<p>i'm bio too.</p>
<p>i'm curious, how old are the americans that go to rsi each year? and how far thru school are you?</p>
<p>i'm 17 (i'll be 18 by rsi :) ) and i'm in the middle of my final year of secondary school.</p>
<p>oh, and another one... what does 'rickoid' actually mean? i feel silly asking...</p>
<p>I am bio too .. represent! =) I heard that the most number of kids are doing math this smmer, but biology is a close second. After that, I don't know, but I would guess that computer science and physics come after... and after that chem and astro, maybe</p>
<p>I think most of the Americans that go are either 16 or 17, but there will probably be a few 18s besides you fern. We are in our summer before our final year of school before uni. So that would be.. half a year before where you are, I guess, if you're midway through your final year.</p>
<p>Hey, for the lectures, do you guys think I should pick the 2 I know the best or the two I know the least about? I know math very well, and I've had plenty of experience in proofs, so would the math lecture be useless for me? Also, I have no knowledge of bio whatsoever, so would the bio lecture be over my head?</p>
<p>Name: Sanjay (AIM=sneakyndn45)
State: Louisiana
Fields of interest: Pre-med/Biochemistry
Research experience: did science fair research each year in high school (ISEF 05, 06, 07), JSHS 07
Test scores: ACT 32, PSAT 213, 5 on Calculus AB
Notable Awards: National Qualifier in LD Debate, Honorable Mention in International Thinkquest Website Competition, ISEF 05, 06, (didn't place), JSHS 07 (fourth in state), going to ISEF 07, 1st place Half-Marathon, 1st place Duathalon, State Chess Champion in 7th grade
ECs: SGO President, Varsity Soccer, Frisbee, Track/Cross-country, Trumpet, Piano, Beta, Builders, Quiz bowl, Eagle Scout, Lifeguard
Why you think you got in: I probably got in because of my extra-curriculars, research experience, and essay. I summarized parts of my science fair research in my application, and that may have helped me. I'll be taking 5 APs at the end of this year also, and I'm taking the top classes in my school, even though it may be sub-par for a lot of you guys. I have a pretty strong math background (taking Vector Calculus and Differential Equations) and a reasonable background in Biology and Chemistry (APs in both).<br>
I have fairly strong research experience (worked at NSULA during school year), and my recommendations were strong too. I also have a strong background in CSS and HTML, and an intermediate background in Visual Basic.
Even though I took the ACT freshman year, I was pretty upset at both that score and my later PSAT score. I guess I'm not a good test taker. My GPA is pretty bad too: 3.96.
Academic and non-academic interests: SOS response in E. coli, base excision repair genes, sports, politics, religions
Other info (funny joke/political affiliation/goals in life, etc.): not sure what to put here</p>
<p>Will I be able to do stuff with other people in Boston on the weekends? Can we request certain mentors?</p>
<p>Look forward to seeing you guys. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>-Sanjay</p>
<p>wow i spelled duathlon wrong</p>
<p>Your GPA is bad, svsaraf? I've gotten one B in my entire high school career and I have a 3.95. Don't be ridiculous. -_-;</p>
<p>me too, guess i have more credits</p>
<p>You probably have one or two more classes than I do.</p>
<p>filletwho, i don't think it matters which lecture you pick. either way you're most likely learning something new. often it's over your head if it's a subject that's not your forte. i chose math and bio, because i wanted to diversify, being an engineering person. the math was pretty tough to understand (although extremely interesting, cuz our lecturer was a top princeton mathematician) and the biology was rather boring to me, because it was extremely specialized cell and enzyme stuff. Either way, they're not likely to have any bearing on your research, but i'd just say pick a subject you're interested in learning something new about.</p>
<p>Okay, thanks! I think I'll do math and physics. Bio would definitely own me.</p>
<p>someone posted a question a while back about the "research" in rsi, and i'll try to give my perspective on it. </p>
<p>to be honest, rsi research isn't that great. mitka (who won 1st in siemens) started his project at rsi, but already knew a lot about his field. his father is a professor of algebraic topology. Mary (1st at sts) completed her project at home. She had also done another program called sharp, and said that that was probably better than rsi. my research didn't turn out that well, but i was lucky to have a research from home to fall back on for the sts and siemens competitions.</p>
<p>However, if i had to choose whether to go to rsi or work at my local university today, i would definitely pick rsi. the people at rsi are amongst some of the brightest and most awesome that you will ever meet. when you go to top colleges (harvard, mit, stanford, princeton, etc.), you will already have a great support system of rickoids. I met my best friend at RSI, and i don't know if there is anyone else out there who can understand my weirdness. Alum will help you with college essays, tell you why to go to X university, and help you when you are in college. At MIT's CPW, Matt Mcgann paid for a rickoids dinner (free food is always great :D). that said, go to RSI, but don't expect a siemens or sts winning project. be realistic about what you can accomplish in six weeks. and above all, have fun :D</p>
<p>btw...the classes that you take in the first week don't mean anything. you will probably be either bored by the subject matter or don't care about it. they are taught by rsi alums. i had a friend from sweden who fell asleep at every class and no one cared.</p>
<p>also, if you can't play ping pong, you should definitely learn. at rsi, ping pong is intense.</p>
<p>Vanilea, will we be able to request a certain mentor or certain institution?</p>
<p>i don't know, but you can try. if you email maite she will probably try to accomodate your interests. I would NOT request a certain institution. Don't request harvard/ mit because of their names. I had a mentor from harvard med-school, and he wasn't that great.</p>
<p>I was just thinking about what vanilea said about research .. well honestly I must have heard 10 Rickoids say just about the exact same thing (People>Research). I guess one of the biggest constraints to a research project at RSI must be the time, if you don't consider a lack of interest on the part of the mentor, a bad project problem, whatever. Has anyone ever stayed behind in Boston after RSI was over to continue work with the mentor until say.. the end of August? Do you think any of the mentors might be willing to keep working with us even though the contract might say RSI is over by August 4?</p>
<p>Have there been any research success stories at all? Rickoids who actually got the bulk of their work done while in Boston, not just who had professor parents or were brilliant and knowledgeable enough to have won Siemens singlehandedly already (I can do neither)</p>
<p>three years ago, someone won 3rd at sts with just her rsi project (it was a bio project and couldn't really have been continued at home). however, with sts, if you make it finalist level, the winners are chosen based on their general knowledge of science and math as well as their project (the general knowledge may even account for more).
She was a gold medalist in the International biology olympiads, and was super smart. i don't know how much of her win is attributed to the project and how much her intelligence. although, her project must have been good as it got her to the finals.</p>
<p>i have never heard about somone saying past the rsi time, however i think it is definitely possible. you could email maite about it.</p>
<p>if you get along really well with your mentor, and you're ok with continuing after having already written a long and detailed paper and presented, i'm sure it's completely possible. It just won't be done under the auspices of RSI, and you'll have to find a new place to stay, because saturday, august 4th will be your last free lodging day at Simmons.</p>
<p>The best course of action would be to switch to math. because math is just so much cooler.</p>