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The student news site of Colonia High School

The Declaration

The student news site of Colonia High School

The Declaration

Students invited to the The National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists

The Letter sent to all invited to the NAFST
The Letter sent to all invited to the NAFST

In the recent months, many high school students on the East Coast have been receiving letters from The National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists, or NAFST, inviting them to Boston in June. However, for some this trip might be a very long journey, and just how worthy of their time and money is it to invest in going?

The National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists invited numerous high school students to listen to such speakers as David Wineland, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics, Vice President of IBM Watson Mike Rhodin, former Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, and many other scientific figures. Students selected to attend will stay in Boston for three days, during which they will meet several winners of various Nobel Prizes, top ten university Deans, and academic leaders for Ivy League schools.

To be nominated to attend the Congress, students must have received a nomination from an educator, counselor, or principal. In addition to this, a 3.5 GPA (current or cumulative) is also required, as well as proof of GPA. Afterwords payment is also required to attend, however attendance at the Congress may count towards college credit, depending on the college. The Washington Adventist University is offering one guaranteed credit for attending, after a short essay is written by the student wishing to receive the credit, and payment for the credit is received.

While it may sound at first like something similar to this has been tried and done before, this Congress will be unique due to the sheer magnitude of the event. Figures have not been given to the public, but a vague estimate has been given that several thousand students have already signed up to attend, making this one of the largest meetings of this kind due to the amount of attendants and the prestige of the speakers. In addition, all of the students attending are honor students or better, making this event deserving of the title of one of the best of its kind.

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Recently the Congress has been issuing letters of admittance to many students attending high school along the East oast, Colonia High School students among them. Unfortunately the Congress requires a fee to attend, which for many is a deterrent, keeping them from attending. This fee will pay for the speakers, the wide range of activities, and demonstrations that students will take part in. The families themselves must pay for travel, hotels, and meals, which is a pretty steep price for many. Not only that, attending also requires the student to be away from home for the duration as it obviously is to take place in Boston.

Among the students invited at CHS was Freshman Riley Kirejevas, who stated, “The price was too steep for me to want to attend a three-day event.”

Through all of this, even some students still attend as they believe that the pros outweigh the cons. Considering the amount of students attending, one needs to ask the question; is attending The National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists a waste of money and time or a once in a lifetime opportunity?

 

View Comments (9)
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About the Contributor
Jacob Darcy, Spring Reporter
Jacob Darcy is a freshman at Colonia High School for the 2014-2015 school year. He enjoys long walks on the beach and rainy days but doesn't like the both of them combined. He likes to learn about world events, but more often than not history doesn't interest him nearly as much as current events do. Darcy's favorite book genres are historical and science fiction and he prefers to write about any and everything that interests him. He spends his free time playing games like League of Legends, Counter Strike, or reading. Darcy also likes to procrastinate and will on average spend upwards of eight hours to do homework that should only take ten minutes. As a result of this, he will probably have to finish this bio at a later date.

Comments (9)

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  • L

    LlMar 3, 2018 at 1:32 am

    Honestly upset I didn’t know this was a scam. I got hyped up only to find out it’s not worth it.

    Reply
  • A

    An Annoyed Junior in HighschoolMar 9, 2017 at 8:55 pm

    This is a valuable learning experience for people who have never been scammed before. If you would like to pay around $2000 (not counting travel fare) for a glorified 3-day summer camp this is the opportunity for you! Every year there are tens of thousands “recognized as a delegate” through their “highly selective” system. Should one be able to meet the STRICT 3.5 GPA requirement, they are bound to be better recognized than their peers for college admissions.
    In all seriousness though, meeting big names and attending watered down lectures can be beneficial, but in no event will those few days be worth even the lowest estimates of +$1000. Keep your hard-earned paycheck, save your kid’s time.

    “A fool and their money are soon parted”

    Reply
  • S

    Sophomore in High SchoolFeb 28, 2017 at 11:50 am

    I also recently received this nomination. It looks very nice and its pamphlet shows a lot of successful people that you can go meet, however it seems very shady and like other have stated, a pay-to-play scheme.

    Reply
  • S

    Sophomore in High SchoolFeb 27, 2017 at 10:01 pm

    I got this letter and both my dad and i cracked up! Probably won’t throw this away just because it makes me laugh. I know it was a money sink hole once I looked at the price. The funniest thing is that even though I am a High Honors Student, I am not even that interested in science and technology. My passion is languages. The most appeal to me was that is is in Massachusetts because I love to travel. I feel bad for the students who didn’t realize this was not a legitimate recognition for excellence. All I wanna know now is who “nominated” me? If anyone wants to see the letter or the type of info you receive I’ve got it! One other interesting thing is that someone from my school previously went and so I have reached out to him to get a personal perspective of whether or not its worth it.

    Reply
  • J

    Jonathan DoeJan 28, 2017 at 11:01 pm

    This appears to be a “pay-to-play” scam. If it is not, I invite enlightenment from any source.

    Reply
  • D

    David JarvisDec 1, 2016 at 10:37 pm

    I’d say it’s a once a year opportunity that comes up every Fall after kids take those standardized tests and have a quarter of grades in for the year. And it happens not because they’ve been nominated by anyone in their school’s administration, but because the “college aptitude tests” are a money-generating machine for schools. This (2016) is the second year in a row that my son has gotten this marketing stuff. Kind of like pharmacy companies calling any physician who will stump for them a “thought leader” – it is pay to play. May be a good seminar, but under false pretenses.

    Reply
  • J

    Junior in High SchoolDec 1, 2016 at 10:00 pm

    I had also gotten the so called exclusive letter, but after 1 minute of research, I immediately found that this was not worth the $1,000+ it costs. http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20160129-column.html refer to this website. However, if you are rich and have money to waste so you can have a good time or whatever, then i’m sure you will have fun, meet nice people, and have a nice experience. However, if you are like me and are trying to save your pennies just to go to college, then I highly recommend not going to this, because it does not help you in any way get into college.

    Reply
  • C

    Caroline CooperFeb 21, 2016 at 2:54 am

    I’d like to know the amount of students “exclusively selected” from each state. I personally got the whole speil and whatnot however, I do not wish to participate in such an event of it means nothing. Based off my research thus far I am by no means representing my state nor my school solely. On average roughly 25,000 students attend such events each year since its creation 26 years ago. These are only the attendees rather than those nominated. I doubt more than half accept these “special nominations”. So that makes me one of 50,000 in my state, and one of the over 2.5 million in the country to receive such a letter. It ends up meaning very little.

    Reply
  • T

    Thomas D. Wilson, EsqSep 27, 2015 at 10:05 am

    My daughter Katie Mae Wilson #kwl211052484. Has your invitation. She is a very serious student and I would like more information on your college and program(s). Is this a college choice? TD Wilson

    Reply
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Students invited to the The National Academy of Future Scientists and Technologists