and clean rooms and go elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is there right now. She has been there a few times and loves it. Everyone is so friendly and kind. They wouldn’t let my initially shy DD stay by herself. At first, she was a little intimidated by how talented all kids are but her new friends supported her and showed her that they equally admired her talent by attending her performances and giving her plenty of encouragement. Her instructors have geat confidence in her and encourage her to push herself beyond her perceive limits. It has been a great experience for her and your DD will love it too.

This sounds like a 100% made up post.

Why?
This the reason I don’t post on this forum.
You can check it out yourself. Their performances are webcasted and pictures are posted daily.
https://ica.smugmug.com/Camp

No, I believe the camp is excellent its just your schmaltzy post that I find difficult to swallow.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD is there right now. She has been there a few times and loves it. Everyone is so friendly and kind. They wouldn’t let my initially shy DD stay by herself. At first, she was a little intimidated by how talented all kids are but her new friends supported her and showed her that they equally admired her talent by attending her performances and giving her plenty of encouragement. Her instructors have geat confidence in her and encourage her to push herself beyond her perceive limits. It has been a great experience for her and your DD will love it too.

This sounds like a 100% made up post.

Why?
This the reason I don’t post on this forum.
You can check it out yourself. Their performances are webcasted and pictures are posted daily.
https://ica.smugmug.com/Camp

Anonymous wrote:My DD is there right now. She has been there a few times and loves it. Everyone is so friendly and kind. They wouldn’t let my initially shy DD stay by herself. At first, she was a little intimidated by how talented all kids are but her new friends supported her and showed her that they equally admired her talent by attending her performances and giving her plenty of encouragement. Her instructors have geat confidence in her and encourage her to push herself beyond her perceive limits. It has been a great experience for her and your DD will love it too.

This sounds like a 100% made up post.

My DD is there right now. She has been there a few times and loves it. Everyone is so friendly and kind. They wouldn’t let my initially shy DD stay by herself. At first, she was a little intimidated by how talented all kids are but her new friends supported her and showed her that they equally admired her talent by attending her performances and giving her plenty of encouragement. Her instructors have geat confidence in her and encourage her to push herself beyond her perceive limits. It has been a great experience for her and your DD will love it too.

My kids aren’t old enough but I spent my first summer there when I was your DD’s age. I hope she loves it as much as I did.

It's totally arts focused, right?

DD went for many years, starting around your DD's age. It was magical for her, and she's still close with some of her friends from there.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a kiddo going this year? My DD is 12 and leaves this weekend. She is so nervous. First time away from home.

Not to side track your thread, but will you come back and give a review of it all when she is done? There is so little on this forum about Interlochen and I'm very interested in it for my two kids.

Anyone have a kiddo going this year? My DD is 12 and leaves this weekend. She is so nervous. First time away from home.