<p>Hmmm no one started this yet. but oh well.</p>
<p>Quick question on the application, do you put all the self-study courses on the Course Level section too? or just the ones you took classes in? 'cause I can't really give a "course name" to some of the materials I'm studying right now....</p>
<p>Do AP’s count as “college level” for the app?</p>
<p>i believe so. should we also list the self-study courses on there?</p>
<p>also, some stuff i’m studying right now isn’t part of the ap curriculum. kinda like i just pick up a random college textbook from my dad’s bookshelf and start studying it. how do i fill that out on the course section?</p>
<p>hey is anyone having problems opening the application?</p>
<p>should i even bother applying if my PSAT score is not up to par? but i do have a perfect score in a science subject test.</p>
<p>wat is RSI?</p>
<p>Research Science Institute</p>
<p>[Research</a> Science Institute (RSI) | Center for Excellence in Education](<a href=“http://www.cee.org/programs/rsi]Research”>http://www.cee.org/programs/rsi)</p>
<p>@momo899: As far as books you’re just picking up off of the shelf, you could talk about those in question 5 (I think reading counts as a hobby), especially since you’re not taking a real course, and you’re not getting any sort of credit out of it.</p>
<p>@NspiredOne: Yes, you should still apply. The psat guidelines are only guidelines–applications are considered as a whole. I only got a 750 on my psat math, and I still got in, and I didn’t have any science subject tests (which I think will probably matter more, though, of course, I have no inside view on the decision process). Yes, I scraped that 221, but I have a feeling that my admissions decision wouldn’t have been affected by a slightly lower or higher score (there were people with lower ones who went there, and I know kids with higher ones than me who weren’t accepted.). As always, the only way to guarantee you don’t get in is to not apply, so you should apply, regardless of psat score.</p>
<p>momo899-thx</p>
<p>thanks alot. my subject test score is what im interested in. i completely bombed the psat… so wish me luck.</p>
<p>@greenbean12t: hey :D</p>
<p>Should I still apply given the following stats:
96% GPA Weighted, 93% Unweighted, As in Honors Physics, Biology, and Chemistry, and A-'s/B+'s in AP Calc BC and AP Chem, a 720 in Math II, and a 2230 on SAT I.</p>
<p>@ndnbe4st I have absolutely no recollection of who you are. But hiiiiiii :)</p>
<p>@TheHelper: Your stats are good enough, sure, but it’s not about the stats. It’s about passion for science/math and for research; the stats are a way to demonstrate that you’re capable, but they’re not the be all end all of any situation. They’re not going to disqualify you, sure, but they tell me (and the people reading your application) very little beyond “this student is reasonably intelligent.” That said, if you think you’d like to spend your summer at RSI, apply, but if you’re serious about wanting to do research, apply to RSI and a number of other programs, contact scientists at local universities, or just conduct research on home computer–because then you’ll have actually given it your best shot.</p>
<p>Is there a certain age you have to be to apply? Because if you were a sophomore or freshman you probably wouldn’t have AP, PSAT, or SAT scores.</p>
<p>you have to be a junior^</p>
<p>can anyone even open the app?</p>
<p>ok. thanks.</p>
<p>re: cyberchondriac</p>
<p>Yes, I got the app to open just fine. </p>
<p>Freaking out a bit–kinda wish I hadn’t looked at the CC threads on RSI while writing my app. Too many qualified people…</p>
<p>First, a quote from a previous RSI rejectee:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My concerns:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>All I know how to write are occasionally unclear proofs, somewhat logical literary analysis essays, and SAT essays designed to fill up two pages of paper as quickly as possible without making up material. This does not bode well for my essays, unless I magically gain some nice storytelling skills. I do really like math and am gaining more interest in physics, but I don’t know how I would show this in an essay without it sounding forced.</p></li>
<li><p>I have very few achievements/awards/whatever, since I really started to become serious about math (which will almost certainly be my main focus) after failing the AMCs this year. (100.5 and 102. On the AMC 10. I have improved a lot since then, though. I’m working on qualifying for, then getting a positive score on USAMO this year.) Before then, I just kind of wandered about the math/science spectrum with nothing to show for it. I do have decent stats, though:</p></li>
</ol>
<p>3.9x unweighted GPA (x probably ranges from 3-7)
2360 SAT I
800 on Math 2/Physics/Chem
self-studied AP Physics B and got a 5
accelerated two years in math in a 6-month period through a rigorous online class and self-study
taking 4 AP classes: US history, chem, stats, music</p>
<p>I feel that I’m qualified (see stats), but not really (see lack of other achievements). I know that this sounds rather strange (and probably even excessively braggy) to many of you; after all, these stats are clearly good, even compared to many CCers’ stats. But what I see when I look at CC threads (besides the test scores) are high achievement in music, sports, etc., and a lot of involvement within schools and/or communities. These are commonly taken for granted, like most applicants to top colleges or summer programs should have some of these. I have none. That is probably the most worrying part of the application process to me, right next to my lack of essay-writing skills.</p>
<ol>
