<p>same, semifinalist here, whaddup!</p>
<p>lol the problem with my project is that it has really broad applicability but i’m pretty sure only a human-behavioral/cognitive science judge would appreciate the full scientific merits of it. and i’m doubtful that there’ll be one of those in the 11 next-round judges</p>
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<p>Don’t worry too much about whether or not the judges appreciate the scientific merits of your project for Intel/STS. They’ve already “appreciated” it enough for you to make semi-finalist status.</p>
<p>Remember all of those essays you had to write and the transcripts, recs and test scores? Once you’ve made semifinalist, next round depends on that stuff, as much, if not more, than the project. Finalist interviews and evaluation in Wash will have a little to do with your project, but will be mostly about your science talent potential.</p>
<p>If we make finals, do we present to the judges? Or is it just during the questioning?
Did they look at the essays and recs at all for semis? Like what percentage would you think each part (app vs. project) mattered?</p>
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<p>Thanks, that makes sense. Are you an STS alumnus?</p>
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<p>This is a good blog about the process: [Science</a> Buddies: Yihe Dong’s Intel Science Talent Search Blog](<a href=“http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/blog_yihe_dong_sts2008.shtml]Science”>http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/blog_yihe_dong_sts2008.shtml)</p>
<p>It looks like the interviews are both on general science/social issue questions with some concentration on your project, but you also present to judges on a separate day.</p>
<p>@2boysima I’ve heard and seen the opposite, i.e. going from semifinalist => finalist is mostly your paper. Judging the semifinalists by their GPA/SAT/essays/etc. doesn’t really make sense – after all, it is a <em>research</em> competition, so the emphasis would be on your research.</p>
<p>From my experience – going from semi’s to finals is mostly about luck. Last year I had an opportunity last year to talk to several readers, (the first set of judges that score your papers). These individuals are typically experienced professionals within your project disciple who are volunteering their time. I believe they do receive a copy of your full application therefore; they may, and probably do, take into account your additional essays, GPA & test scores. I was told by several readers that they take a hard look at your recommendations. However, since they are experts in your project discipline, I suspect that they take a harder look at your project itself in their scoring process. </p>
<p>As for moving from semi’s to finals – this smaller set of judges is, I believe, a paid group of individuals (I’m not 100% sure about that). They also have your whole application packet and most likely look at your whole “picture.” They are looking for the top forty who, at this one moment in time, exhibit the most potential as scientists. The one thing that I recall being stressed, and I believe its 100% true, is that anyone who got as far as the semi’s – deserves as shot at the finals. Unfortunately, they just can’t take everyone. </p>
<p>As for the finals - my experience was that its all about your problem solving ability- however a truly outstanding project (a star in a universe of stars) can catapult you into the top 10. You can get an idea about the relative weight they apportion to your project vs. your scientific ability by looking at the daily schedule during the finals judging:
Day 1 (evening only): Orientation & Media Training;
Day 2 & 3: Non-project based Judging Interviews 9-12; and 1-5, (Well, the second day is a little shorter so you can set up your research project for the next day); Also – you are not in the interview for the full morning or afternoon – you are allotted short time slots during that period for your individual interview. There is a lot of waiting.
Day 4: Morning: Presentation for projects for STS Judges;
Day 4: Afternoon: Public exhibition of projects;
Day 5: Touring & Radio Interviews
Day 6: Capitol Hill visits and Awards Ceremony. </p>
<p>I had no direct questions about my project during the interview portion, but was asked questions indirectly related to the projects of several of the other 40 finalists and they also had questions that related to, but were not directly on point, with my project. </p>
