Who else submitted?
My kid did. Results come out on Friday, yes? I wonder how many applicants there were this year. My student worked very very hard but has low expectations since we are in a very competitive area.
Does the area matter? I didn’t know. My kid from the very competitive area too.
Yes, the area matters, because there are only 60 regional semi-finalists chosen from each area. In fact I know one from my area who submitted elsewhere due to this.
Actually I think it is only 50 from each region that are chosen as regional semi-finalists, and from them, 10 from each region (5 individual projects and 5 team projects) as finalists. From them, there are two regional winners (one team, one individual) from each region. So definitely being in a more competitive region makes it much more difficult.
What time is the announcement on Friday?
How do they announce? Emails?
Semifinalists are posted on the Siemens Foundation website at 12:00 PM EST. It says on their facebook page.
Well, let the freakout officially begin.
Can anyone see the list? It was suppose to come out for those who connected on social media, but I do not see anything.
HAha I made it!!
Oh my God we got semifinalists!
I’m sure many other high school seniors feel what I feel right now.
Siemens just trashed my strenuous 3 months of research at RSI like nothing. Didn’t even make Semifinalist, and I spent hundreds of hours writing an 18-page research paper in LaTeX.
I spend my whole summer working several hours a day at a laboratory, pretty much staying late everyday just to get more results. I thought myself to be excited by this, that what research I was doing was something I could pursue in the future. And really, I enjoyed it, because who doesn’t enjoy RSI? And so Siemens isn’t just another thing to put on my college app or for bragging rights or whatever other kids do. It means a lot more to me because it’s my first validation of becoming a research scientist. I thought I wanted to work in academia as a profession, but given how I feel right now (utter crap), I’m only questioning myself now. All that work and all that time spent in firm belief that if I just stayed persistent or tried a different approach, I would find a way. Yet to what result? What validation? Nothing, not even a check from the initial round.Ha, what a funny, misguided conception that was, and how deceived I feel now.
I can’t help but feel incredibly furious and disappointed at not even making Semifinalist. Their initial judging process, or whatever facade they use to disguise biased selection, leaves me feeling nothing but rage. Was doubting it before, but I guess Siemens just seriously discriminates against math and organic chemistry projects…can’t even count how many biology, immunology or some BS-physics projects from RSI buddies I saw on that list…at least I can feel happy for them.
So thanks, Siemens, for basically crushing whatever hopes and dreams many aspiring students have had for a long time. You rock for that…totally.
Congrats to everyone who made Semis though, and have fun with this crapshoot so-called competition…! /endrant
First, congratulations to your getting into RSI.
Regarding Siemens, you knew they had 59 reviewers working for a weekend, 16 hours total, for nearly 1,800 projects. If my calculation is correct, that leaves 30 minutes for each, no matter how many people read your report. Virtually it is just about reading your abstract, and flip through the report.
On top of that, is latex allowed? I remember it specifically instructed that latex can only be used for equations.
I have mentored three bright high school students. One project in Computer Science was, IMHO, outstanding, but it did not make to the semi either. So I guess there are lots of uncertainty …
Hope this helps and good luck to your Intel STS applucation.
Whoa I made it! Was not expecting that at all especially from my state lol
Little bit of a rant, so excuse my harshness.
Frankly, I’m disgusted that you expected to get at AT LEAST semifinalists. You think you’re special in putting work into this? We have all done an amazing feat as high school students for just submitting completed reports. The last thing my friend and I ever expected was to get semifinalists, we were just thankful that we had the privilege to do research at an amazing university and to gain experience working in a lab. We are all exceptional and we all put in hours upon hours of work to get here. Don’t think that you were the only one who tried “really hard”. Maybe you develop some humility out of this experience, at the very least. And in all honesty, if a single failure is enough to make you want to stop doing research, it could be time to look for a new field. Good luck to you.
@MarkinovRules, I totally understand your frustration. But you also need to know all 1781 projects submitted to Siemens from the most brightest students such as you in the nation who have been work very hard. If your goal is only for the award, this kind of attitude will not help you in the future in almost everything in your life. The evaluation of all projects including your is fully blinded and I do not believe your project was treated unfairly. Yours probably is not one of the best 300. I am curious why you are so confidence you must be the best. If you get mad with my words, you will understand what I just said eventually.
People are not trying to be harsh or put you down, even though I have to say your rant comes across as naive at best as to how very difficult the competition is and how talented your competitors are. Don’t shy away from this, internalize it and use it to realize that this is how difficult and competitive research is at the highest levels. Even as a professor, for example, they face rejections for grant applications all the time. If you stay in a research field, it likely isn’t the last time people will criticize your hard work and you won’t get the result you want right away. Just like there are only so many research dollars to go around, there are also only so many winners in a Siemens competition, and you are competing against a peer set in the truest sense of that term.
OMG I made a regional finalist!
How would you know? Those don’t come out until tomorrow.