CTY and EPGY

Chole

EPGY is more famous in HK (probably because they have an agent here organising courses and "talent competition").

Just finished some research: I've read US people's comments.   To my surprise, it seems that CTY is more "prestigious" than EPGY because the former is more selective and the courses are easily filled up.  Whereas some comment that you can apply for the Humanities courses of EPGY at any time.  

The above refers to their summer courses, not the distance learning web-based courses.

Are you considering sending your kid to a residential summer camp?  How old is your kid?

Chole

Most of the kids/parents talked about Math courses (math talent is the easiest to be identified).   I think in the US, they offer distance learning course and assign a tutor so that the kid could call/email the tutor when necessary.  So some say that it all depends on whether the tutor is always available to help.   

Sorry, I have no idea about the Infokid course taken in HK. Is it a "taught" tutorial?  Is the tutor provided by Infokid in HK?  If so, what are their qualifications?  I would love my girl to take Eng courses too but am worried that I need to push her to complete the writing work and make it "no fun" for her.  

Hope more mama/dad could share.

原帖由 Y2KChild 於 10-8-5 09:46 發表
Hi Chole,

我在"資優教育"版開了以下標題但完全沒有人回覆，不知閣下對此課程有否認識，請賜教。

謝謝！

*******************************


請問有否曾參加infoKids(EPGY) - W 系列 Elementary Writing 課程


如題。
...

[ 本帖最後由 Chole 於 10-8-5 13:34 編輯 ]

Chole

Yes, they need to take the SAT.  I heard that in the US, the school will only "invite" you to take SAT if you are on the top 5%, and the intake by CTY to summer courses is judged by:

1. repeat CTYer - their scores
2. new CTYer - their scores

So that's pretty competitive if your kid wants to enrol in a popular course.

I guess some test prep is necessary but there's no harm if she intends to apply for US college in future.

,

原帖由 thankful 於 10-8-5 01:36 發表
Chole, thanks for the reply.  Yes, I am thinking about it.  But CTY requires my kid to take SAT as she is no longer in Grade 6 or below.  It's a headache because she probably has to attend one of thos ...

Chole

Thank you for your detailed sharing.

Please share with us again after your kid joins EPGY!

原帖由 Y2KChild 於 10-8-5 12:46 發表
The EPGY writing course is also a web-based course. Infokids in HK is only the agent for administration of the English writing course.

On the other hand, Infokids in HK will conduct the Maths tutori ...

arielle.w

I actually have participated in EPGY and CTY, and another gifted children program at Northwestern University.

I highly recommend CTY if you want to pick a programme between the two. Amongst the three that I participated, CTY is definitely the best. I don't know what subject you want your kid to take but I took AP Calculus BC there. The centre will provide you with an user ID and password to log onto the online learning portal and you take the lessons there. The materials at CTY are interesting and easy to understand no matter how complicated the concepts actually are. If your child has any problem, s/he can contact his/her tutor by e-mail, message, phone or sometimes even skype.

For EGPY, I got a CD from Stanford for the class I take. Basically, you put the CD in your computer and install the program. The program allows you to take class on your own computer by your user ID. Honestly, it is much boring than CTY. You can only hear the voice of the tutor and learn by watching the virtual whiteboard. If you have problems, you can also contact the tutor by yourself. And I think the Stanford professors are so used to university lectures that they make everything so complicated.

If you want to know more about CTY, EPGY or another programme at Northwestern U, feel free to ask :)

arielle.w

I applied to EPGY directly to Stanford.

