What Is Girls State?
ALA Girls State is the government and citizenship program of the American Legion Auxiliary. The Auxiliary’s departments in each state host it, and the Auxiliary describes it as a week of learning focused on responsible citizenship and leadership.
Students learn about the political process by electing officials for all levels of state government and running a mock government. The Auxiliary states that the program’s objectives are nonpartisan, governmental, patriotic, and civic. Because the structure of state and local government varies, each state’s program differs in content and procedure.
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who runs it | American Legion Auxiliary departments in each state |
| Who attends | High school students who have completed their junior year |
| How students are chosen | Identified with local educators and selected by a sponsoring Auxiliary unit |
| Length | One week |
| Cost to the family | Registration is paid by the sponsoring unit. Nominal costs are possible for transportation, site fees, or an optional service project |
| National program | ALA Girls Nation, with two students from each state program |
Who Can Attend and How Are Delegates Selected?
The program is for high school students who have completed their junior year. The Auxiliary says candidates should be keenly interested in government and current events and should show strong leadership abilities.
Selection is local. Auxiliary units work with high school educators to identify students who have demonstrated leadership qualities, and the sponsoring unit then recommends and selects them. Each state program or unit decides its own process. The number of places differs by state and depends on the resources of that state’s Auxiliary.
The Auxiliary encourages interested juniors to contact their school counselor, their local Auxiliary unit, or their state program’s website about the application process and deadline.
What Do Students Do During the Week?
Each participant is assigned to a mock city and to one of two parties, which the Auxiliary names the Federalist Party and the Nationalist Party. The parties are inventions of the program and do not correspond to real political parties.
From there the week follows the steps of real government. Students campaign, hold elections for city, county, and state offices, and run the government they have elected. A participant who runs for office, writes a bill, or leads a party caucus has more to show afterward than one who only attends.
How Much Does Girls State Cost?
The family pays little or nothing. The Auxiliary states that the costs of the programs are underwritten by each state-level Auxiliary, and that each participant’s registration fee is paid by the sponsoring local unit, sometimes with support from civic and nonprofit organizations.
A participant may have nominal expenses for transportation, site-specific fees, or a contribution to an optional service project. Because a sponsor pays and students are chosen, admissions readers treat the program differently from summer programs that any family can buy. Our list of free summer programs for high school students includes others that work the same way.
What Is ALA Girls Nation?
ALA Girls Nation is the national program in Washington, D.C., for students entering their senior year. Two students are chosen from each state program, and they are known as senators. More than 7,500 students have attended since the program was founded in 1947.
The program lasts seven days. Senators hold mock Senate sessions in which they write, caucus on, and debate bills, and they elect a president and vice president. They also visit Capitol Hill, the Washington monuments, and Arlington National Cemetery. The 2026 session ran from July 18 to July 25.
Does Girls State Help With College Admissions?
It helps as evidence of selection and of interest in public life. Admissions readers at selective colleges know the program. Oriel Admissions rates attendance at Girls State as a solid recognition at the school and community level. An elected statewide office is stronger, and selection as one of two senators from a state is a distinction few applicants hold.
The program has the most effect when the rest of the application points the same way. A student who has done debate, student government, or campaign work, and who continues it in senior year, gives a reader a consistent record. Our guides to extracurricular activity tiers and leadership in extracurricular activities explain how readers rank that record.
It does not offset grades. For Ivy League admission, a student needs nearly all As in the hardest classes the school offers.
How Should a Student Describe It on an Application?
Oriel Admissions advises listing the program in the activities section and naming what the student did there: the office sought or won, the bill written, the role in the party. A line that only states attendance wastes the entry.
Selection for ALA Girls Nation belongs in the honors section, because two students from each state are chosen. Our guide to the Common App honors section shows how to word a national selection, and our guide to what counts as an extracurricular covers the activities list.
What Should a Sophomore or Junior Do Now?
A sophomore should ask the school counselor how the school works with the local Auxiliary unit and when names are put forward. A junior should ask early in the school year, because each state sets its own deadline. Sophomores who want a selected leadership program a year earlier can ask about a HOBY nomination.
One scholarship is tied to attendance. The Samsung American Legion Scholarship is open to students who attend the current session of the program and who are direct descendants of an eligible wartime U.S. military veteran. Ten National Scholars receive $10,000 each, and the application is due before the end of the first day of the student’s program.
The American Legion runs a separate program on the same model for young men, called Boys State, with its own national program in Washington.
Frequently Asked Questions About Girls State
It is a week-long American Legion Auxiliary program in which students run a mock state government and elect officials at every level.
High school students who have completed their junior year. Candidates should be keenly interested in government and current events and show strong leadership abilities.
Auxiliary units work with local high school educators to identify students. Each state program or unit sets its own selection process.
The sponsoring Auxiliary unit pays the registration fee. A participant may have nominal expenses for transportation, site fees, or an optional service project.
It is a seven-day national program in Washington. Two students from each state program attend as senators.
Admissions readers recognize it. Oriel Admissions advises that an elected office or selection for ALA Girls Nation adds more weight than attendance alone.
During junior year. Deadlines differ by state, so a student should ask the school counselor or the local Auxiliary unit early in the year.
Yes. The American Legion runs Boys State and Boys Nation, which follow the same model.
Sources: American Legion Auxiliary: State program page, American Legion Auxiliary: ALA Girls Nation, American Legion Auxiliary: Find a state program, The American Legion: Samsung American Legion Scholarship
About Oriel Admissions
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