Official SIMR 2014 Thread

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
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<p>Hi CC,</p>

<p>I am an applicant for SIMR 2014. </p>

<p>This thread is for applicants, alumni, or others to work collaboratively to make the application process less daunting.</p>

<p>The website ( Program Description - Stanford Institutes of Medicine Summer Research Program (SIMR) - Stanford University School of Medicine ) states: </p>

<p>"The program is an eight-week program in which high school students from diverse backgrounds are invited to perform basic research with Stanford faculty, postdoctoral fellows, students and researchers on a medically-oriented project. The goals of the program include increasing interest in biological sciences and medicine in high school students, helping students to understand how scientific research is performed, and increasing diversity of students and researchers in the sciences."</p>

<p>Here is what MBb8T5 said on the SIMR 2013 thread:</p>

<p>"Admissions:
SIMR is extremely competitive: this last year they took ~60/1200 applicants, a 5% acceptance rate (lower than any undergraduate college). Most people there have good stats; a good portion have previous research experience; some are extreme overachievers.
Most SIMR students were more good-all-around students, you don’t need a nobel prize to get in. However, you do need a compelling application. This is not all stats--your essays are extremely important!-- and they encourage diversity, so if your essays show you have a burning passion to do research/unusual life circumstances/compelling reason why you want to study medicine/your essays are just amazing and makes the director really like you for whatever reason, you don’t need a 2400 SAT or whatever to be admitted. If you’re URM/underprivileged that is a definite plus. (However, note that a large majority are not URMs or underprivileged, most are asian/indian with well educated parents, you don’t have to be ‘diverse’ in a traditional sense to get in. If you are stuck on the diversity essay, try writing to the prompt ‘what makes me unique/special’.)</p>

<p>Most SIMR participants go on to top schools (#1 destination Stanford, #2 Harvard). A few get author on papers if they are lucky and have gotten a lot done; some do very well in science fairs. Bioinformatics/computer projects tend to get results more quickly (good for science fairs), but the results you get varies widely based on your project (research involves luck), so sign up for whatever you’re interested in. (If you hate programming, you don’t sign up for bioinformatics).</p>

<p>One note about the social atmosphere: you have to take the initiative to get to know people. If you do so, it will make your summer a lot more fun! People are scattered across the med center, and there is no central meeting time/place for lunch. Some people basically go to lab, eat in lab, leave lab, rinse and repeat. However, if you attend the optional weekly social events, and you make an effort to meet other interns during lunch and get to know them, then you will make a close group of friends and have a great time. Most of the interns are pretty cool, socially competent, incredibly talented, and fun to be around (assuming you like being around smart, motivated people)-- take the time to get to know them!</p>

<p>Notes on demographics (these are rough & from my impression/memory):
I would guess ~15/60 were minorities in 2012; most of the rest were asian (including the subcontinental variety, which some prefer to distinguish as indian).
Gender ratio was pretty balanced.
Most interns were juniors/rising seniors (say 75%?) while only ~?25% were to-be-college-freshmen.
Most interns received $500 stipends.
Most were from the bay area (well over half, maybe >75%).
Note if you need to get housing: it is expensive! If you’re 18 you can apply to live on campus which costs $2500-$3000 for the summer, off campus is similar."</p>

<p>The program looks amazing so I hope we all are accepted. Let's make it happen.</p>

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<p>Hello!!! I am new in here. I am currently a junior in Socal.I really wanted to apply to SIMR since I was a freshman in HS. To prepare for this, I went to Stanford Explore : A lecture series in Biomedical research ( Conducted by the same Stanford Institute of Medicine for 3 wks, 3 hrs/day, 5 days/wk ) in the summer after my freshman yr . But after that I haven’t have any lab nor paper research experiences. Assume that everything else were good on paper ( grades, and EC ), by attended the Stanford lecture series in Biomedical research would have tip the scale a little bit in the eyes of the program’s Adcom ? </p>

<p>jrnguyen is online now</p>

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<p>Bump 10char</p>

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<p>Is SIMR only available for highschoolers in California/bay area? basically, do they accept applicants from other states because it states on the website that there is no housing.</p>

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<p>Bump BumpBump</p>

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<p>@thenarwhalking: I didn’t do SIMR myself, but I hung out with a lot of people who did while I was interning at Stanford. There were some people who did not live in the area. What they did was find their own apartment/living space nearby (apparently grad students tend to rent out space during the summer).</p>

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<p>@Mikaaa Do you know if SIMR covers the housing cost? I doubt it…</p>

