@afatperson
So in regards to freedom, from what I’ve heard from friends and from personal experience, you usually are given boundaries as to how far you can venture off to. However, usually this boundary is pretty far and you should have plenty to do while at COSMOS. Although I understand that kids like chilling in the summer, I’ve found that spending your time exploring doesn’t really help. I would recommend you spend that extra time preparing for standardized tests or working on your research project.
As for the teacher recs, I would recommend EVERYONE to get teacher recs, because it will give the admission officers another perspective of you as a student. Not including one will make your application seem weak. Besides, it can only help you.
@Spectralnight
COSMOS will definitely help your college application. Just consider this: COSMOS is essentially a way for the UC system to identify the top STEM talent in all of California. With the overall acceptance rate of about 30% across all campuses, by attending COSMOS, you show to the UC system that you have potential and will likely succeed in college. I would say COSMOS should be one of the top priorities in terms of summer programs to apply to for freshman and sophomores, not so much for juniors since they will be able to apply for more prestigious programs.
@awesomeprick On your resume, by simply being able to go to COSMOS, you identify yourself as some of the top STEM talent in California. In addition, you can also show your familiarity of the campus that you attend.
Hi! I was wondering if anyone could tell me how likely I am to get accepted to UCD Cluster 3 (Introduction to Engineering Mechanics). I’m currently a junior (so rising senior in summer) in AP Calc BC (but I got a B whoops) and AP Physics 1 (A-). Do I have a chance? I have all As in the rest of my classes, it’s just calc that’s kinda worrying me haha.
Any input is appreciated :3
How popular is the Intro to Astrophysics cluster at UC Davis? I know my chances of getting into the UCD campus are pretty low, but I heard that it really depends on the cluster you choose. How would that compare to the nanochemistry/nanotech cluster at UCSC? Thanks!
@awesomeprick COSMOS should help in any college application since you’ve shown that you can be accepted into a competitive and popular STEM program. But there is a specific part for UC applications where you note that you attended COSMOS, and I suspect that this will boost your chances more than it would in a different university.
@afatperson I think that the UCI campus is the most restrictive. When i was there this past summer we were mainly restricted to the residential area where the dorms/dining hall was. We could also go down to a library and a town center as long as you had a buddy with you, but halfway through they made it so you could only go there with a staff accompanying you.
hey @flowerss, glad to hear that i have a chance to get in without the best stats. i checked out ur profile and i saw that you attended cluster 9 at UCI which is my first choice, would you mind telling me about some of your experiences? (sorry i don’t have the ability to PM yet )
Hi guys, so I’m still considering the number theory cluster at UCSC above all, but I’m not sure of the level of the course. I also share this concern for the mathematics cluster at UCD. Could someone give some insight on the level of the courses? I’ve also heard from a friend that the number theory course at UCSC is primarily full of eighth graders. If that is the case I will definitely attend the mathematics cluster at UCD instead. Is that true?
Is Cluster 2 at UCI, Computation and Machine Learning, very competitive? It says that “students with little to no programming experience are welcome”. But will students with almost no programming experience really get accepted? Thanks.
@jenny001 UCI cluster 2 is new this year, it used to be about probability so we don’t know how competitive it will be. For students with no programming experience, they will look at their essays to determine if they are really interested in it
@jenny001 I mean usually new clusters are not competitive. However, given that it involves machine learning, I would expect this one to be highly sought out. they will probably prefer people with programming experience. However, if you show a strong foundation in math or another area of STEM, it might overshadow your programming skills.
@afatperson for the number theory cluster at UCSC, there are some ninth graders, but also older people (there were like 2 eighth graders total at UCSC last year). The course level isn’t super hard.
Does nybody have some tips for writing the essays? Should they be more like a story or more informative? Also I’m kind of having trouble coming up with enough to write.
what is the difference between the personal statement and reason for choosing a cluster? I cant figure out what to write in the personal statement that I would otherwise be able to work into the cluster specific essay as well…
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