Research Science Institute 2007 Introductions

<p>Welcome to RSI 2007! New Rickoids, introduce yourselves, ask questions, celebrate, and get ready for an AWESOME 6 weeks this summer! CC tradition dictates this introductions format (not really):</p>

<p>Name (optional, the internet is a dangerous place):
State:
Fields of interest:
Research experience:
Test scores:
Awards:
ECs:
Why you think you got in:
Academic and non-academic interests:
Other info (funny joke/political affiliation/goals in life, etc.):</p>

<p>I don't know if I'll be a counselor, as RSI hasn't informed us of their decisions. But I'll probably be in the Boston area for some time, so I look forward to meeting you all! (I'm Corina, '06, btw.) Please ask any and all questions you may have about the program. There are several Rickoids on CC who will be able to help: SpudmanKA, vanilea, logicus, susah, khon, tweetletoot, rahrah, zogoto, etc.</p>

<p>YAY! :D</p>

<p>whoo, just got a number 15 right on AIME without brute forcing!! anyways, I guess i'll start</p>

<p>Name: I'll give my AIM--filletwho.
State: MI
Fields of interest: Graph Theory and Number Theory. I also checked out a cliffnotes book on Topology ("best aid for better grades"), so I guess I should be pretty experienced in that after skimming the book...
Research experience: proved 2 theorems in graph theory. no one really knows why or how they're significant.
Test scores: PSAT 219. Yeah, I was ridiculously angry about that one point. O well, turned out okay in the end.
800 Math II 790 US History
5's on Calc BC, Chem, and US History.
Awards: USAMO, Top 8 National MATHCOUNTS, SW Semifinalist, FPS State Champions/International Qualifiers, random math and science awards
ECs: Math club, physics club, club med, future problem solving, science olympiad, nhs, track, cross country
Why you think you got in: Definitely NOT my essays. Riddled with ambiguous modifiers, wordiness, etc.
Academic and non-academic interests: Math and competition math
Other info (funny joke/political affiliation/goals in life, etc.): uh...I like to play euchre. I also hope at least 3 other ppl at rsi will know how to play because it's really a pain to teach...</p>

<p>AIM: suchenzang
State: TX
Fields of Interest: Combinatorics/Decision Theory - not sure which one I'm doing yet
Research Experience: None - Gah. I'm actually scared about RSI because of this. I'm going to be the only clueless one there. =(
Test Scores: 800 Math 750 Verbal 650 Writing (I guess collegeboard is implying that I am an incompetent writer. Oh well.)
800 Math IIC 790 Physics 800 Chinese Listening and Comprehension (yay for being chinese and given a natural advantage!)
APs: 5's on World History, Calc BC, Physics B, and Stats
Awards: nothing really spectacular. JETS things, UIL State things, and other random ones like WWTBAM. I also won some Academic Decathlon things (I got lucky and somehow became our region winner), violin things, piano things, and latin things.
EC: school musicals, math/sci team, AD, UIL
Why you think you got in: I really have no idea. Maybe my two summers at Mathcamp helped a little, though I'm not sure how considering that I spent most of my time sleeping and playing cards (oops). Regarding my actual application, I think my response to the first "essay" question was a little too brutally honest and that might?ve either helped or hurt me. I was willing to take the chance, as I didn?t think I would get in anyways, and I guess it didn?t kill me.
Academic and non-academic interests: piano. I?m not that great, but I love it nevertheless. Oh, and there?s always sleeping and eating. You can?t not be interested in that.
Other: To filletwho, I think my friend at MC taught me Euchre, and we ended up playing a few rounds. I don?t think her version is the same as yours, because I remember the game to be pretty simple to understand and play. Do you by any chance know 40 points or Finding Friends?
Any other info: just IM me.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, is there any chance that a letter saying that you got into RSI was fake? I still can't believe I got in, and I really can't come up with any reason for RSI to accept me aside from possibly (a very big possibly at that) the fact that I am nerdy and I like math, even though I don't know much math. Please don't hurt me for asking this question... I'm really still sitting here in a pool of disbelief. Yes, even after three days.</p>

<p>congrats you two!
i will be applying next year ~</p>

<p>hahaha. suchenzang: there is no way that your letter is a fake. cee wouldn't joke with you like that.</p>

<p>Name (optional, the internet is a dangerous place): True, true. I once got my name stolen on the web when I wasn't looking.</p>

<p>State: New Jersey</p>

<p>Fields of interest: Engineering, Computational Mechanics</p>

<p>Research experience: Once upon a time, my Chewy granola bars were confiscated from me because they were found to contain partially hydrogenated oils (carriers of these awful things called trans fats). Slightly dismayed, I then called up a food scientist at Rutgers to see if she can help me. Soon enough, I was working under her guidance for the next few months studying alternatives to formulating and packaging granola bars that would maintain a long shelf-life without the incorporation of trans fats.</p>

<p>Test scores: Abysmal.</p>

<p>Awards: Not too many widely known ones. A few awards at regional science fairs, music competitions, web design competitions. I didn't actually list them all on the application though.</p>

<p>ECs: Oh the usual activities an adolescent Asian male would pursue - orchestra (oboe), art, science bowls, etc. (no racket sports, unfortunately...or track.) I did talk about forming a barbershop quartet whose repertoire included original songs about quantum physics</p>

