Ask questions about summer programs here!

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
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@GoBears2023 I was reading through this this thread and you seemed to have a lot of knowledge about summer programs and such and was being extremely helpful, so I was wondering if you could give me a few ideas as to what to do over the summer.

I’m currently a freshman with not too many extracurriculars, but I’m really looking to make the best use of my summer

School: Public school(one of the top 20 public high schools in California I believe)
GPA: 4.0 UW
Currently Taking:
-Honors English
-Geometry/Algebra 2/Trig (fastest track that 9th graders are allowed to go at my school)
-Biology(Honors not offered, only regular)

(Freshmen are not allowed to take AP courses in my school)

-I am currently self-studying 3 AP’s (microeconomics, macroeconomics, psychology)

-Girls who Code club
-Has some Java knowledge, still learning more to get better at it, though
-Participated in robotics and mathcounts in the past(not anymore though, kind of regret not doing robotics this year)

(clearly, I don’t really have anything impressive at all)

I’m planning on applying to COSMOS ucsc, and maybe StanfordAI4ALL, as I’m interested in AI, and maybe some other summer programs, but I’m not really expecting to get in to any of them due to my lack of extracurriculars and experience.

Also, I noticed that you said you’ve done research with professors. How exactly does that work? When doing research with them do they tell you what to do or do they expect you to already know what you’re supposed to do and how to do it?

I’m also wondering if you have any good recommendations of things to do(summer programs, possible internships, research experience, etc) over the summer in order to improve my chances of getting accepted into more prestigious summer programs in the future, or to just have a good learning experience in general?
Thank you!

162

Im just gonna bump this so people who are planning for next year can ask questions if needed.

1 Like
163

@GoBears2023 , Hi! I just wanted to ask about lab research and summer programs. For working in a lab, I had emailed professors at local colleges around February and March, but due to the coronavirus, most universities are shut down. Do you have any suggestions? As for summer programs, I’m looking for some at the moment, but recommendations might be a problem since my schools are closed until April 20th (until further notice since I live in NJ). Thank you for doing this!

164

@GoBears2023

Hi!

When I was reading through this thread, I noticed that you mentioned working on papers/research with college professors. As an international student attending a boarding school near Boston, how would getting an internship in the summer work out? Additionally, if I am interested in working with professors during the school year on a research paper, would that even be possible? And would my paper get published anywhere?

Also, what journals accept publication submissions from HS students? Is getting the paper published under a major journal super important (for college admissions)? What journals are considered reputable?

(for context, I am a liberal-arts student interested in majoring in Sociology/Ethnic Studies)

Sorry for asking so many questions-- I’m a first gen US college student so I’m really confused about how all this works.

Thank you so much for doing this! I really appreciate you taking the time to answer all of the questions.

165

@CoolMasterM

If you are into CS, then the internship can be done remotely, since coding doesn’t require you being there in person. However, if you are trying to do chem / bio, you may have a hard time getting a lab position. Most summer programs that have applications are all closed, but with the virus, most have cancelled. If you are looking to fill your summer, consider either learning something new, starting a nonprofit / startup, or get working on essays (assuming you are a junior).

@AndoverKid257
You would do the internship and find somewhere to live over the summer. During the school year, either you continue from the summer or find someone new that would allow you to work remotely. Paper publishing depends on what work you contribute. Not many journals take high school students alone. You probably need a professor to co-author or be an advisor. I dont know the journals for non STEM fields, sorry :frowning:

166

Hi GoBears2023.

First of all, it’s incredible how many amazing summer programs you were accepted to. However, if you had to choose between Ross and SUMaC for your junior year summer, which one would you choose? I feel that Ross and SUMaC are both comparable in terms of selectivity and prestige, but I’ve also heard that SUMaC is a very large boost for Stanford and that a vast majority of SUMaC’ers get accepted into Stanford. Given that both are going online this year, which do you think you would prefer going to?

167

Hey @GoBears2023
Along those same lines, what would u recommend for a sophomore for math camps? COSMOS, JHU EI, HCSSiM all were cancelled, but I got in to Awesome math and am waiting on Mathily (they r doing online version). Are those 2 considered good camps (Mathily prestige-wise? I know it’s less than some others but hopefully good enough for soph year) or should I try for a remote internship or smth else instead? I was planning to do both given quarantine may last a while but not too sure anymore.

168

Mathily is well known among schools that matter. A student I know that was accepted to Harvard, Stanford and MIT did Mathily as a rising senior.

169

@Dragonfruit028

Depends on what you prefer. They are both fantastic programs with almost equal prestige. I chose to do Ross because the topics seemed more interesting than SUMaC but that’s just personal preference. You really can’t go wrong with either.

@SilverDragon

As long as you do something, you can’t go wrong. Awesome Math is a great program with its recognition growing each year. I personally have never heard of Mathily, but i looked up the program and it seems legit. Research is a good alternative.

170

@GoBears2023 that’s so cool how many things you got into. I have a question about my chances getting into Ross
I’m only a freshman girl(first gen from Africa), and am on track to take high up classes like combinatorics, abstract algebra and number theory by the end of my junior year at ohio state. How good are my chances? (I also happen to go to church across from Ohio Dominican where they just moved lol)

171

I was gonna do research at a local university, but it got cancelled because of corona… Does anyone have any advice?? What should I do? Are there any online summer programs?

172

@quwhoa
Kind of hard to tell. Are you a junior in high school?

@doglover0012
See if you can do research remotely.

173

@GoBears2023 I am a junior in high school, and a gold contestant at USACO. I’m thinking of using the summer to prepare for Gold and Platinum. Can you please point me to resources that will help?

174

@GoBears2023 I am currently a sophomore. I got selected into UCSC SIP (attended last year as well), UCSB RMP and Garcia. I also have an opportunity working in a Stanford lab for bioinformatics. I am interested in computer science, bio and and apply computer science in interdisciplinary areas. I have not totally settle down on a specific domain and is kind of open to explore. What would you recommend?

175

@GoBears2023 Couple you please share your experience or information you may have on Princeton AI ? What type of projects they do etc ? Will it help ?

176

Anyone got into UCSF AI4ALL? Or any experiences to share?

177

@Ivylege Is UCSF AI4ALL happening virtually/online?

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178

Yes, it’s virtual! I do not think the students will miss much other than the visits.

179

Never did AI4All since during my time, it was all female, so i can’t really provide much about it other than the fact that out of all the girls i know who attended, 95% of them went to HYPSM or something of similar caliber in the respective fields.

@jenetzhou Garcia is the most prestigious but it really depends on your research interests.

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@GoBears2023 Thank you!

1 Like