Hi all!
I am a current high-school sophomore hoping for admission to COSMOS 2020. I’m having trouble starting my essay, so does anyone have any useful tips? Also, considering my stats (will list below) which cluster will I have the highest chances of getting into?? If anyone answers this, thank you so much!
Here are the clusters I’m considering:
UCDavis:
2 is something I'm interested in, Phys/Eng, but I've not yet taken high school physics (prerequisite), only Physical Sciences in the 8th grade.
4 - Intro to Astrophysics :star:
UCIrvine:
1 - Mimicking Natural Protein Interactions to Target Cancer and Other Diseases
2 - Computation and Machine Learning :star:
4 - Can you make the next billion-dollar antibiotic? :star:? lol
UCSC:
2 - Nanochemistry and Nanotechnology (1st choice only) :star:
UCSD:
1 - Computers in Everyday Life (1st choice only) :star:
7 - Synthetic Biology
GPA: 3.84 UW/4.17 W (kinda low 
because I took Honors Chinese this year)
E.C.s: MUN (member), Children of The World (fundraising, member), Badminton (co-founder, co-president), Yearbook (secretary), Math Madness (part of team)
Standardized Tests: PSAT 10 1490, SAT Bio 670 (low ), 4 and 5 on non-STEM APs
Got to state science fair, 2nd in school for AMC 10
Taking AP Calculus AB, Chemistry
There are no specific acceptance rates to each cluster, I saw on the COSMOS thread apparently bio related clusters are more competitive, and I think CS related ones would be too. Davis is probably the most selective campus from what I’ve read online. I think the overall acceptance rate is around 20%, but I’m not too sure.
Ah, okay. I heard that UCIrvine is the easiest campus to apply to, but at the same time I really want to do Computers in Everyday Life at UCSD. At the same time, the project for Nanochem and Nanotech at UCSC sounds cool, and I live commuting-ish distance from the campus…indecision!!
For your essays try to be as genuine as you can and relate your life experiences with the topics in science you’re interested in.
Okay, I will try! Thank you 
Have you gone to COSMOS before @sublimekorean ?
are the amount of people per grade fairly distributed? im currently a high school junior and I am conflicted between applying for something like cosmos vs getting an internship through Saturday academy.
Does the recommendation letter have to be from a current teacher?
@kukido004 No, I was accepted into UC Davis’s IoT cluster tho
@sublimekorean You seem pretty knowledgeable about all of this! Here’s my question that I desperately need an answer for: Do you think it’s ok if my essay does not really have any specific life experiences (because I haven’t really had any that are specific to the cluster), but shows that I’m very interested in the concept (it shows passion)? Thanks!
@haloderefrands Sorry for getting back to you so late.
It’s okay, as long as you explore your interests and WHY you like the concept in detail. Any memories/realizations you’ve ever experienced can be elaborated upon. Try not to write your essays to “show passion”, rather, if you are truly enamored with the subject and explore the intricacies that you find so compelling, your essays should naturally regurgitate passion.