@GoBears2023 , I looked it up, and it says I can go with a host school, but I’ll ask my teachers again in case. If that doesn’t work though, are there any other competitions you know relating to biology? Thanks again!
That’s great. At least you understand how to take the USABO 
Super happy for you!!!
As for other competitions, there are really none that come to mind except doing science fairs like ISEF or Intel.
I’m a rising junior looking for summer opportunities; can’t seem to find any though besides a shadowing opportunity at a local college.
I live in SC where I don’t really see many programs. Any advice for finding some effective STEM/Science related programs?
@GoBears2023 I will be attending the Wharton Global Young Leader Academy this summer, so I am just looking to see if anyone have went or going to this summer camp at Penn. I would be really appreciated if anyone can share their experience with summer camp like this since this is the first time going to a college camp.
Questions:
- How much does the evaluation completed by the RTA counts at admissions later on (bc they say that the Residential Teaching Assistants will be sending evaluations to the admission offices)?
- What is the best way to succeed in camp like this?
- What should I do before going?
- Is there a way to get to know the people before going?
- They sent me contact info of my RTA (phone number and email address). Should I get in touch with my RTA before going? What should I say (I am super nervous abt this)?
Any help is appreciated!!!
@Aheryn
Yeah, SC doesn’t have many programs for summer programs. I would recommend doing an internship or getting a job.
- I would say that the evaluation is only applicable for UPenn. However, I don't think it will play a really big role since the camp is only 2 weeks long in comparison to other programs at UPenn that last for upwards of 4 weeks.
- No formula for anything like this. Honestly just be yourself and pay attention to everything they say. Also, your performance will not affect anything in the future, so don't be overly competitive and come off as a jerk. Rather, be super passionate and interested about you are doing and ask lots of questions!
- Before going: Maybe do some research about Wharton and maybe some basic business terms. I wouldn't do too much honestly.
- I bet there is a facebook group or a groupme. You can meet people on these social media platforms.
- I think sending a hello message would be nice. Just say where your from and what you hope to take away from the program. Also talk about personal interests and stuff.
Hi!
Thanks so much for doing this, first of all.
I applied to a couple of established internship programs in the US without much success…so I decided to do research with a professor back in my country(I attend a school in the US during the school year) who happens to be my dad’s colleague. Considering that they are part of the same university, would this work against me? I am genuinely interested in her research in MSE and MechE, it’s just that I’m afraid that it may seem too obvious that I am “pulling strings.” Last year I did an internship at one of the flagship universities in a state outside of my school, so I’m afraid that this may look like I haven’t gotten any opportunities for this year as opposed to the previous.
And on that note, do you think it would be better for me to relocate over the summer for an internship at US universities? I am 18 so I am able to do so on my own, but I am wondering if it’s worth all that hassle.
I doubt it will work against you although some colleges may find it sus that your dad is a colleague with this researcher. I think you should be fine as long as you show that you did something.
YOu could relocate for the summer although you would need a visa that such.
Hey @GoBears2023, thanks for the reply. As a student already attending a US boarding school, I already hold a green card and can travel freely. My question is more about whether it is worth it(money and time) for me to relocate to some region in the US just so I can get work experience in the US. It may also be worth mentioning that my dad’s colleague happens to have a bachelor’s from my dream university, though I also do think that my chances for that school are pretty bleak. In this case, how much can work experience and supplemental letter from this person help?
It depends really on the research you get done and what you learn from the work you’re doing. I would say it probably is not worth your time and money to relocate to the US because it will show colleges that you didnt use the resources around you, like in your own country, and will hint that you are somewhat priveleged, which will negatively impact your chances. In addition, the fact that the person has a degree from your dream college means nothing. Based on my own experience, I did research with 3 Cornell Graduates over the course of 7 years and still got rejected.
I see, thanks again for your help!
Hi @GoBears2023, I am a rising sophomore and I will be attending one of the summer programs that you noted on the list of summer programs that you were accepted to (not going to say which one, but I’ll just say that it’s one of the less prestigious ones and its length is between 3 and 5 weeks). I am already around two weeks into my summer so far, and due to the fact that the summer program I will be attending does not start for a few weeks from now, I’m contemplating what I can be doing in the meantime to strengthen my applications to more prestigious summer programs in future years.
I’m taking two online courses right now and doing my AP summer assignments, occasionally volunteering, as well as doing preparation for the AMC 10/USAPhO/USAAAO, and I’m probably going to go on a one week-long vacation in two weeks from now. However, that still leaves approximately 2.5 weeks free during my summer that I need to find something significant to do during. Most of my extracurriculars and sport are school-affiliated, so I’m clearly not involved in them right now.
My question is: what more can I do right now to strengthen my application for more prestigious summer programs in the future? Internships/research are out of the question, because I am 99% sure that all applications for those have passed, and anyways, I doubt I’d be able to accomplish anything meaningful in an approximately 2 weeks time frame (if there even are internships that are for that short of a time period). Should I focus on a personal project? I’d greatly appreciate any advice you could give me, including your experiences during your rising sophomore summer that don’t involve any private details.
