<p>Housing is free and completely taken care of.</p>
<p>thanks, and also about the application,
when we are supposed to list the math and science courses we have taken over the past 3 years, do we include what we are taking right now?</p>
<p>I’d just go with listing over the past three years, leaving out current courses.</p>
<p>Hi,
I’m also an African American Female and a Junior in High School. I think my credentials and aspirations are similar to yours, tawarren95, and I hope I am accepted to the program too. I’m also applying to the NIH SIP which is in the dc metropolitan area. Where will the JAX SSP program be located this summer? Also, when i went to the website to fill out an application, all i saw was a blank screen. [Summer</a> Student Application Form](<a href=“http://education.jax.org/summerstudent/ssp-application.php]Summer”>http://education.jax.org/summerstudent/ssp-application.php)
I really hope I am able to participate in a summer internship like this one. Unfortunately, there aren’t many biomedical and science research programs in VA or in the DC Area…dangit NOVA:(</p>
<p>JAX will be (and will always be, unless they pack up the entire lab and Highseas Mansion) in Bar Harbor, Maine. Don’t worry about the blank screen. It’s probably down for maintenance. Give it a little while. Good to hear from you, kookua, and goodluck! It really is a life-changing experience! Although my academics were low when I submitted my app, they’ve increased significantly and I should probably give a little credit to this program.</p>
<p>The main problem with summer research programs and internships is that housing usually is not provided. The housing in this program really is such a wonderful and significant aspect; you will meet some of your future best friends here if you attend. Goodluck to you and all other applicants!</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply! All of these application processess are so intimidating though. I can’t imagine the stress of college apps! I really do hope I get accepted into at least one program…</p>
<p>Ah, thanks! I just recently got into UChicago EA and I’m waiting on about 10 other schools in the Spring. I did apply with better academic stats, but it was nice to have research to discuss in my apps and on interviews. Another bonus of this program. </p>
<p>And for what it’s worth, nothing really is stressful if you manage your time properly. The sooner you start your apps and gather all the things you need, the better. With my stipend, I was able to pay for my own apps and have saved my parents hundreds (literally; it’s expensive) of dollars. </p>
<p>Apply to plenty of places, but make sure you’d be willing to attend at least most of them! Goodluck!</p>
<p>Congratulations, tawarren95 for getting UChicago EA.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! Goodluck in your endeavors, too!</p>
<p>tawarren95, congrats on getting into UChicago EA!</p>
<p>I’m trying to start my essays right now, but I keep staring at the blank word document and getting distracted (as is evident by my current presence on CC). I feel like there is so much I want to say…but idk how to say it…</p>
<p>Thank you! I appreciate it!</p>
<p>So when I was writing my UChicago essay (still my hardest essay out of all apps, although Tufts comes close and UPenn’s was a bit tricky), it was about three hours before the deadline and I still had another supplement to tweak on top of that. I threw out three separate, complete Where’s Waldo? essays, started with a clean slate, and wrote my best one in an hour and a half, using a different prompt. I believe that inspiration isn’t going to be with you at all times; sometimes it’s okay to write later, rather than now. A lot of parents will probably read this and groan but, eh. </p>
<p>Also, you’re pretty lucky to have so much to say. Better than struggling to find the thoughts, right? Although putting it into words can be lame.</p>
<p>I see this year’s essay prompts are
- An essay about your interests and rankings of your research area choices in 1,800 characters or less; and
An essay of 2,500-3,000 characters answering: What are your career interests or goals and how do think The Jackson Laboratory’s Summer Student Program fits into your future plans? *</p>
<p>What I’d suggest more than anything is not to worry if you feel like your reasoning isn’t “good enough.” I remember when I was explaining why neuroscience was my top choice/interest, I was honest about how I barely knew a thing about it (as I had no previous research experience), but how I thought it was beautiful (it was eloquent, trust me). They understand that some of you are coming out of a high school biology course and may not have a deep understanding of something. If you have had a meaningful in-class (or even outside of the classroom) experience, share it. </p>
