<p>EPGY is $5150 for 3 weeks, and SSTP is $5000 for 6 weeks, so it’s twice as much.
No guarantee on instructors at EPGY, some are grad students, I have not encounter a stanford professor at epgy. SSTP are field researchers at UI.
Go to EPGY, maybe you will learn something…</p>
<p>I wanted to add a few words of encouragement for the Iowa SSTP program. My son did it last year, and it was a fantastic experience. It’s not just a summer school. It’s a chance to be a working member of a university lab. In my son’s case, he had a chance to do highly technical work in computer programming. He gained so much from this experience, I can’t even tell you. He also had fun. The program is very good at arranging fun activities around central Iowa every weekend…for instance, a BBQ cookoff in Cedar Rapids, Shakespeare in the Park, a jazz festival and the Davenport Art Museum (where most of the University of Iowa’s art collection is located due to serious flooding a few years ago…the flooding closed down several buildings on campus). </p>
<p>Also, Iowa City itself is a picturesque and interesting town. Certainly more than enough to keep you occupied for six weeks. Lots of green grass and of course, the beautiful river which runs through the center of campus. There were some restrictions on the kids as to where they could go in town. Technically, you were supposed to stay on the very large campus, although I think this was expanded to cover the shopping mall across the street as well. I know my son and some other boys went to the attractive campus recreation center and hit the exercise machines.</p>
<p>I was a little miffed about the extra $1000 for the college credit. I don’t think that will ever be used by my son. However, we did get transcripts from the UI, and included them in my son’s college applications this year. So, I guess the benefit from this is that you have an actual college transcript to include with your college applications. Also, my son did get a very wonderful letter of rec. from the professor with whom he worked.</p>
<p>My son didn’t get into RSI or SSP last summer, which was a bit of surprise to us (I was expecting at least a waitlist), so SSTP was a bit of a “safety”. However, so far in his college apps this year, he has been accepted to MIT and Cal Tech, as well as being invited to apply as a Regent’s Scholar to UC Berkeley and UCLA. So, would I attribute this to SSTP? My son had great grades and test scores, but it did not hurt at all to be able to write about his great SSTP experience. Believe me, you’ll be grateful for any chance to set your application apart from the others. SSTP gives you that chance, as well as the chance to start your career as a budding scientist or engineer. Take advantage of it, and have a wonderful summer. The sky’s the limit!</p>
<p>Thank you very much for sharing your son’s experience with Iowa SSTP! It helps. Congratulations to your son (and you)!!! He must be an outstanding one.</p>
<p>Chipbee: Thank you so much for sharing the wonderful information, and congradulations on his acceptance to Caltech and MIT, that’s wonderful, you must be very proud!
If you wouldn’t mind sharing some of your son’s stats with us, like his GPA, extracurriculars, competitions, etc ?
One question for you: Did your son ask for the recommendation before he leave SSTP or he had contact with the professor at SSTP and got it after he left the program ?
Also, how safe is the UI campus, like walking from the dorm to the lab ??
Thank you for your time</p>
<p>The university campus is very safe. No worries. I mean, things can happen anywhere, but I wouldn’t personally hesitate to walk anywhere on that campus, even at night. I do believe there is a curfew at SSTP, and it’s pretty early as I recall (9 p.m. or so). I’ll run that by my son and see if he remembers. They kids are not roaming campus by themselves at night, unless it’s in a group, and there are walks into town for ice cream, etc. The downtown area is only about a five to ten minute walk from the dorm, and there is a smaller retail area just a couple of blocks away. Generally, Iowa City is like a small town for us city folks, but it is a rather interesting small town, and very safe. And the campus architecture is quite attractive. The dorm is…well, like a dorm. Nothing special, but they were doing some remodeling, so not sure of the status of that. Actually, the lobby of the dorm has already been remodeled and is quite nice, with a decent looking cafeteria. The food was fairly good from what I understand.</p>
<p>My son’s professor kindly volunteered in the course of the summer to do a recommendation for my son. My son then contacted him in the fall, and the professor promptly sent multiple copies of the recommendation to my son. I can’t tell you how grateful we are for how easy he made this whole process. He served as a real mentor to my son, with lots of college and career advice.</p>
<p>My son has a 4.7 or so, at a affluent high school, but honestly, it’s not at all a place that sends a lot of kids to MIT and CalTech. I don’t think anyone has gone in years to my knowledge (or has even been accepted). I did regret that my son’s SSTP project couldn’t be entered in Intel or the like. It was just too major a project to complete in six weeks. But it was a great learning experience, and I guess I don’t have too many regrets now. My son did the USACO computer science competitions online, and had some success. He is NMF and National AP Scholar. And he truly loves computer science, and I think that really comes through. My son has been quite heavily involved in mock trial and debate competitions. My son is also a three-year varsity athlete in an offbeat sport. It may have been a slight benefit at MIT as he did talk to the coach there.</p>
<p>Anyway, I remember that there was very little written on CC last year about SSTP, and it made me really nervous, because it wasn’t such a big name, and seemed to have relatively little interest. But I’m telling you that it deserves much more fame, and is an incredible opportunity. We felt my son gained so much, and while we missed him, we knew almost immediately that it was the right thing for him…I think he felt that too. The very first day you arrive, the labs send representatives to the first SSTP meeting (the parents are still there), and it is a very neat feeling to be welcomed into that very special world.</p>
<p>Chipbee: Thanks again for the info. My only concern will be working late at night, say if the kids work at the hospital lab until after dark and have to walk back to the dorms by themselves… You know how it is with a 16 year old daughter…
What state are you guys from, and did you attend the poster session at the end of 6 weeks? How was the grand finale ??
