Anonymous wrote:OP there is no connection to either Oxford University or Cambridge University.

But there are a lot of money-grabbing companies who attempt to convince you of such a connection by using words like "Oxbridge" in their titles / names.

I would avoid it. And I'm from the UK.

This.

Anonymous wrote:I just got one in the mail as well but worldstrides is the company behind it and they usually help sponsor educational Washington DC trips at my school. I don't k ow much about the company itself besides the fact that they do this for my school.

At my school, they also handle the DC trip and the band trips to Chicago and Disney. They are o.k. We got our money back for a Covid-cancelled DC trip even though it wasn't insured. I believe they've been in business for a while.

I just got one in the mail as well but worldstrides is the company behind it and they usually help sponsor educational Washington DC trips at my school. I don't k ow much about the company itself besides the fact that they do this for my school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you very much for all this feedback. In light of our now hesitation to use this program, does anyone have a good suggestion for a great academically focused summer program for rising seniors?

Yes, look at Yale Young Global Scholars. It’s competitive. It was amazing gave-changer for DD

We thought it was a tremendous waste of time and overly expensive to boot. Some of the instructors were just sophomores in the college.

I’m sorry you had that experience. Our DS thoroughly moved his time at Yale. Yes it was expensive (they have scholarships-I contribute every year). The fee for two weeks includes a single dorm room in one of Yale’s houses and all meals. In addition to classes, there were trips and excursions. For DS it wasn’t about the teaching (never mentioned it) as it was about being a rising junior in the environment with kids from 100 countries from around the world. About 2500 apply with selectivity being at around 30 percent. DS was a rising junior so this two week experience really set his heart on going to a good college. The students set up a YYGS Facebook page so friends made could track where each other went over the years. What I was most impressed about was they had each student lecture on a global topic. I have photos if my then 15 yo son lecturing at the podium. He’s very confident on his feet today. I do know his fellow classmates wound up at the top universities in the world. If you can access the YYGS Facebook page for any year you can see for yourself. It truly was a game changer for him. He’s kept in contact with a number of friends made there. It’s far more difficult for an American student to get k. Than foreign since they want students from as many foreign countries as possible.