原帖由 thankful 於 10-8-6 13:16 發表
arielle.w,  

On second thought, did you do the EPGY through Infokids or you did it by applying to EPGY directly?

arielle.w

Yes, the programme that I joined at Northwestern University was an online course at the Center for Talent Development. Unless your child is very self-motivated, I wouldn't recommend s/he to join EPGY or GLL (Gifted Learning Link) at Northwestern, esp GLL. I received the least assistance on learning from the Northwestern course. I basically just bought the textbook from them and self learnt everything. Teachers are responsible yet they can't really help much. Interaction between classmates wasn't much (it's almost zero for EPGY). Your child will be given a timetable to schedule his/her studies and the to submit quizzes and tests on time. I didn't really get any tutorial from GLL until I e-mailed my tutor and asked him about stuff I didn't understand on the textbook. After your child submits the quizzes and test, s/he will have another chance to re-do the incorrect ones in order to improve the grade. But at any times, your child can ask the tutor anything about the tests/quizzes if s/he encounters problem, hence the final grade is pretty meaningless as it is almost like open book tests.

原帖由 thankful 於 10-8-6 11:51 發表
arielle.w,  thanks for the sharing of your experience.  You mentioned the program at Northwestern U.  Was it the university's Center for Talent Development?   Did you do the online courses?  How was i ...

arielle.w

I have only joined one course at each center so I can't tell much about comparison betweens courses within the center.(didn't join English writing so I don't know how they conduct classes) I joined Pre-Calculus honors at Northwestern, AP Calculus BC at CTY andAP Physics C at EPGY. They are math/science oriented classes. I don't know if it suits the 'correlation' you are talking about. I am sorry for the rough comment I made above, but the learning mode at each center is actually different.

For EPGY, it is more like a self-learning course than online course instructed by teachers. I don't really think it suits young children unless your kid is a genius who already knows lots of complicated concepts and stuff. A timeline would be given as reference at the start of the course. Finishing the course on time or not completely depends on your child(actually, understanding the materials or not as well) After each chapter, student will be given a test on the program and a report from the tutor will be sent to your email regarding the performance. Yet there wasn't much interaction between my tutor and me at that time, though I had lots of interaction with my computer.

For CTY, it really is the best program I've ever had. The class schedule is really flexible. They basically just put all the tutorial videos on their learning portal. Students can take the class at anytime. (EPGY and GLL students have fixed time for classes online) The teachers take an interesting approach which captivates students a lot. I am not a young kid but I enjoyed it so much as I'd never thought Calculus could be that easy. They explain everything in an easily understandable way. There are notes for every chapter online. Students are required to complete tasts after certain chapters. And there is interaction between students as there is a forum in the learning portal. Sometimes, the coursework is to discuss certain topics with other students there. Hence, CTY is not only an interesting education program, it also allows students to make friends all around the world.

For GLL at Northwestern, teachers' support is just a bit less than CTY but definitely better than EPGY. Although I almost self-learnt the entire textbook, I got lots of support from my teacher. I know every teacher differs but I guess it wouldn't be too different because it's the way at GLL! When I had stuff I didn't understand, I just had to send an email to my tutor and schedule a time for tutorial online. He assisted me until I fully understood it. This support from teachers is far better than that of EPGY. (And I didn't really need much support from teacher at CTY as the material was easy to understand at the first place)

原帖由 Y2KChild 於 10-8-6 12:00 發表
Thanks for your reply and sharing.

However, I think you have to compare apple to apple. Have you attended a similar course on CTY, EPGY and/or at Northwestern U. programs?

What you have described a ...

arielle.w

I don't know much about their summer programs. I got friends who participated in both EPGY and CTY summer program. I didn't really ask them for comments on the programs but I could tell from their pictures that they love the programs very much. I got a friend who participates CTY every summer and I think she's gonna continue every summer until she goes to college.

And yes, I am still in high school. I haven't applied to university yet but I was told that such programs on resume would boost the application quite a lot.

原帖由 thankful 於 10-8-6 14:35 發表
Initially, I was just thinking about the Summer programs.  After I read your comments, I will now also look into CTY online courses as well.  Do you know anything about the Summer courses?  
I noticed ...

Chole

Thank you for your sharing.  It's just difficult to find someone with the experience.  I guess you are from an international school, aren't you?

原帖由 arielle.w 於 10-8-6 14:33 發表
I have only joined one course at each center so I can't tell much about comparison betweens courses within the center.(didn't join English writing so I don't know how they conduct classes) I joined Pr ...