Will your son be going to MIT or Caltech ?? They are both top school, you and your son are very lucky, he worked very hard and he deserves to go to the best school.
I think the 2011 SSTP kids have a facebook page, but it’s not open to public…So it’s really difficult for anyone interested in UI SSTP to decide whether or not going to this program or not.
We are definitely going to SSTP, it’s hard to find an internship where they will match your interest, especially in biomeds, most internship say “well, you have to be flexible and take whatever we have setup for you”.
Did your son went to summer school/internship in his Sophmore/Junior year as well ??
Thanks again for the info and have a great day !</p>
<p>Not sure if everyone seen the slide show from last year’s SSTP, there is a slide show link in their webpage under “closing ceremony slideshow, SSTP”
[@B-BC</a> / Belin-Blank Center Summer Programs](<a href=“http://www.education.uiowa.edu/html/belinblank/old/summer/bbc/]@B-BC”>http://www.education.uiowa.edu/html/belinblank/old/summer/bbc/)</p>
<p>Looks like the kids are pretty happy there…</p>
<p>are there any religious facilities on/near campus?</p>
<p>also, are there places such as malls/convenience stores nearby? i’m just not sure exactly how small the “town” is…</p>
<p>I know they are very cooperative at SSTP with getting kids to the religious services of their choice. There are some churches right across the street from the dorm. I believe they sent us a list of religious facilities at some point. </p>
<p>The town is very active. There are several nice bookstores and convenience stores downtown. A very nice gourmet market and bakery. There is a 7/11 type store just a block away from the dorm, and there are also shops on campus. The main mall is in area called Coralville, and that is several miles away, and I know that the kids do go there on organized SSTP expeditions from time to time. That’s where you’ll find Target and stores like that. The enrollment at the university is large…maybe 30,000 or so, so there are obviously businesses to support that. On top of that, you have the regular population of Iowa City. There is a mall downtown, but that has been largely taken over by the university with offices and part of its bookstore, although my son enjoyed the Korean restaurant they have in the mall (and the Chipotle). I would say that the main downtown area is five blocks by five blocks, but it is pretty active. And there is plenty of other stuff beyond that, but that is just the most accessible area. I don’t think my son was bored at all, and we are more used to large cities. You can probably take a look at Google maps and look it over.</p>
<p>I don’t think my son ever had to come home late at night. I don’t think they would really expect that of the kids. The day seemed to be from 10-5 or something like that, and I don’t think it ran over. There is a campus bus which goes over to the medical school area. A lot of the internships were in that area from what I saw…lots of biomedical stuff. </p>
<p>Thanks for the links to the slide show and photos. I didn’t have those!</p>
<p>Shinexalive: What other programs did you apply to besides UI SSTP and UF SSTP ??</p>
<p>Chipbee, thanks for the info! Glad to hear that there’s such a variety of options in the area. </p>
<p>bbcarol, I also applied to SSP (and I haven’t heard back but I’m preeeetty sure I was rejected) as well as the NIH SIP (the NIH branches are either all fully staffed or limited by budget, so no room where I applied). I was going to try Ross at OSU, but since I got into Iowa SSTP I’m probably not going to.</p>
<p>Thanks chipbee! I wasn’t completely sure about SSTP before, so your info helped a lot. :)</p>
<p>Has anyone completed all of the forms and paid the fees already?</p>
<p>Hey guys I am from India and got selected in Uiversity of Iowa- SSTP,Columbia,University of Florida-SSTP,Michigan state university-HSSRP.
Which one should I select and why?</p>
<p>I got rejected in SSP-MIT</p>
<p>Don’t go to Columbia, I hear they’re just after your $$$. UFlorida SSTP is slightly less selective than Iowa, I’d imagine. Don’t know anything about Michigan, though.</p>
<p>Hey fcafca, am from India too! Which state are you from?</p>
<p>I am from Delhi .</p>
<p>You from which school?</p>
<p>Hey guys
All those who are from India lets make a list…</p>
<p>I’m from Amritsar (Spring Dale Senior School). There’s no point in making a list as it’ll probably include just us both. But we could make a list of international students, for sure.</p>
<p>Ok we can go for an all participant list and if all of you agree then we can create a Facebook group which would further facilitate our communication.
What say guys?</p>