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<p>The SIMR 2014 application will be available in mid-December.</p>

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<p>Are there not as many people from out of the area because of housing? Do the coordinators regard people’s applications from in and out of area equally?</p>

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<p>Hi All!
I am a Massachusetts native but I have lots of family in the Bay Area- luckily just a town over from Stanford. So housing is not a problem. Here are my stats- is it worth it to apply?
note: I go to an extremely competitive public high school (one of the top feeder schools for Harvard)
I have taken AP bio as a sophomore and I am currently enrolled in AP chem
I got a B in bio and I have an A- average this year in Chem
I have a 3.57 unweighted and a 3.78 weighted GPA
4 on the Bio AP, haven’t taken the Chem AP yet
670 Bio Molecular SAT; 1970 SATs
I am captain of my a science team (we are ranked second in the US currently)
I am a varsity athlete (every year in high school)
I have awards in Italian studies from my school and the Italian government (for a national exam- placed 14th in the US)
I currently work at a Nonprofit Consulting Company- I do marketing
I manage a blog for a Consultant and do Social Media
I am lifeguard certified and I have worked as one for a year
I am a member of NHS (national honors society)
I am a peer tutor at my high school</p>

<p>Thanks for reading! I would love feedback on what you think!</p>

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<p>Hi guys, I received a 2040 on my SAT this December, and I am wondering if I should just not report any standardized testing scores. Should I report my score or should I hide it?</p>

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<p>@hitgirl did you take the PSAT? If you scored 220+ on the test I would think that looks better.
However, I am just a lowly applicant. Any alumni care to jump in and describe the test scores previous participants were admitted with?</p>

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<p>I am aspired to apply for the SIMR, too. I think one of my biggest disadvantage is that I live in the Midwest and my only connection to the Bay Area is my roommate who I roomed with for 8 weeks in the past summer.</p>

<p>I have stellar scores and everything, (I don’t feel quite comfortable posting it here, but I don’t think my grades can be adverse to me in anyway) and I have research experience and the scientific interest and extracurriculars to go with it. </p>

<p>I am just quite concerned by the randomness of the admission plus the fact that I’m not from CA… Anyone wants to shed light on this?
(And I’ve also not taken the SATs, I hope that this wouldn’t be a problem. I’m putting it off because I want to just take it once and not use Score Choice while I send them off to the colleges I want to apply.)</p>

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<p>Sigh, I barely started the application and it’s already going south for me. Does anyone else have an “Awards/Recognitions” section woefully empty like mine? How much would that hurt my chances? I got a couple of awards for piano but those were in middle school. </p>

<p>If they expect you to actually have 5 things for work experiences and awards/recognitions each then I might as well just quit now.</p>

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<p>@cthulukiller01 UGGH I SO know what you mean about that…i mean, i literally have NOTHING for awards/recognitions…does honor roll at my school count? also, for anyone who is an alumn from the program, do you think I stand a good chance as an applicant from NJ? I mean, housing wouldn’t be a problem - I have tons of family in the bay area. Also, would a 2230 on the SAT look good enough? Or should I just go with only including my PSAT scores (235)?</p>

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<p>@singingeveryday porque no las dos? I don’t think they would look down upon u if u put either. Wow 2230. I had a heart attack with my 2160 :3</p>

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<p>I’m from the midwest and applying for SIMR this year. I attended the other internship at Stanford last year, but that’s about it for any unique stats that I have, still crossing fingers for SIMR though. The acceptance rate is quite scary, and I heard the essays are pretty important (and I’m not that great at making myself sound cool…)
For housing~ I’m not for certain yet but I do have a fair number of family friends over there, so on the off chance that I get in, that’s where I’m going :)</p>

<p>Oh, and I’m kind of concerned about submitting my test scores… do you guys know if there is any way I can omit one of my subject test scores when I submit them? I did a stupid thing and took US History before I finished the course “just to try it” and I didn’t do too well, lol.</p>

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<p>@Nobody426 </p>

<p>I’m from the midwest too. From what I have seen they do prefer Bay Area applicants, but that could also be because the pool of applicants is mainly from the Bay Area as well.
In terms of SAT, I don’t think that it is a big deal especially if you have great credentials for everything else, but if you do have a PSAT score, that would probably be a good idea to submit.</p>

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<p>I did SIMR last summer (2013) and I hadn’t even taken an SAT/ACT yet at the time I applied; I sent in my PSAT score though. If anyone has any questions I’d be happy to answer them! </p>

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<p>@PaintTheTears, How did u handle your living situation? Do you already live near the area?</p>