Rice to host Duke TIP summer program

The preeminent camp for smart kids is coming to Rice University beginning this summer. Duke’s Talent Identification Program (TIP) announced that it has partnered with Rice to offer its prestigious 3-week “Academy” Summer Studies Program beginning June 8, 2014. The residential enrichment program will host 325 high-achieving 8, 9, and 10th grade students.

Rice As the Ideal Partner

Shayne Goodrum is TIP’s Director of Educational Programs. A PhD with three years of experience centrally managing TIP, Dr. Goodrum says that Rice has been an excellent partner, “They have been wonderful to work with. They have been very supportive and helpful. It takes a lot of work to open a program for the first time, and they have been very patient.” Dr. Goodrum looks forward to a long relationship with Rice and possibly even expansion in coming years. The program at Rice is supplanting a former site at Texas A&M University.

Students attending the Rice campus can choose from 11 courses including Algebra II, Criminal Law and Mock Trial, and Military Leadership and the Theory of Warfare.  Instructors include current professors, PhD and MA candidates, and outstanding individuals from the community. Students will reside at Brown College and attend classes throughout campus.

Qualifying students can choose either an early term (June 8-28) or a late term (July 6-26). The cost is $3,625, which includes room and board. Summer program registration starts in March. Financial aid can cover up to 45% of program costs; approximately 20% of families receive some sort of financial aid; in 2013 TIP awarded over $2.25 million. Learn more about financial aid at https://tip.duke.edu/node/1309.

The Premier Program for Smart Kids

The Academy program is part of TIP’s competitive, application-based summer programs. Students qualify by scoring in the top 5% of their grade level on the SAT or ACT. Typically would-be “Tipsters,” as the students call themselves, sit for the test in the winter of their 7th grade year. The most prestigious offering is the “Center” program, which requires even higher test scores. 

However, students who missed the “7th Grade Talent Search” may still qualify for the summer camp under a program that Duke calls the “TIP Option.” In order to qualify, students take the SAT or ACT anytime they want before 10th grade. If they score in the top 5% (click for chart), they notify TIP and receive admission.

Your contributor is a former TIPster and highly recommends it. The Academy Summer Studies program is three weeks of intense coursework. Students live on campus in typical student housing. Class typically starts at 9 and runs until 4 with a 1 hour lunch break. Students participate in organized residential activities after class and counselors enforce a lights out policy by 11.

TIP’s Many Programs

TIP realizes that being talented and gifted isn’t just about test scores; they also offer the Field Studies program. Field Studies applications are reviewed holistically and don’t have a minimum SAT score requirement. Compared to intense, accelerated 3-week courses in the Academy and Center programs, Field Studies participants spend two weeks in smaller groups exploring their passions at a more personal, natural level. Open to rising 9-12th graders, options this year include “Creative Writing” at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico and “Astronomy, Physics, and Astrobiology” at Pari Observatory in Rosman, North Carolina.

More than 5,000 students participated in TIP programs last year, up nearly 100% since 2000. However, TIP wants to inspire more students at younger ages. An acronym for Creative Resolutions of Impending Situations with Intelligent Solutions, CRISIS is TIP’s new summer camp for 4-6th grade students. These one-week residential programs inspire precocious children to tackle real world problems through creative problem solving. Learn more at http://tip.duke.edu/node/1323.

Get more information about the TIP program at tip.duke.edu.