@jjlundy DS would have bubbled a STEM major for sure – physics or CS. They usually have a topic that blends STEM and humanities. This year it is “Literatures of the Security State: Privacy, Surveillance, and Modern Culture.” The year I applied, I wanted to attend “Human Thought and Artificial Intelligence.”
I don’t recall DS getting recent mail from Stanford Summer Programs, but they’ve sent us several before, so maybe they’ve given up on DS.
@jjlundy I got the email, and I remember bubbling in undecided for my major.
For people who got the email, do you think it is based on your last year PSAT?
We looked at Stanford summer program the same way as @Ynotgo. There are competitive FREE summer programs to apply. DD is applying for Governor school for science, and this.
@Ynotgo , since you had the experience, do you think you have a higher chance because they invited you to apply?
Has anyone that did not take the PSAT last year confirm that this was their first time taking the PSAT and that they received the TASP email?
@SincererLove Their FAQ also said that admissions is not based on scores; it is based on essays and the interview. Based on my 30+ years ago experience, I would believe them on that point. The essays were challenging to write. At least at my interview, they challenged my opinions on some things probably just to see how I would debate when challenged. I don’t recall questions about grades and scores (but it was a long time ago); it was all about the essays.
I got the TASP email but I took the PSAT last year too. (I got a 217 last year.)
I got the TASP email but I also took the PSAT last year (got a 220).
I didn’t receive the Stanford or Brown emails this year, so I guess I’m not in the top whatever percentile. My guess is that TASP is using last year’s data, but we’ll see.
I went to TASP 1975. It was a very interesting and worthwhile program.
So I guess we can come to a consensus that the TASP email was based on last year’s PSAT scores.
As for this year’s scores, I don’t think anyone should be overstressed about it, because there’s no official release yet. Plus, all the emails and mails from top universities are part of a student search program, and I highly doubt the legitimacy of the Stanford guy who said that the mail went to the top 5% of scorers.
So few kids can’t be consensus. I’m not sure why this thread is so critical and disbelieving toward every entity (Stanford personnel, TASP, etc).
I don’t know what the TASP admissions procedure is now,
In my day, there was an interview conducted by two members of Telluride House (undergraduates) who later served as the Factota (counselors) for the summer program. They told me that my essay on Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus made my application stand out. I imagine this is why I got an interview. Then they proceeded to grill me mercilessly. I remember one interviewer told me my interpretation of Cordelia in King Lear was completely wrong-headed and ingenuous.
The course was an 8-week seminar entitled “The Ancient Art of Subversive Writing”. We read large quantities of Greek poetry and drama in translation (Archilochus, Aeschylus, Euripides and Aristophanes, as well as the Aeneid and some Ovid.) One of the professors was trying out his theory that the Aeneid is a subversive criticism of the emperor Augustus, following a long tradition of subversive writing under repressive political regimes. The other professor completely disagreed with this theory. The two professors frequently argued with each other in classical Greek. It was intense, in a very geeky-litcrit sort of way.
@Misty4kiddos We’re not critical towards TASP and Stanford. We’re just pointing out that TASP’s letter may not be based on this year’s results, but last year’s. As for Stanford, no one’s 100% right, and it’s hard to believe that a college already has the scores when CB is still working on their scoring system. I think everyone on this thread has the right to be critical of CB due to them delaying the scoring by almost a month.
@Plotinus So are there multiple different seminars for the TASP?
Selling percentile information to a college for $$$ before even releasing that information to the students is tacky at best. My guess is that CB didn’t do it. What could have happened is that colleges WERE expecting to be able to market to these students by now but because scores aren’t released they need to go off old lists or use other means to reach the same students. We haven’t received ANY info for D3 which would be odd since we were deluged all throughout the fall as a result of her 34 ACT. Not that she should expect mail from Stanford (although as I mentioned earlier D1 received the same information and was NOT in the top 5% of PSAT scores) but she would have gotten something from SOMEBODY by this point (BU and NYU have well known summer programs, for instance). There is nothing special about Stanford when it comes to making money off these programs and I highly doubt CB sold info. just to the tippy top tier :).
I received the TASP email and my score was quite low last year. Either its based on this years scores or it must be sent to everyone. I am not familiar with this, is this considered a prestigious program?
Speaking of e-mails, D3 just got the “Getting Ready for Your PSAT/NMSQT Score” e-mail from College Board.
@FutureMMAChamp Sorry, but my information goes back to 1975. I don’t know how things are now. Back in 1975, there were two seminars for high school juniors at Telluride House at Cornell, one in literature and one in political science. The students from both seminars lived together in Telluride House, separating only for classes. The summer program served as a gateway to Telluride House, a kind of geeky-commune-fraternity for a small group of undergraduates at Cornell. There was also a House for undergraduates at Deep Springs, Colorado, but I don’t remember if there were summer programs for high school juniors at Deep Springs at that time. The story I was told was that founder of the program wanted to produce enlightened scientists and engineers to lead America, but no scientists or engineers were interested in the humanities, so the program devolved into lit-crit and poly-sci. Much to the founder’s dismay, the program was churning out lawyers instead of scientists. If I recall correctly, the cutoff for receiving a TASP application was top 2%. That was 40 years ago. Probably things are different now.
@Mamelot Yea I got the email too.
I received the TASP email and I highly doubt it was based off of last years PSAT because I scored 181. I expect my PSAT score for this year to be much higher (definitely 1400+).
I didn’t get the TASP email. I indicated Medicine, though, as my major both this year and last year. Last year, I got a 205 on the PSAT. But I do think CB has released its scores. Of those who got it, what was your major?