Has Anybody Heard Of Or Attended........
 

the National Youth Leadership Forum on National Security.
i just got a letter in the mail about the forum and i am curius if anybody has either attended this or heard of it or whatever, because it looks a little like a scam to me and my stepdad just seems to hate the idea of me even thinking about the forum.
SO PLEASE
ANY PROOF THAT IT IS LEGIT WOULD BE AWESOME

Re: Has Anybody Heard Of Or Attended........
 

I think I've heard of them. Then again, I heard from three or four such deals. I didn't go to any of them, or even respond, so I wouldn't know how legit they are.

I think they get ahold of your contact info through the PSAT college search, but am not sure.

Re: Has Anybody Heard Of Or Attended........
 

I've got a few of those too.... They look very official, but since they were allways so expensive I never went. Try googling them maybe, I'm sure if it's a scam or not worth it people will have made it known on the internet.

Re: Has Anybody Heard Of Or Attended........
 

I've received several letters from the National Youth Leadership Forum and their various conferences. It seems like they do actually hold the conferences and such, but I doubt the prestige of their programs (+ the fact that they come with a hefty pricetag!) It seems to go in the category of similar high school honor scams such as the Who's Who lists, the National Society of High School Scholars, and other National Honor Rolls and Lists that exist just for the purpose of resume padding. Like the above poster said, you were probably selected because of being above a specific threshold for PSAT scores or something similar.

Re: Has Anybody Heard Of Or Attended........
 

NYLF's are relatively legit (but still resume padding), but super expensive. Talk to your school guidance counselor about it if you're interested. I've had friends go on the med ones but I don't know any who went on National Security.

If you're looking for leadership stuff I'd definitly recommend NOLS as you can get college credit for it too, which is nice.

Re: Has Anybody Heard Of Or Attended........
 

yeah well i didnt really mean a scam as much as i did "resume padding".

thanks guys for your input and help, because it seemed pretty cool but unfortunately it isnt in our price range. tuition itslef is $1,315, which is alot of money for six days.

Re: Has Anybody Heard Of Or Attended........
 

I received a letter about that too. My parents thought the same thing. It looked really cool though. I didn't really investigate it, but if you are interested talk to your school guidance department or some of the social studies teachers.

Re: Has Anybody Heard Of Or Attended........
 

My son went to one of those conferences, NSLC (National Student Leadership Conference) between his Jr and Sr year of HS. His was in Washington, DC and they stayed on the campus of American University. He had a great experience and went places and saw things that you can't do on a normal family or school tour.

So in that sense it is not a scam. But while the attendance and invitation is selective, it is not as prestigious as they would make it sound in the invitation. The letters of recommendation that they offer to provide are rarely needed for a college application anyway.

And yes they are expensive. Like many of those youth programs you can do your own fund raising to earn all or part of your tuition. Some offer college credits, some ask for additional tuition before issuing college credit.

For us it was the right thing to do at the right time. But there are lots of other pre-college experiences to choose from. Just pick something to do to widen your horizons and challenge yourself! Good luck!