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Fond Memories of Nerd Camp

Posted by timothy on from the franklin-and-marshall-best-cty-site dept.

Slate's "Summer Camp" issue has revived a piece from a few years back recounting author Meghan O'Rourke's experience as a student at "nerd camp." O'Rourke was a student at Johns Hopkin's CTY program (bias alert: so was I, and remain a fan), but I suspect there's a lot in common with the various Governor's Schools and programs like Duke's TIP. What's been your experience with such programs? Are you going to one now? Are your kids?

1 of 116 comments (clear)

  1. nerd camp != intelligence camp by Hazel+Bergeron · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    There is this belief among nerds that nerd = intelligent. IME, the vast majority of clever people are fairly well-adjusted and are better off spending most of their childhood and even first couple of years at university enjoying themselves at sport, socialising and generally becoming well-connected before getting down to serious work in the final years. Meanwhile, the majority of nerds may possess above average intelligence but are rarely geniuses - for the usual mark of a genius is the ability to quickly analyse and adapt, and nerds' abilities are usually too narrow to manage that.