<li>I’m rather uncertain as to who I should ask for recommendations. The only science teachers that I really have access to teach chemistry, which I’m terrible at (recently, only due to stupid mistakes or not following directions closely enough, the latter of which probably resulted in an overall 3-5 percent decrease in my grade due to my teacher’s strict requirements). So those are last-resort options. Do you think they’ll mind if I use two math teachers: one who taught my slightly-accelerated math class and one from my post-Calc BC math class? Or should I suck it up and ask my chemistry teacher for a recommendation?</li>
</ol>
<p>(ugh this got way too long)</p>
<p>tl;dr - I fail at expressing passion/excitement/etc. in essay form and am unsure whether RSI will take two math recommendations and no science recs. Suggestions?</p>
<p>@energize:
As far as the percentages go…
I’d say the app is 30% presentation in essays (when I was googling RSI obsessively during the months between my acceptance and attendance, I came across some school website that had an “example application to RSI from student a, who attended x years ago.” It was among the worst written essays I have ever seen…I just went googling for it without any luck, but I did find some other links, which I’ll tack onto the end of this) and 50% content, because the content is coming both from those essays and from your transcript. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>If you’re having trouble with the whole story-telling business, try thinking of it like an interview, or a conversation. If you were talking to someone, you’d say, oh, yeah, I’ve always loved math, because I consider it a form of art, or I like being good at something so I pursued it a lot, or I’ve never been able to put my finger on why I enjoy it, it just that every paper I read/problem I do brightens my day, but/and my interest in physics has grown a lot lately, because I’ve only recently discovered how beautiful mathematical representation of life is or at my school, I didn’t have the opportunity to take it until x grade, and I wish I’d known what I was missing. You don’t need to tell a story–your “examples” only need to be a sentence or two, like they would if you were talking (which isn’t to say that you <em>can’t</em> write a story if that’s what you’re good at–it’s just that, if it’s not, you don’t have to.</p></li>
<li><p>Me neither. A lot of people at RSI had those awards, but plenty of us didn’t. The kids with awards get in because they’ve shown they’re the best already, so RSI knows they’ll take full advantage of what RSI has got to offer. The kids without them are being judged on their future potential, though, same as the rest, and if we’ve never done hands-on research before, we end up being even more thankful to RSI for the opportunity (yeah, cynical, I know). Awards are just one way to demonstrate competence. Your stats indicate that you’re willing to work to advance yourself outside of school (check 1) and that you’re quite intelligent (check 2), so you’re well in the clear there. I have no idea how much outside involvement matters; I had a decent amount (not a lot, but a little) so I don’t have a comparison point. </p></li>
<li><p>I’m a science person, I applied only to science fields, and I used two science teachers. Make of that what you will.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Anyways, as far as my link-hunting went…</p>
<p>[On</a> the discovering of distant worlds: RSI at MIT](<a href=“http://extrasolar-planets.blogspot.com/2010/04/rsi-at-mit.html]On”>http://extrasolar-planets.blogspot.com/2010/04/rsi-at-mit.html)
Cool Swedish guy who is such a beast that he <em>didn’t even have to apply</em> (though apparently that’s just how things are done in Sweden).</p>
<p>[How</a> NOT to do your RSI application The Uninteresting Chronicles of a High School Student](<a href=“http://excelexcel.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2010/01/10/how-not-to-do-your-rsi-application/]How”>How NOT to do your RSI application | The Uninteresting Chronicles of a High School Student)
How Not to Get Into RSI, by someone who has good advice but didn’t get in.</p>
<p>[Semioverachiever:</a> Some Tips for a Successful Research Science Institute Application](<a href=“http://semioverachiever.blogspot.com/2010/11/some-tips-for-successful-research.html]Semioverachiever:”>Semioverachiever: Some Tips for a Successful Research Science Institute Application)
Someone who is less fond of the above advice, which also links to another one of excelexcel’s advice posts.</p>
<p>[MIT</a> Admissions| Blog: Kate '14](<a href=“http://www.mitadmissions.org/k8r_.shtml]MIT”>Kate R. ’14 | MIT Admissions)
Blog of an RSI alum…this is actually totally unrelated to the RSI application, but Kate’s awesome and motivational…yeah, that’s legit.</p>
<p>[Delta</a> Epsilons](<a href=“http://deltaepsilons.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]Delta”>http://deltaepsilons.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/)
Math stuff, by RSI people.</p>
<p>[Semioverachiever:</a> More on those RSI essays](<a href=“http://semioverachiever.blogspot.com/2010/11/more-on-those-rsi-essays.html]Semioverachiever:”>Semioverachiever: More on those RSI essays)
Essay help stuff (this is the same person as the one before, but everything else I’ve found is what happens <em>after</em> you get in).</p>
<p>[Amy</a> Szczepanski (amyszczepanski) on Twitter](<a href=“http://twitter.com/amyszczepanski]Amy”>http://twitter.com/amyszczepanski)
The twitter of the RSI director, who also works in admissions, who last year’s people think read the RSI thread at some point. She could be watching you. right. now. Dum dum dummmm.</p>
<p>How much do stats and essays matter? I took the sat like a long time ago and got 2070. obviously that’s not qualified but it was freshmen year. i’m planning to retake it again in march (I’ve studied for it for 2 years, probably going to get 2300+), meaning it won’t show up when i apply to rsi. So do I have to include my sat scores (or any other undesirable scores as well) when im applying?</p>