Girls/Boys State QnA!

[GoArmy2022]

Girls/Boys State is on that long list of things I wish I knew way prior to starting my application to West Point.

Luckily, I found out about it in time to apply to New Mexico’s program and attended the 2017 seminar as a city mayor and party chairwoman. I am so grateful for the experience.

I also attended the 2017 Girls Nation seminar on behalf of NM, the Land of Enchantment, and returned to the 2018 New Mexico session as a volunteer junior counselor. I will be attempting to return for the 2019 session depending on my summer schedule.

Feel free to ask me about any part of my experience or what Girls/Boys State is like. Remember that some aspects of the program are State-dependent, such as the application process, number of attendees, etc.

Regardless of your questions, please understand that applying to Girls/Boys State is more important than applying to SLE, NASS, or the other summer programs. You may disagree with me, but my reasoning for this stems from the fact that Girls/Boys State gives you points in the admissions process while SLE does not. Additionally, being Governor/Lt. Governor or going to the National program gives the candidate even more points than attending the State program alone.

Enjoy this thread and feel free to ask whatever you need!

 

[prospective2019]

If anyone is specifically asking about the Connecticut program, I attended this past June. Our program's leadership was particularly bad about communicating with prospective attendees up until like three days prior to the start of the week, so I can fill you in on what to do to prepare. I didn't get to go to Nation but I did have the privilege of also attending SLE.

 

[OldRetSWO]

I am a graduate of Boy's State and the parent of a Boy's State grad. Within the American Legion, I am the County Coordinator and manage the primaries and alternates for 21 Legion posts.
I am also a staff member at NJ Boy's state for the entire week and also help put on the Service Academy presentation that we do for interested statesmen as well as staffing the USNA table
at the college fair which follows the service academy presentation.
.
While my own experience as a delegate is well down in the memory banks, I'm pretty up to date on the processes and procedures for admission to one of the three largest Boy's State
programs in the nation. Actually I had dinner over the holidays with the senior staff of our program and we're all excited about getting started on this year's edition.

Within the next couple of weeks, I'll be starting interviews of the boys that were nominated by our school as well as starting to contact two additional schools that are not served
by Legion posts because I have four slots that my county organization pays for to cover them.

 

[WishfulThinking]

So, my school elects one girl and one boy, the faculty chooses who gets to attend. Recently, I have been told that up to 5 students from one school can attend. If I go to my local American Legion I can apply to go, I just may have to pay for it, which is fine by me. Hypothetically, let's say I applied with my local office and my school selected me, what should I do then? Should I just rely on my school's pick and wait on them for that or go to my local organization soon? Tips?

 

[ct2023]

So, my school elects one girl and one boy, the faculty chooses who gets to attend. Recently, I have been told that up to 5 students from one school can attend. If I go to my local American Legion I can apply to go, I just may have to pay for it, which is fine by me. Hypothetically, let's say I applied with my local office and my school selected me, what should I do then? Should I just rely on my school's pick and wait on them for that or go to my local organization soon? Tips?

The American Legion picks everyone who goes, but their process varies based on the post. I would go to my counselor first to see if they nominate multiple people if thats what you want to know, or even seniors that went last year. Beyond that, just know that in my experience the AL takes who they want, and in my case, they brought more than one person from one school and didn't take any from a couple others. Make sure to keep in contact with your school after being nominated, because the post could contact you through them (they did that with me and my school misplaced the email).
Tips: Treat interviews/applications like college ones, give the proper respect to Legion members, and be honest and sincere about why you want/why you deserve to go
Good luck!

 

[prospective2019]

So, my school elects one girl and one boy, the faculty chooses who gets to attend. Recently, I have been told that up to 5 students from one school can attend. If I go to my local American Legion I can apply to go, I just may have to pay for it, which is fine by me. Hypothetically, let's say I applied with my local office and my school selected me, what should I do then? Should I just rely on my school's pick and wait on them for that or go to my local organization soon? Tips?

My school was so late to get to the nomination process that I just went and applied directly to the American Legion Auxiliary of my state when the application opened in February (wanted to make sure I got in!) So if your school isn't picking up the slack just do it yourself and you'll be fine. I applied, then months later the local Post called me and said they were sending me and covering all costs. It wasn't a transparent process and I didn't have to interview or anything, but it worked for me.

My school ended up nominating me anyways. But I was already selected to go by the time they did.

 

[GoArmy2022]

So, my school elects one girl and one boy, the faculty chooses who gets to attend. Recently, I have been told that up to 5 students from one school can attend. If I go to my local American Legion I can apply to go, I just may have to pay for it, which is fine by me. Hypothetically, let's say I applied with my local office and my school selected me, what should I do then? Should I just rely on my school's pick and wait on them for that or go to my local organization soon? Tips?

Each State program should have a website. Even though it sounds like your school has the picks handled, I have to agree in part with prospective2019 here. My reason for this is that the program’s website should be the best source of information for your application.

Do apply through both your school and however the website suggests you do it. Depending on your State, you might get in without any issues or questions. Conversely, your State may demand a relatively strict application process. I strongly advise you to check the site.

 

[Dldslp]

My DD went to NY Girls State and was 1 of 2 NY representatives for Girls Nation 2017. Not all High Schools know about/encourage this program because not all Legion posts participate, especially Girls State. If this is the case in your area, I encourage you to seek out information on your own.

In our case we spoke to local Legion posts who were sending boys to Boys State, but no girls to Girl State. Although these Legion Posts were willing to sponsor my DD, apparently they would had to have reserved a spot for a girl to attend Girls State the prior year. Since no spot was “reserved” there were no available openings due to the limited amount of participants from each state.

I contacted the NY State Rep for Boys State who helped us out tremendously. He spoke to the Legion members from all the Legion Posts in our area during a regional meeting, explaining our situation and a Legion Post from Queens offered to sponsor my DD. This Legion Post had reserved a spot the prior year and felt she would be a great candidate.

Since she was “ out of their area”, we made a donation to the American Legion to cover the cost for her to attend.

She thought both Girls State and Girls Nation were Amazing experiences. Definitely try and attend. She also attended SLE and loved that too!

 

[ORD1812]

I went to Illinois Boys State. There wasn't really any application process for me, I just talked to one of my teachers and was put in contact with the AL post. If any Illinois/Chicago peoples have any questions feel free to send me a message.