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bump!
Hi @asr0302 , sorry for the late response. I’ve been dealing with some family issues for the past week.
As for your questions:
Q’s: My question is: what more can I do right now to strengthen my application for more prestigious summer programs in the future? Internships/research are out of the question, because I am 99% sure that all applications for those have passed, and anyways, I doubt I’d be able to accomplish anything meaningful in an approximately 2 weeks time frame (if there even are internships that are for that short of a time period). Should I focus on a personal project? I’d greatly appreciate any advice you could give me, including your experiences during your rising sophomore summer that don’t involve any private details.
A: I would say you can do independent research at your local college / community college. I would also suggest maybe refining some of your skills in mathematics by taking either online courses or do some self reading of textbooks from your local library. During the past summers, I checked out some cool textbooks (would highly recommend looking into some college level material) on mathematics and computer science, just for some fun reading. These little facts and theorems I picked up became really useful when trying to perform well under my professors.
I really like the idea of a personal project. While I’m not quite sure what field you are interested in, I’ll just give you two examples of things I did during my free time in the last few summers. Just a quick sidenote, i’m a computer geek so all of the projects will be coding related. One project I worked on was an extension of Google Maps. Basically, I was fed up that google maps didnt always have up to date images and road maps of my town. My program uses a gyrometer and a basic webcam to make additions to google maps. It’s not close to being finished, but it was a really fun project. Another project i did was making a poker AI. Super fun but way too much time to complete. If you want help with making a cool project idea, I’d be down to provide some suggestions.
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Hi @GoBears2023, can I ask for your advice on another topic on how I can gain research experience in physics (preferably condensed matter physics or materials science) during the school year to submit to competitions such as ISEF, etc.? I have a few questions for you regarding this topic:
- Is it possible to start research in August to submit to science fairs around March and April?
- WHEN should I contact professors regarding whether or not they would be able to mentor me?
- WHERE should I choose which professors to email?
- HOW MANY professors should I email?
- WHAT should I include in my emails to them?
- HOW LONG does it usually take them to respond?
- HOW FREQUENTLY would I meet with the professors if I were to be mentored during the school year?
- Approximately HOW MUCH TIME would I spend working on research-related topics weekly during the school year?
I’m not sure if this was an appropriate thread to post this under, but oh well…
Thank you so much anyways!
@GoBears2023 Do you know anything about how the Princeton AI4All program is? Is it as competitive as this one?
- Is it possible to start research in August to submit to science fairs around March and April?
Yes, that’s basically what I did but I never really vibed with science fairs, although I do wish I submitted papers.
- WHEN should I contact professors regarding whether or not they would be able to mentor me? Contact them ASAP. Anytime is a good time, except towards the end of a semester since they have to deal with final exams.
- WHERE should I choose which professors to email? Go to the department websites.
- HOW MANY professors should I email? As many as you can. You'll be lucky to get a response. I emailed over 100 professors near me and got three responses. Two of them accepted me, the last one questioned why I even bothered to waste their time.
- WHAT should I include in my emails to them? Your name, high school, grade, qualifications + skills, and resume
- HOW LONG does it usually take them to respond? Depends. It honestly can vary from a minute after you send to six months later.
- HOW FREQUENTLY would I meet with the professors if I were to be mentored during the school year? I met with mine two times a week and then ramped that up to five days a week when we were about to publish papers.
- Approximately HOW MUCH TIME would I spend working on research-related topics weekly during the school year? I spent 8-10 hours weekly, but that's because I was heavily involved in the research process.
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RE: @daisy91 Do you know anything about how the Princeton AI4All program is? Is it as competitive as this one?
A really fantastic program for anyone interested in doing CS in the future. If you get in, you are on your way to get into a really good university since the program is one of few that covers AI.
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- Once you have come up with an idea, how did you go from there?
- What was progress like and how did you make it?
- In total around how many hours did you spend on the project?
@BobRoss1234
Really sorry for the late reply!
- For a project, after I have an idea, i immediately start drafting ideas on my idea wall (my wallpapers is like a whiteboard). I write down possible prototypes / pseudocode (depending on the type of project) and use a pros and cons list to finalize on what to do. This part of the process takes about 1-2 weeks because i really research on what I plan on doing to ensure i don't waste time heading towards failure. For example (I'll be using this example for the later questions as well), I made a start up incubator at my school during the second semester of my junior year. It took me about 2 weeks to gather a team and a teacher to help bring the idea to life. Everyone was really stoked to get it off the ground :)
- Well I guess progress is kinda vague, so I'll just detail what happened for the entirety of the project. After getting a team, we set out to first get paper work done, which went surprisingly fast. Since we were a startup incubator, I used my connections from previous internships and got a board of directors + mentors to help guide our team. Last but not least, I created a website (not gonna include URL for privacy reasons) and started to recruit local students through Facebook. At the start of the school year, lots of parents and students showed interest in our incubator and before we knew it, we had 20 active members making companies with truly awesome ideas. Over the last year, we had two companies make business deals and receive funding.
- Close to 300 hours if not more. It took a lot of time and effort to get it done.