Envision by WorldStrides Reviews
Envision Experience, part of WorldStrides' educational programs, offers immersive career exploration and leadership development opportunities.
How Does It Work?
Envision emphasizes life-changing summer experiences for aspiring professionals in fields like medicine, science, engineering, game development, and leadership.
Primarily targeted at high-achieving students from grades 3 to 12, Envision provides experiential education in various fields, including STEM, leadership, and other career-oriented areas.
This includes events like the National Youth Leadership Forum for high school students, focusing on specific areas like medicine and health care, and lasting 9 to 10 days in various U.S. cities.
These programs are hands-on and immersive, designed to offer practical experience in specific career paths with the objective of career exploration.
They also aim to impact students' broader educational and personal development. Participating in these experiences can lead to increased engagement in learning and higher levels of success throughout the students' lives.
In order to apply to one of their programs, a student must be nominated by a teacher, educator, mentor, or educational institution.
You can search for programs by region, including those in the Midwest, Northeast, Northwest, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southwest, or West, and available programs in other continents, including Asia, Australia and the South Pacific, and Europe.
Reputation
Unfortunately there are some very serious accusations made about this company and the promises they make.
Much of which is well outlined and detailed in an article by the New York Times which details a lawsuit settled by the company, in which they paid out more than $17 million in vouchers to students of a previous program.
A common customer complaint about Envision Experience is their emphasis on how exclusive their programs are.
The programs may appear as geared towards high achieving students nominated by educators, but the reality is that they're marketed to a large number of students.
Some students might feel disappointed when they find out that, despite paying substantial fees for what they anticipated to be a personalized, small-group experience, they are actually part of a large cohort, resulting in fewer chances for the individual attention they had expected.
Customer Service
Customers who would like to contact Customer Service with any questions, concerns, or complaints can do so by phone at 877-587-9659, by email at [email protected], or by submitting them directly to their website through their Contact Us link.
Cost & Price Plans
The costs of each individual program will vary, but the quoted tuition of each program will usually include the cost of lodging, most meals, curriculum materials and professional instruction and supervision.
It will not include transportation to and from the program location and any personal spending money used for souvenirs, snacks and other incidentals.
They do offer a limited number of scholarships to eligible students, ensuring opportunities for children from a variety of backgrounds, as well fundraising options which cover the majority of costs for many of their attending students.
And though they cannot guarantee your child a spot in any program, if you are waiting on a scholarship or fundraising before you can confirm your child’s attendance, they do ask that you contact the Office of Admissions to make them aware of your child’s intent to attend.
The Bottom Line
Envision's programs are inclusive, catering to students of all ages, allowing them to explore various career interests and plan for their future goals.
Overall, Envision Experience by WorldStrides represents a significant effort in experiential learning, aiming to equip young individuals with the knowledge, skills, and inspiration needed to pursue their aspirations effectively.
If you have any experience with Envision Experience by WorldStrides or their services, please leave your reviews below.
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Envision by WorldStrides Customer Reviews
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Terrible Company
Save your money and find other educational programs where the investment is worth it! And no matter how Envision will respond to this, the program is a big scam, in my view.
What sounded like ab invitation ended with a program fee of $5,000. Supposedly without refund, once paid, regardless of the circumstances, which made me already skeptical - besides, there is always a way out, especially if the terms of the contract are not met. And that was the case in so many ways. The conditions on campus were unreasonable. All that money, certainly shared with Stanford, a brand name that is ticket to tricking lots of students on campus on a regular basis. 250 students had arrived to participate last week. What we did not know is that simple students are the actual and only show runners of the entire program. Not much older than the actual teen participants, there were a few young students only, who supervised the groups, entertained them, and also trained them, the little they knew themselves.
The teens saw barely actual professional teaching staff. In our case, only 2 contacts with professors in 10 days.
The student staff were not only totally overwhelmed with too many teens in each group (20 instead of 10 as announced in the paper forms), but they were not paid enough for their over hours (partly till 4.00am), so they went on strike, which added more complications to the supervision on site. The teenagers were sometimes held in overheated rooms, not allowed to leave. They were not permitted to use the bathroom after 10:00 pm. ALL the rooms were totally overheated and not air conditioned. Many, many teenagers got very sick, let it be from the food, or for what ever reasons. Shuttles to and from the emergency room at hospital were at private costs ... all for a $5000 program at Stanford. Finally, my child got a certificate with a wrong name.
If you want to offer your teenager a camp week for fun, you can get that cheaper. The program is unreasonable. It should be prohibited. And I do not understand Universities like Stanford ... do they really need this low level involvement? Envision is a NO Go!
Waste of Money
Don't fall for it!
DO NOT FALL FOR THIS! I wish I had never received the packet in the mail.
Absolutely terrible. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR THESE PROGRAMS. Our son was invited to attend, we raised money to cover the tuition and travel fees. We rented an airbnb and a car, purchased flights and were ready to go. THREE DAYS before we were due to leave, I received an auto-call that the program was cancelled. No explanation, or live person to talk to. We quickly cancelled as much as we could, but lost around $2,000 for the lodging and around $500 for flights they wouldn't reimburse. They refunded the tuition and the flight fees for only my son. Everything else, the lodging and flights for family, all lost. What a total waste.
Don't Do This!!!
Beware Do Not Send Your Child
DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILDREN HERE, They are not affiliated with any of the colleges/universities; they rent space.
After the complete misrepresentation they will not refund your money ; even after sending an email stating they will.
The call center is a sketchy joke. This is a very sketchy business.