<p>So can anyone else weigh my chances? Not that I don't trust your judgment, but I'd like some more opinions too.</p>
<p>
[quote]
1. Molecular Biology Revolution ( 139 )
2. Engineering Design & Control of Kinetic Sculptures ( 97 )
3. Biological Motivations for Tensegrity Structures ( 64 )</p>
<p>I applied when the first choices were more or less even, and somehow I managed to choose the three most competitive clusters at UCSD, in that order.</p>
<p>But unlike you, I'm more of an average student. My app was like this:</p>
<p>Freshman
3.8GPA ( gr :[ )
AP Bio self-study
Science Olympiad SoCal Finalist (team event)
I think I put something about how I'm one of the 4 student government officers at my school.
And then like 7 years of Chinese language
And something about being #1 Doubles on Varsity Tennis. (And winning SoCal championships for Junior Team Tennis)
My teachers said they'd give me good recommendations
And I thought my short answers were decent enough
<p>The essays may make a huge difference, or they may make none at all, but it's impossible to tell which unless someone's had your profs. Even if they did scrutinize your stuff as much as mine scrutinized ours, they could be looking for completely different things.</p>
<p>Congratulations! You have been selected to the COSMOS program at the University of California, San Diego. You will soon be emailed a roommate survey and participation confirmation request, which require your response by May 15th. You will also be receiving a formal acceptance letter in the mail which includes important program information. Upon receipt of your letter, please carefully review the information and return the requested materials by June 1, 2009. If you have submitted a Financial Assistance Form, an eligibility determination will be included in your acceptance letter. </p>
<p>We have accepted 165 students for this summer and have made every effort to place you in one of your top three cluster preferences. Your cluster placement is non-transferable. We look forward to working with you during this exciting four-week program. The dates for COSMOS at UC San Diego are July 5 through August 1, 2009. If you have any questions, please contact the COSMOS office at 858-822-4361, or e-mail us at <a href=“mailto:cosmos@ucsd.edu”>cosmos@ucsd.edu</a>.</p>
<p>Thank you for your applying to the UCSD COSMOS program. We regret to inform you we are unable to offer you admission to the COSMOS program for summer 2009. Your strong background and interest in science and mathematics is impressive; however, due to the large number of applicants and limited size of the program, we were unable to accept every student who applied.</p>
<p>COSMOS faculty read every cluster application basing their decision on several criteria including GPA, test scores, recommendation letters from teachers, prerequisite work, math and science extracurricular activities and responses to the essay questions. This year was our most competitive year in the history of our program.</p>
<p>We encourage you to continue to pursue your interests in math and science. We hope that you keep COSMOS in mind next year when you are looking for future summer opportunities.</p>
<p>We greatly appreciate your interest in the COSMOS program and wish you all the best in your future endeavors.</p>
<p>I got my acceptance email from ucsd tootoo. Now I can’t decide whether or not I want to go to Cosmos or UC Davis Young Scholars Program (YSP). Any suggestions or opinions from anyone?</p>
<p>@Challenge: what clusters did you apply for?</p>
.</p>