YesLetter: Summer Programs: Articles

Governor's School

by Louis

The best things in life are free, folks, even when it comes to college admissions. So forget about your summer programs that cost $6,000 for two months and six college credits. You’ll probably only be able to use those credits at the host school, anyway. Instead, go for govschool.

“Govschool,” is short for “Governor’s School.” It may sound like a place where aspiring politicians go to learn how to kiss up to constituents, waste taxpayers’ money and otherwise stain honorable positions. Yet it’s actually a completely honest, challenging and pleasurable experience. Governor’s School is a multi-week summer program held at a university where the brightest, most talented and hardest working students are put into college sophomore-level classes. Governor’s School “scholars,” as they’re also called, additionally participate in various team projects, labs, ensembles, and other activities. Each Governor’s School has a particular focus; topics include science and math, engineering, environmental studies, the arts, public issues, international relations, hospitality, and agriculture.

What makes Governor’s School so impressive to colleges is its selectivity. Unlike programs where anyone who can fork over the money and a minimum SAT score of 1100 to get in, the admissions process for Governor’s School is long and tortuous. Each high school participating nominates one person for each govschool, who submits an application sometime in January or early February. That person is then compared with others at the sub-county or county level (depending on population), and at most a dozen people from each county are selected. At the state level, a panel makes yet more cuts, leaving a govschool population from around 80 to 120. Results are usually in by mid- to late April. Thus, if an admissions officer sees that you were accepted to a Governor’s School, he/she knows that you are, if you’ll excuse the cliché, the cream of the crop. Furthermore, after surviving the academic rigors of govschool, you’re recognized to be more than capable of a solid performance at any university.

Here’s proof of admissions for you: My personal experience took place at New Jersey’s Governor’s School of the Sciences, held at Drew University. Of the 80 scholars attending, including me, 14 ended up at Princeton, 5 at Penn, 2 at MIT, 3 at Cornell, 3 at Harvard, 2 at Yale, and a smattering of others at Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Brown and Cal Tech. And that’s just where people went – I think 21 of us were accepted into Princeton, 10 into Harvard, and so on. What I’m basically saying here is that Governor’s School equals college admissions success.

Now, I know that I scared you when I talked about “academic rigors” and team projects, labs, and ensembles. Excuse me for failing to more clearly define the greatest benefit of govschool – the social atmosphere. Because everyone at Governor’s School is as well-rounded, motivated and dynamic as you are, every day brings new entertainment. There are pick-up games for every sport imaginable (I even tried water polo, but I’m not quite that motivated); people bring their guitars and form bands; there are dances, parties, excursions to local restaurants and movie theatres, and did I mention the field trips? Different groups take day trips to various corporate, scientific and political centers, ostensibly for educational purposes, but the field trips are more than enough fun to hold your attention.

Even the academics are not as intimidating as they initially appear. There are no grades in Governor’s School, therefore there are no transcripts to send to colleges, therefore there is no pressure. You choose what part of your Governor’s School experience to transmit to your prospective school, whether you merely include it in an activity list, write an essay about your experience, or submit a letter of recommendation from one of your govschool professors. Governor’s School is one of those programs that gives you whatever you want to get from it, without taking your money or sanity.

“I’m sold!” you exclaim jubilantly. “How do I sign up?” Governor’s Schools exist in more than 15 states across the country. Your best bet would be to interrogate (or just politely ask) your local guidance counselor for application information. If your state has Governor’s Schools and your school doesn’t participate, make it your holy mission to ensure that your school participates, at least for your sake (and then hope that you get in). Then you can write an admissions essay about how you initiated Governor’s School participation in your high school – admissions people love that kind of stuff.

If you’re gunning for admissions into top-schools, gun for Governor’s School as well. For when it comes to application garnishes, Governor’s School is a priceless gem. And now that I’m almost out of “g” words to use, I’ll leave you with this: Governor’s School is a greatly gratifying experience where you will generate friends who you’ll greet on the grounds of the grand college you got into, all because you went to Governor’s School.