<p>Why you think you got in: Not sure exactly, but I thoroughly discussed this one research idea I had. Okay, so oven is to microwave oven as refrigerator is to what? I know most of you are envisioning this really fast cooling refrigerator - and that's exactly what I wrote about. Basically I've already mathematically modeled a prototype thermoacoustic refrigerator design that was optimized for fast-cooling performance. (The neat thing about thermoacoustics devices is that they're inexpensively built and environmentally friendly - no ozone-depleting gases involved here; just helium and maybe xenon.) However the optimization technique I had used neglected certain second-order factors along the way (e.g. turbulence) and didn't take into account every value of every variable. So I want to research the application of this one technique called Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (which is largely used in the aerospace engineering industry) to maximizing my refrigerator's cooling power while minimizing cost, based on defined design variables and constraints.</p>

<p>Academic and non-academic interests: I like research. I like science. I like institutes. (It's nice. ha...ha...)</p>

<p>Other info (funny joke/political affiliation/goals in life, etc.): I think that my ultimate goal in life is to one day retire to a macro-sized replica of a Y-chromosome.</p>

<p>well, no counselorship for me this summer. but you guys and girls are gonna be in good hands ;)</p>

<p>corina, do you know who all got the counselorships and other positions for the summer? i'm really interested to know, in case i end up doing some nobodying during one this summer and need a room to bum in. (you know how i'm always using other people's rooms.... ;-) )</p>

<p>marshall, sohan, and david greenburg are the male counselors. soumya and probably some 05'ers are the female counselors.</p>

<p>the counselors are soumya, david g., sohan, and marshall. hehe, i remember seeing you in <em>other people's</em> rooms ;)</p>

<p>I haven't heard of either of those games...and I think the versions of euchre are the same. It's just that explaining tricks and trump to someone who's never heard of them before is a bit hard.</p>

<p>I wonder how much free time we'll have to hang out. Maybe they'll send us a daily schedule.</p>

<p>oopsies, looks like yin^2 beat me</p>

<p>oooh, awesome. i'm gonna be seeing david in a few days when i'm in st. louis. time to concoct some beautiful plans....</p>

<p>What is the daily schedule like? Are we allowed to leave on weekends, if for example, I have to attend a wedding?</p>

<p>does anybody know who the TAs are?</p>

<p>I STILL HAVE NOT HEARD FROM R.S.I and It's March 27th!!! This is the worst thing that can happen to me... the anxiety is painful! Did everyone get their decisions already or is it just me who didn't get anything??? please advise me on what to do now... </p>

<p>do i still have a chance or did something go wrong???</p>

<p>Daily schedule at RSI:</p>

<p>1) Wake up around 8ish (depends on when you have to go to mentorship- one student had to wake up at 6 because his mentor was at BU)
2) 9-5: work on research. for me, i didn't actually have to go to mentorship because i just had a lot of programming to do. so i had more freedom than students who were in biology and had a set schedule.
3) 12-1: eat. the food is pretty good at the sac. they have japanese, indian (good indian according to indians), chinese, middle eastern, burgers, smoothies, and a small grocery store if nothing satisfies you.
4) 6: come back from mentorship- eat again. dinner is usually at simmons, and while some people didn't like it, i thought it wasn't bad. the cookies are great and they have a salad bar everyday.
5) 6-7: fool around. maybe work. play contact. watch tv. etc.
6) 7-8:30- lecture. DON'T BE LATE AND DON'T FALL ASLEEP!!!!!!!!!!
7) 9-11: play ultimate frisbee. girls night in. go chairing. play tennis. chill. talk. try, and i mean, really try, to beat one of the tutor's (jenny) at ping pong.
8) 11- Bedcheck: your counselors will be ****ed if you are late and you might have to butt spell your name
9) 11- ???: play more ultimate. relax. or if you are like sophie cai (a very sweet and very asian person)- sleep. most people don't sleep. </p>

<p>all in all. the time at rsi is pretty lax. you decide what to do. it's like the song "do what you do"</p>

<p>"Do what you do
Say what you say
Mean what you mean when you say
Cause it's your life
Gotta make your own rules
And you gotta do it, do it your own way"</p>

<p>if you want to go to a wedding on the weekend, no one is going to stop you unless its the weekend where everyone goes to white mountains. i went shopping, explored boston, checked out wellesey and more. it was a great time.</p>

<p>Vanilea, thanks for the information. Good luck to you in whatever you decide.</p>

<p>Man, I looking forward to playing ping pong and ultimate. How's the camping trip? I heard RSI takes on PROMYS or something in frisbee.</p>

<p>By the way here's some info about me (don't want to say too much as you never know who reads these things but...),
I wrote about molecular mechanics, ATP Synthase motors and stuff.
Tests are good
2nd Place award at ISEF and some other stuff.</p>

<p>I'm really excited to see everyone. Maybe we'll have a chance to meet at ISEF or something before RSI.</p>

<p>PROMYS destroyed us in ultimate. we need revenge. i want to come for the alumni game...</p>

<p>....but then again, i also wanna be there early on to administer the purity test.</p>

<p>i'm working full time. so it probably won't work.</p>

<p>and the white mountains trip isn't camping. we stay in a real motel. it's pretty cool, though. if you're manly enough, you'll do the climb up mt. washington (4000 feet in 4 miles), which changed my views of east coast mountains, being from a Rocky Mountain state and all. Only 8 of us actually made it to the top. Most others hung out at a waterfall (pansies they were). it was a fun trip, and don't expect to end up in the same hotel room you were originally assigned to...</p>