<p>For the second prompt, you are probably more likely to be accepted if you have some clue of to what you want to do in life. I’m not saying you have to know exactly what career you are pursuing. In fact, on this section (which was much shorter last year), I talked about how I was trying to see if I wanted to pursue a PhD in research or an M.D. If you have a feeling about something, say it. Just don’t be the kid who has no clue what he wants to major in and could major in classical studies as an undergrad and then pursue journalism, and is just looking for something to do for the summer. Have passion in science. Don’t forget to give a little background on what made you interested in science or compsci or research/premed. I’ve found that anecdotes (don’t make the essay into your life story; still address ALL of the prompt) are good. Example: “I want to become a doctor because when I was five, my [relative] died of [disease] and it changed the way I ect. ect.” Also, I’d avoid saying “I want to do this program because it will help me explore my interests in [subject]” unless you can really elaborate well on that. They know it will help. Try not to tell them what they already know.</p>
<p>And lastly, as a disclaimer, these are just my suggestions. I have no clue what the other past JAX kids wrote in their essays, but obviously what they did worked. Some could’ve been really creative (my friend’s Brown PLME essay was just wonderful and completely based on past experiences), and some could’ve been very structued. I have a feeling some of the kids there wrote more “beautiful” or “out-of-the-box” essays, and I have a feeling that a lot of kids did not. I personally kept mine more revolving around what I’ve been through, what my interests are, and what I think.</p>
<p>Goodluck!</p>
<p>Thanks, tawarren95! That was really helpful; I feel a lot more confident in writing the essays now.</p>
<p>Also, congrats on Chicago!</p>
<p>Thanks so much and glad I am of help!</p>
<p>@tawarren95, Do you happen to know how strict they are about the character limit for the essays? I’m at like 3770 right now, which I definitely plan on reducing. I was just wondering if you, or anyone for that matter, happen to know how strict the 2500-3000 character limit is before I pull my hair out trying to delete parts and reword it to character-count perfection. If you don’t, that’s fine. I’ll probably just play it safe anyway.</p>
<p>tawarren95, thank you so much for all your info about JAX! </p>
<p>do you know if any participants were able to take their findings from the program to competitions like Siemens or Intel?</p>
<p>I don’t know anyone who has, but it definitely is possible. The only problem is that because you’re doing full-blown, important, meaningful research for only three months, you might not get conclusive results or reach a good endpoint to create a submission for Siemens. You’ll still have a final research paper (no matter what; you have to write a full-blown, 10+ page paper or you don’t get paid), but you might or might not be able to submit it, if that makes sense. I thought about Intel but I didn’t feel it was worth it because my research needed to be continued and I ran out of time. It’s tough, real research; please remember that. This isn’t a bad place to go for competitions though.</p>
<p>For those types of competitions, what I’ve seen usually is that the winners did research under a professor at a university or other institution of learning, and usually during a school year period. Just what I’ve personally noticed.</p>
<p>@tawarren95, I’m just curious (this will not be an actual problem unless I get in), how much of school did you miss for the program, given the January 8 start date, and how did that fly with your principal, teachers, etc.</p>
<p>Of course, this depends on everyone’s last day of school, but I missed the very last week of school (which was four days long, so therefore I missed four days). My teachers were definitely proud of me and cared not at all that I was missing exams because I was exempt from all of them. However, school policy is that if you do not show up for school on exam days, you lose all exemptions (this is mainly to keep kids from skipping the last two days of school).
I go to a huge public school and so I (as are most kids) was not very close to or familiar with my principal at all. I approached my bio teacher (who is extremely wonderful and wrote my rec letter for JAX and was so excited I got in) about the situation and he was kind enough to talk to the principal about it. I got special permission to not lose my exemptions while being absent and it all worked out. </p>
<p>Of course, I’m lucky enough to have a school that offers exemptions (exemptions that are really easy to qualify for, too) so it depends on school policy for each individual, too.</p>
<p>Start date is June 8th, by the way, but I figure that was just a typo.</p>
<p>^Lol, yeah June 8, not January 8.</p>
<p>The problem for me would be that my school year ends June 27th, so I would be missing 20 or so days of school. But I’ll just not think about it too much unless there is the slim chance that I am actually accepted, lol.</p>
<p>Oh wow, that’s so late! But yeah, the best thing to do is get accepted first and not say anything right now about possible problems you might have. Play it cool indeed. Goodluck!</p>