NEW THIS YEAR We will not be charging an additional fee for being in the Advanced Symposium program! The fees for Advanced Symposium will be the same as all of the other programs at NDF. If pricing is still a concern please see the FAQ link for information on how to apply for financial assistance.

The demand by students to return to NDF led to the establishment of an Advanced Symposium (formerly Repeaters program) that exists to meet the needs of students who have been through a varsity curriculum at NDF in the past. We are proud that so many students return to NDF for a second or third summer to get the best education possible.

There is also demand from students who have attended other institutes, but also want to be at NDF. Those students who have been through another camp’s varsity program AND have had competitive success on the varsity level are eligible to be in the Advanced Symposium at NDF.

The Advanced Symposium is a unique experience for debaters who understand the fundamentals of debate and have implemented some advanced strategies regularly in their debate rounds. This program gives students the autonomy to work on the areas where they continue to struggle to be more advanced – be it cases, rebuttals, crystallization or adaptation – and affords students greater time for research, rebuttal redos and skills drills.

Students who have experienced high levels of success cannot afford to take a summer off. Competitors are continually working to improve themselves and it’s essential that the students who have experienced success keep pushing themselves to be better so the gap does not close so fast.

The Advanced Symposium program offers students a lecture series that covers a range of topics from strategy to philosophy to judge adaptation; however, if they feel like the lecture would not benefit them greatly they are given the opportunity for even more office hours with staff members of their choice.

Like our other programs, the Advanced/Repeaters Program will ensure every student gets the most out of their institute experience:

• An experienced staff that is actively coaching
• Limited enrollment to ensure a collegial and positive learning experience
• Outstanding student/faculty ratio that ensures every attendee the “top lab” experience
• One-on-one office hours with access to EVERY staff member at the institute
• A minimum of 12 fully critiqued practice rounds
• Access to top-notch research facilities