Need advice for COSMOS/Cornell Summer College

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
1

<p>Hi! I'm applying for COSMOS this summer but I can't decide which campus/cluster to apply for! Here's what I'm considering at the moment:
UCD - 1) Biomedical Science 2) Chemistry of Life
UCSC - Marine Mammals and Oceanography, An Ocean of Data: Marine Science and Statistics, and Everyday Chemistry: From Perfumes to Pollution
Not sure about UCI and UCSD</p>

<p>I really really want to do Biomedical Science, but I know the competition is pretty intense and my stats most likely are not good enough. I don't know if I should apply to UCD just for the heck of it (if I don't make it, then over the summer I'm taking Spanish 1/2 and Psych at a community college and volunteering) or should apply for a less competitive campus/cluster.</p>

<p>Also next year (after junior year) I might want to apply for the VetMed programs at Cornell Summer College. How competitive is it? Is it worth the 9.5k or so?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Also here are my stats:</p>

<ul>
<li>4.0 GPA weighted and unweighted (not allowed to take AP as a soph unless it’s language, art or music -____-)</li>
<li>pretty good teacher recs (I’m hoping)</li>
<li>STAR: 455 ELA, 524 Geometry, 529 Bio</li>
<li>Extracurriculars: no academic-related activities really… could I put any of these for my extracurriculars?:
Took Marine Biology at ATDP two summers ago;
Took Chemistry at ATDP last summer;
Chinese School for 11 years;
Member of American Cancer Society school club;
Member of Medcorps school club - provides opportunities for students to explore med field;
Volunteering at local hospital, Stanford’s Asian Liver Center, and some other places;
Part of local hospital’s medical explorer program - job shadows, attend lectures and hospital tours;
Participated in local Wondercup Challenge (1 yr and prepped like 3 hours for a week);
Piano for 7 years;
Choir for 7 years;
JV Girls Cross Country and Track (2 seasons each)</li>
</ul>

3

<p>BUMP!
I wonder how much COSMOS actually affects how colleges view you…</p>

4

<p>Here’s my take on spending $10k for a summer program, regardless of where it is:</p>

<p>1) Spending $10k isn’t going to make or break your career or college goals, assuming you do something else worthwhile (and less costly). You and your parents have many upon many thousands of dollars in college bills coming your way if you want to be a doctor so spend the money in the places it’s going to do the most good.</p>

<p>2) Your GPA, class rank and SAT/ACT’s will do most of your talking for you when you apply to colleges (about 75-80% of the talking). So if you are going to spend some money, spend some improving those areas AND/OR on a lower priced enrichment program to help you figure out or solidify your career goals. </p>

<p>3) Did you take your PSAT as a soph? What were those scores? You’ve got some interesting things going well (volunteerism, good grades so far, etc…) but really keep the focus on your grades and SAT/ACT’s in your junior year. Next year will be the most important (so far) of your academic life. </p>

<p>Being from AZ, I don’t know the specifics about COSMOS but I’ve glanced at it and heard some good things from others around here. If it can help you improve your fundementals then go for it. You might also want to look for some high school internships too. For example, I know of one in Phoenix at T-Gen that is for AZ students (16+ years). It has 8 weeks of biomedical research that would look great next to your hospital volunteer work. Look for stuff like that too. I’m not sure exactly in California you live or if you have family near these other places (because they are probably commuter programs) but here are a few examples to check out:</p>

<p>[Cystic</a> Fibrosis Summer Research Award](<a href=“http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=17568]Cystic”>http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=17568)</p>

<p>[City</a> of Hope Summer Student Academy](<a href=“http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=17502]City”>http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=17502)</p>

<p>[JCVI</a> Internship Program](<a href=“http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=12996]JCVI”>http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=12996)</p>

<p>[JCVI</a> Internship Program](<a href=“http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=12996]JCVI”>http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=12996)</p>

