From what i can see, at the moment there isn’t a thread for COSMOS 2020 so I’m starting one.
Just some general questions I have
best campus (like scenery and just general niceness)
most and least competitive campus or clusters
other ppl who have gotten in stats or watever
i really want to do a bio cluster because I LOVE biology, but i heard those are REALLLY competitive
my stats
asian gorl (if that matters)
9th grade (which sucks because 9th graders don’t really get in ;(
academics
-4.0 GPA hopefully
taking APWH and AP Calc BC this year
took 5 APs last year (Calc BC, Bio, Macro/Microecon, Psych)
2 800’s on SAT Subject tests (Bio M and Math 2)
extracurriculars
choir since grade 1 (but that probs don’t really matter cuz its a STEM camp rip)
science bowl since 6th grade, went to nats last year and got 6th out of 48 teams
and thats basically it rip
( ^^^ not trying to flex bros. i don’t want to be that one pretentious fool who has a huge ego but thats wat i sound like right now ik)
last year i applied but i didn’t get in. probs cuz i realized cosmos was a thing like 2 weeks before the deadline but watever.
do you think i have a chance? i don’t have that many sciency extracirriculars which sucks.
also which cluster/school should i apply.
(note - i realllllly want to go to COSMOS because freedom from parents and actualy hands on experience. also everyone says COSMOS is really fun and interesting)
I have not been to COSMOS myself, I am applying this year, but I’ve heard from people that did attend COSMOS that the younger you are, although it is true you are given less priority to be accepted, if you have good stats, extracurriculars, and academic classes, you will still have a bit of a better chance of getting in compared to people of your age. Also, just because biology clusters are really competitive, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t apply to it! Besides, you still would have your second choice to maybe apply for something non-biology-related.
I was wondering about my chances of getting into COSMOS this year. as of right now, I am thinking of going to UCSC for cluster 5 (video games) or 6 (intro to networking and the internet & smart power) or UCI for cluster 2 (computation and machine learning) or 5 (sound for virtual reality).
idk which one to choose cuz I’m pretty sure UCI is easier to get into (since I’m a freshman) but the UCSC clusters seem a lot more fun (and the campus is really pretty according to some people)
here r my stats (idk if this helps):
CLASSES:
double-accelerated math (geo & alg2/trig)
honors eng
normal bio (cuz NGSS doesn’t allow honors)
IED or intro to engineering design (I’m hoping this helps my app since I’m applying to CS clusters)
french 2
GPA - 4.0 hopefully
(my school doesn’t let freshmen take APs ?)
EXTRACURRICULARS:
AI Club
Math Club
Astrophysics
Science Olympiad (part of the team since 7th grade, got 1st in regional and 3rd in states last year ?)
Science Bowl (since 7th grade, got 5th place in regionals both years ?)
what are my chances of getting in? and does anyone have any advice about which campus I should apply to (assuming I get 2 good letters of rec)?
My son was in cosmos last Summer at UCI. It was very exciting for us as parents. Hoping it has a benefit on his admission chances this year. Taking a ccc class online at the same time was common among the classmates (not my son).
Good luck on the adventure. I know you will get accepted.
Hi everyone, I just had a quick question. So let’s say I apply for COSMOS for 2020 and get accepted. However, if I cannot attend for whatever reason and decline the offer, will I be allowed to apply for 2021, with a chance of getting accepted again? Or am I only allowed to get accepted once, without being able to apply and get accepted again? Thanks in advance for the help!
@absolutemonkey as a freshman it would be harder to stand out but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try! I met a couple of awesome rising sophomores at cosmos 2019! I’d say your extracurriculars looks great and since you are at a disadvantage with your course load as a freshman definitely work to demonstrate your interest and passion in your essays. Also get good teacher recs as well!
Regarding the UCSC campus, it is pretty if you like trees, like trees everywhereeee. You are basically in a redwood forest, and be prepared for a lot of walking Also something about cosmos at UCSC is that everywhere you go you have to go with an adult. To meals, to your classroom, to the dorms. No freedom whatsoever I heard UCD had way more freedom but I’m not sure about the other campuses. This might be something to consider when you apply. Good luck!
Hi! I’m also a freshman applying to COSMOS this year. I’m applying to the UC Davis location and my first-choice cluster would be Future Foods, and I’m not exactly sure what my second choice would be (probably Plant Microbiology). Here are my stats/ECs:
Classes: Double Accelerated (Alg2/Trig), Honors English, Bio (school doesn’t have honors), Spanish 3
GPA: probably 3.83
Extracurriculars: Dance (awards), Piano, Debate (awards), Mock Trial, Model UN (awards), Interact Club (leadership position), Principal Advisory Committee, Research (environmental sci), I also have something pretty significantly related to my first-choice cluster but I won’t elaborate since it’s a pretty dead giveaway of who I am, just to be safe.
Testing: 1530 SAT - 800 Math, 35 ACT, 5 AP Chinese, currently self-studying 4 APs
I also do Stanford Online High School. Last year I took Precalc/Trig and Lit Analysis, and this year I’m taking AP Bio.
What are my chances of making it into the program?
Junior here interested in the Comp/ML cluster at UCI, the IoT cluster at UCD, and the “Computers in Everyday Life” cluster at UCSD.
GPA: 3.7 unweighted (upward trend, the GPA is low because of freshman year)
Got Bs in math freshman and soph years but am getting As in AP Calc this year.
Very high course rigor this year, almost all APs.
ACT 36 (do they even care about this?)
Related Extracurriculars:
Lots of hackathon wins with AI/ML related projects
Teaching programming at local library (founded chapter of citywide teaching initiative there)
Internship for nonprofit that helps schools in a third world country (helped build an AI chatbot with NLP)
Unrelated Extracurriculars:
State-level quiz bowl wins (multiple individual top-10 tournament finishes)
Certified yoga instructor who teaches freelance (could maybe connect this by saying I want to integrate software with mental health?)
OK, so that’s what that is. What are my chances? Which cluster do I have the best chance of getting into?
@deneuralyzer i’m just a freshman and i haven’t been to cosmos before so i might be completely wrong about this but my logic is:
don’t do “computers in everyday life” cuz i think that’s for people new to programming and u have won hackathons so that might be a bit too easy
considering the fact that u have done a lot of AI/ML stuff, u have a pretty good chance at UCI, esp since everyone says UCI is usually one of the easier campuses to get into
UCD is def the hardest campus to get into based on what i’ve heard but if u write good essays, i think you’ll be good
@absolutemonkey Thanks! I’m still looking at Computers in Everyday Life, though. Anyone else care to chime in on my chances?
Are my math grades or my GPA in general going to significantly disadvantage me? Does COSMOS consider ACT scores?
Everyone, would you say that Comp/ML is an exception to the relative ease of UCI admission? One would think that this cluster is more competitive than most. Anyone have any recent data on acceptance rates by cluster and/or campus?
but thats wat i sound like right now ik)
Also something about cosmos at UCSC is that everywhere you go you have to go with an adult. To meals, to your classroom, to the dorms. No freedom whatsoever 