<p>I have read lots of threads posting that the Brown Summer Camps are very interesting, fun, etc.</p>
<p>However, visiting their site numerous times, I wonder what I should take. </p>
<p>Personal Biography-</p>
<p>Sophomore who dreams of going to the Ivies/Stanford.
Very intelligent and loves any kind of math....</p>
<p>Any insight?</p>
<p>At your age, consider TASS .. it is much more prestigious in the eyes of an Ivy .. and it's free! However, admission is competitive.</p>
<p>What is TASS? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>anyone? bump</p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://www.tellurideassociation.org/tassfront.html%5DTASS%5B/url">http://www.tellurideassociation.org/tassfront.html]TASS[/url</a>]</p>
<p>It's not all about prestige though. It depends on what kind of person you are. These two programs are on different ends of the spectrum- on one hand you have TASS, TASP, RSI, and those sorts of programs, where everything is highly competitive, very structure, and full of work. But it's a great experience. On the other hand you have programs like Brown Summer Session, Harvard Secondary Summer Program, USC's summer program, where you choose your classes and how to spend your day, you have plenty of freedom, you take fun optional trips, you roam the city. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and it's really up to what kind of person you are and what you want to do with your summer.</p>
<p>Personally, I was quite burnt out last year, and wanted to have a really fun summer. I acted in a play, I had a volunteer job, and I was able to spend 2 weeks at Brown, where I had the time of my life. I wouldn't have been able to enjoy something like TASS last summer because I would have felt that I was missing out on so much. This summer, however, I'm focusing on college and the like, and I know that I need to show my strengths, so I'm planning on doing a full summer program like TASP (if I get in.)</p>
<p>^^ I think yes... and no. I've done both TASS and a Brown summer course, and the two most "structure-imposing" things about TASS were/are shared by Brown courses (and just about any summer program, for that matter): be at class by a certain time in the morning, and back in your room/in your dorms by a certain time at night. Neither was particularly onerous.</p>
<p>But my friends spent <em>a lot</em> of time at TASS exploring Ann Arbor, just hanging out, doing fun stuff. No less than at Brown, and maybe more.</p>
<p>Yes, our TASS did have rather a lot of outside reading and essays to do (I should be careful to point out that these things- amount of out-of-class work, freedom- can vary depending on your seminar and tutors), and it certainly had much more than Brown. Maybe that's your thing, maybe it's not. Personally, I doubtlessly learned drastically more at TASS, and the work we did for class only provided further discussion fodder with friends.</p>
<p>One last thing I think is important is the issue of community. TASS definitely had more "unity" as a group than my Brown seminar, where the only interaction that every participant shared was class every day. Because TASSers all live together (not just in a dorm with other kids doing other seminars, which was my experience at Brown) and do a lot of stuff outside of class together, we definitely had a greater sense of community. And maybe less freedom... ? I dunno. Perhaps. I guess it's something of a tradeoff that really depends on what you value.</p>
<p>That being said, OP, I think we've gotten off the topic of your thread. Sorry. If you're interested in doing a summer math program, well, TASS isn't one. :)</p>
<p>32flavors, is TASS only for African American students?</p>
<p>Short answer: No.</p>
<p>Long answer: TASS seminars focus on African-American studies, and most of the people who attend have some Black background (whether they be African-American, African, Afro-Latino, biracial or "mixed," or anything else). What "most" means varies from year to year and seminar to seminar; in the instance of the TASS I attended, I think 28ish of the 32 TASSers (between both seminars) had some kind of Black background.</p>
<p>Personally, at my TASS, I was the only (all) white person. I had a fabulous experience, learned a lot, and met amazing people. At the time of application, I was (a) deeply interested in African-American studies, and (b) aware and comfortable with the knowledge that, if accepted, I would probably be the only/one of a few non-Black people. In my <em>humble</em> opinion, those are 2 good criteria for a non-Black prospective TASSapplicant to know if it would be a good fit for them.</p>
<p>(And again, OP, sorry for the thread hijack. :))</p>