<p>i received mine yesterday! so excited :)</p>
<p>When is your interview?</p>
<p>my interview is on the 26th too! is it one group/interview per day or will there be multiple groups going on simultaneously?</p>
<p>I received my semi-finalist letter today! I think everyone’s interviews are held on the 26th… There are just gonna be many different interviews going on. I’m so excited! Hope to see you all there :)</p>
<p>I think they are conducting interviews on the 22, 25, and 26th. My daughter just got notified, she will be at one of those interviews. Congratulations to all.</p>
<p>I’m on the 25th actually.</p>
<p>Oh sorry, I guess I was misinformed by a fellow classmate who was also accepted… 
But either way, this is so exciting!</p>
<p>I hate to ruin the wonderful mood here, but I feel like I should say this:</p>
<p>I was rejected, rather surprised, and somewhat thrown.
I feel awfully embarrassed, especially because I started this thread and because others at my school have such high expectations of me (another nominee who got in asked if I received my acceptance letter).</p>
<p>At the same time, it wasn’t entirely out-of-the-blue. The day I handed my application in, I thought, those essays are kind of crappy. I definitely struggled with the prompts, since I’m rule-follower and was obsessed with the word-count and with covering every aspect of each question. In the end, the essays did not adequately convey who I was.</p>
<p>I was definitely excited for this program, but the long wait between application due dates and semifinalist letters has made the news less painful. For the most part, I’ve let the excitement subside, and I’ve considered many other options for my summer.</p>
<p>Now that I got that off my chest, I can feel much better 
I hope this post will be helpful to future applicants, and I wish you all luck at your interviews!</p>
<p>^^^Sorry to hear that. As college application is coming up, if you feel you could have done better with your essays, I would encourage you to show your essays to your english teacher or an adult who writes well to give you some pointers.</p>
<p>Thank-you for starting this thread. If it weren’t for this thread, I wouldn’t have known about this program and my daughter wouldn’t have had an opportunity to apply.</p>
<p>I don’t really think they were that strict with the word count because all of my essays were way over. They all fit into one page but i had to adjust the margins. I think if you represented yourself well then they chose you.</p>
<p>I agree completely. My counselor told me they were somewhat strict with the word count, so i was more conscious of that than i was about making the essays representative of me. By the time i realized the word count isn’t a big deal, it was too late.</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear that littlepenguin :(</p>
<p>I’m sorry littlepenguin :(. I’m glad you’ve already started getting excited about other summer options, I hope you have a great summer.</p>
<p>My interview was supposed to be on the 25th but I had to change it because I’m going to be in Washington DC that weekend, so now my interview is at night on the 21st.</p>
<p>This is kinda late: interview on the 25th! :)</p>
<p>So… What do we talk about?
I’ve read last year’s thread, but I think this year’s groups are smaller (~6 people/group), so the group dynamic should be different.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’m super excited! :D</p>
<p>I’m pretty excited too. i heard the school campus is amazing… but i have no idea what we talk about.</p>
<p>According to my friend who did the program last year, they put you in a room together, a facilitator throws out a broad question, and then says, “Now discuss for an hour and a half.” It sounds fun! I think they’re just looking to see who can move a discussion forward, since that’s what the program entails.
169 people were asked back for an interview.</p>
<p>for those of you who have interviews on the 26th, when do the tours and the interviews begin? I think I lost the sheet haha</p>
<p>Just got home from my interview and tour! The program seems incredible and the interview was very relaxed and informal, kind of fun actually. I’m hope that I made a good impression, and I hope all goes well. The program is honestly just amazing.
Good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>Does anyone know how we’re supposed to dress? Like professional, business-casual, or casual?</p>
<p>Interviewed today. (o:</p>
<p>The campus was amazing! Ice rink + music hall + such expen$ive buildings <3</p>
<p>The discussion: less intense/passionate than I’d hoped, but time still flied by.
Surprisingly, the “interviewers” don’t actually partake in the convo, but they [teacher + 1 former NJSPer] set guidelines and re-focus the topic when necessary.</p>
<p>@Boomroasted - Definitely dress formal for success.</p>