<p>[LBNL</a> High School Summer Research Participation Program (HSSRPP)](<a href=“http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=16100]LBNL”>http://www.cogito.org/Programs/ProgramsDetail.aspx?ContentID=16100)</p>

<p>There’s many more opportunities but you’ll have to find them and check them out. Please understand everything I said is just one person’s unprofessional opinion. Heck, finding a good college consultant might be worth spending $5k on also; they might be able to provide some great value too. Good luck!!</p>

5

<p>@CatnPhx: Thanks so much for your reply! You’re right, 10k is a lot to spend on a summer program that might not even help too much, and I could definitely spend 2k or so on an SAT Prep class.</p>

<p>Yes, I took the PSAT and got a 215.</p>

<p>I’ll definitely check out those programs! I think there are quite a few internships around my area but most are for juniors or seniors. I’ll try to find some that I can do as a sophomore… I’ve heard of UC Davis’s YSP program, but I heard it’s really hard to get into.</p>

<p>I’d like to apply for several summer programs and see which ones I get into, but I’m really limited because my chem teacher will only write ONE recommendation for each student, each year. So it’s either going to be a very general letter of rec - like “This student has good grades”, or it’s going to be a specific letter sent to several programs which may not be completely similar - “This student is good at chemistry” to a biomedical program. Ack.</p>

6

<p>I saw some stats on the number of 1st choice applicants for each of the COSMOS clusters in 2009. (I think Biomed science at Davis was almost 400 people…)
Does anyone know if there are stats for last year (2010)? Or how competitive the Irvine Biomed Science cluster is? There were over 100 applicants last year but I was wondering if it was also as many as Davis’ biomed.</p>

7

<p>Don’t be affraid of the competition … it will make it that much sweeter when you get accepted to some of these programs. Gotta play to win!!</p>

<p>Your PSAT scores look pretty good so you probably don’t need an SAT prep class assuming you can study the books over the summer and take a lot of practice tests. You should be able to raise it with practice … save the $2k for something later. </p>

<p>Take a look at this 5 week Georgetown program on “Intro to Biomedicine” for about $5,500 plus airfare. It looks like a cool program that also earns 3 credits at Georgetown Univ. </p>

<p>[Summer</a> Programs for High School Students - Fundamentals of Science: Introduction to Bio-Medicine | Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies](<a href=“http://scs.georgetown.edu/programs/305/fundamentals-of-science--introduction-to-bio-medicine?sphs=true]Summer”>http://scs.georgetown.edu/programs/305/fundamentals-of-science--introduction-to-bio-medicine?sphs=true)</p>

<p>Anyway, good luck!!</p>

8

<p>Thanks! I’ll try my best.</p>

<p>I think the 2k SAT prep class actually consists mostly of practice tests (one every day) and memorizing a lot of vocabulary… I should probably study the SAT books anyway. Probably Barron’s or Princeton Review…?</p>

<p>Hmm, I haven’t heard of that program before, but it definitely looks interesting. Thanks for telling me about it!</p>

9

<p>I may be biased, considering that I am totally intrigued by the Cornell Summer College program. From what I’ve heard, it’s not very competitive (about 1200-1400 applicants, about 1000 get in, about 800 attend) and it’s very much worth the money. I’m personally hoping to go into the College Success program, but I highly suggest searching through more pages on this site to get a better understanding from kids (and their parents!) who have attended the program. I think it’s going to be different for everyone, but the majority of people tend to love the program. Based on your credentials, I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t get in, but keep in mind that I’m a fellow high school student (senior) and I don’t really have a say in your acceptance. ;)</p>

10

<p>My friend attended the COSMOS Biomed @ UCD and she said it was a great experience. The competition isn’t that much of a problem as long as you make yourself stand out.</p>

<p>I also have the same problem as you do haha, I already applied for COSMOS engineering @ UCD and I already got accepted to the Cornell summer engineering program. I really don’t know if the 9K is worth spending, although I’ve read a lot of threads on here that say the money is actually worth spending…</p>