<p>As for preparing for the final competition – I don’t think there is any way to do it. I know some people study AP material, other read text books. But the thing is - I didn’t think the competition was about what you know or have memorized. I believe they care about your thought process. If you easily know the answer to their questions – they will keep pushing you until you move beyond the scope of your knowledge. In other words – you cannot memorize your way into success. My preparation consisted of working my way through the problem solving portions of a syllabus for a Columbia University class called Frontiers of Science that was, or used to be, available on line. I don’t know that it helped directly but it was interesting and did get me used to thinking through new different concepts out loud.</p>
<p>Finally, if you do get to the finals-Congrats!!! It will be one of the highlights of your life</p>
<p>@Ranch42 Thank you so much!!</p>
<p>Can anyone who gets a call informing them of their finalist status post here so we know approximately when the calls are made? </p>
<p>Apparently finalists are called before they are publicly announced on the 25th. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>calls are made after your school time, approximately. expect between 4-6 pm local time on 24th.</p>
<p>4-6pm makes sense</p>
<p>Good luck everyone! :)</p>
<p>Looks like we’ll all be jumping at any phone call from 4-6 on Tuesday 
good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>Does anyone have any predictions for which 40 will become Finalists? I’m finalizing my predictions now!</p>
<p>here are my predictions! i only feel confident in about half this list, and know that i am overestimating some states (CA) while underestimating others (NJ, NY), but this is the best i’ve got! i’m anxious to see how my predictions fare, and to see which CCer can correctly predict the greatest % of intel sts finalists! share your predix!</p>
<p>2012 INTEL STS FINALIST PREDICTIONS</p>
<p>ALABAMA
Rakesh Goli</p>
<p>CALIFORNIA
Lucy Cheng
Abrar Choudhury
Ryan Chow
Cynthia Day
Michelle Deng
Revanth Kosaraju
Ashish Nag
Shubha Raghvendra
Ramya Rangan
Saurabh Sharan
Eric Shen
James Thomas
Jean Wang
Albert Wu
Alissa Zhang</p>
<p>FLORIDA
Ellora Sarkar</p>
<p>GEORGIA
Sitan Chen</p>
<p>ILLINOIS
Cassidy Yang</p>
<p>INDIANA
Anirudh Prabhu
Ray Qian</p>
<p>MINNESOTA
Duligur Ibeling</p>
<p>NEW HAMPSHIRE
Anupa Murali</p>
<p>NEW JERSEY
Tara Raj</p>
<p>NEW YORK
Juliana Coraor
Samantha Garvey
Brian Kim
Kunal Sangani
Anna Sato</p>
<p>NORTH CAROLINA
Ivan Kuznetsov</p>
<p>OHIO
Michael Yan</p>
<p>OREGON
Ayush Gupta</p>
<p>PENNSYLVANIA
Michael Chen
Zachary Schiffer</p>
<p>RHODE ISLAND
Daniel Ling</p>
<p>TEXAS
Favyen Bastani
Amy Chyao
Mai-Anh Vu
Benjamin Wang</p>
<p>VIRGINIA
Yuqing Zhang</p>
<p>Made some last minute edits to my predictions! My CA predictions needed some truncating. Here are my final predix!</p>
<p>2012 INTEL STS FINALIST PREDICTIONS</p>
<p>ALABAMA
Rakesh Goli</p>
<p>CALIFORNIA
Lucy Cheng<br>
Cynthia Day
Revanth Kosaraju<br>
Eric Shen<br>
James Thomas<br>
Albert Wu </p>
<p>COLORADO
Kelli Lynch </p>
<p>FLORIDA
Anthony Grebe<br>
Neel Patel
Ellora Sarkar </p>
<p>GEORGIA
Sitan Chen<br>
Eric Lau </p>
<p>ILLINOIS
Adam Kalinich </p>
<p>INDIANA
Anirudh Prabhu </p>
<p>MASSACHUSETTS
He Xiaoyu </p>
<p>MICHIGAN
Siddhartha Jena
David Lu<br>
Nithin Tumma </p>
<p>NEW HAMPSHIRE
Anupa Murali </p>
<p>NEW JERSEY
Arka Adhikari </p>
<p>NEW MEXICO
Nikita Bogdanov </p>
<p>NEW YORK
Samantha Garvey
Brian Kim<br>
Robert Kim<br>
Eric Mannes
Garima Yadav </p>
<p>NORTH CAROLINA
Thomas Lu </p>
<p>OHIO
Manjari Randeria<br>
Michael Yan </p>
<p>PENNSYLVANIA
Marian Bechtel<br>
Matthew Rauen<br>
Anderson Wang </p>
<p>RHODE ISLAND
Daniel Ling </p>
<p>TEXAS
Favyen Bastani<br>
Adam Su
Mai-Anh Vu<br>
Benjamin Wang </p>
<p>VIRGINIA
Yuqing Zhang </p>
<p>WISCONSIN
Suman Gunasekaran</p>
<p>Predictions based upon what? How complicated their project title sounds?</p>
<p>This isn’t completely relevant, but I’m bored so here goes:</p>
<p>I was just thinking about how my last county science fair is coming up in a week and a half. Ever. I mean, I’ve been doing science fair since 6th grade, I’ve put in probably 3000 hours total, and I can’t think of a dull moment in there. Science fair’s been such a big part of my life (same probably goes for many others on this thread) - the people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had make absolutely everything worth it.</p>
<p>So here’s to everyone I’ve ever met at ISEF, State, or county. To the people who made a week among nerds one of the best weeks ever. To the friends we’ll never forget, and the science fairs that made it all possible. No matter what happens tonight, much love guys, it’s been a great ride :)</p>
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<p>Ha ha, very funny. Let’s just wait and see what % of Finalists I correctly predicted compared to you. Then we’ll see whose method is better. I dare ya.</p>
<p>Just got the call!! Came at 4:07PM my local time. Ahhh I’m freaking out, sooo excited!!</p>
<p>And I wasn’t one of the predicted. ;)</p>
<p>Nobody from Maryland? Come on, guys.</p>
<p>im on his prediction list but didnt get a call ):</p>