<p>@tomjonesistheman: Dec. ACT scores will definitely come out in time, my ACT scores (post 106) was from the December test, as for the AMC I'm not sure, I think AMCs take place after the deadline for RSI. There were 5 people from CA last year</p>
<p>@p4c: Well the app is due 1/16/09, SATI and II results for the Jan test come out 2/12/09, 800s on Math and Physics definitely won't hurt you, but I can't say it'll help you either</p>
<p>It seems like the app deadline got pushed earlier than last year...</p>
<p>@areyoukidding: Lol, same here, and CC helped me so much last year with my own RSI app, that I decided to give back. Looks like there are 3 rickoids on this thread now</p>
<p>No one from my school has ever even heard of RSI. Discouraging =(</p>
<p>But I'll try anyway. =)</p>
<p>How important are math SAt/pSAT scores if you are going for biology? I'm a little worried about the PSAT curve this year. I think I might have missed a couple of questions (1 at least).</p>
<p>Do you guys think it would be okay if our responses to the essay questions are over two paragraphs, or is the adcom strict with those rules?</p>
<p>When does this thread usually start going crazy, like it has in previous years?</p>
<p>woah, gblob331, can ugive us ur stats before u applied to RSI??? please :).. oh yea u can enter both siemens and intel if ur a non-senior if u do a team project</p>
<p>Intel STS is seniors only. No team projects.<br>
Siemens is seniors only for individual projects. 9th-12th can do team projects.
Intel ISEF is 9th-12th.</p>
<p>If you don't get into RSI, all is not lost. S was an RSI alternate and did just fine ;) at Siemens and Intel. It all worked out for the best.</p>
<p>yea, one person i know was a siemens regional finalist this year and she said that all of them applied to RSI but none of them got in lol, but she said all of their projects were crap -_-</p>
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woah, gblob331, can ugive us ur stats before u applied to RSI??? please
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<p>Check post 106, they weren't that great. It's the essays and recs that helped.</p>
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Do you guys think it would be okay if our responses to the essay questions are over two paragraphs, or is the adcom strict with those rules?
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<p>I would suggest to keep to 2 or 3 paragraphs, although my paragraphs were sometimes up to 10, 11, etc. sentences each. Plus my margins were tiny (~0.25in)</p>
<p>he's an URM at research camps but not in the rest of the US... </p>
<p>you probably don't want to ask what people wrote about in their essays cause that might influence you. honestly, i didn't know much about advanced science but i picked up a few issues of scientific american, browsed around on wikipedia and university physics webpages and eventually got somewhere. just start with a general field you're interested in.</p>
<p>oh, and as for the rest of my essays (not related to number 2), i basically talked about how i was passionate about my two fields of research and how i'd showed it through my initiative outside of school. that was pretty easy to do since i got an early start in research and in olympiad competitions (7th grade to be exact)</p>
<p>oh that helps a lot! thanks so much. oh yea but this year, we don't have to write much for #2 , but we're not allowed to pick the same field of science twice -<em>-. so we can't pick biology and biology this year -</em>_______- uggh, but all i care about is bio.... oh yea and what about the computer programming stuff?</p>
<p>I was at RSI in 2008, and my research field is computer science. In case it's useful, here's a bit about me. My test scores weren't amazing (73 on math in 10th grade, I think), but I probably got in because of my previous research experience, 5 comp. sci. courses at a university, good recs, and a good essay. I worked on my research throughout the school year (not just in the summer), which I was told stood out. My research didn't get published until after I applied to RSI, but I think my mentor made it clear in his rec that I had a significant role in the projects I worked on and that they were publishable. Also, I put down computer science twice for the fields even though it was discouraged (although it seems strongly discouraged this year). I think if you are clearly qualified in one field, it won't hurt you to basically say you only want to go to RSI if you can stay in that field (although you will likely end up in a different subfield).</p>
<p>I showed "passion" in the future goals essay, and then used the other essays to back up my excitement and show what I've done to position myself to pursue those goals. The admission committee is more scientifically literate than normal college admissions, so don't be afraid to discuss actual topics.</p>
<p>As an aside, i wrote my RSI app in LaTeX, which couldn't have hurt :-)</p>
<p>Good luck to everyone. I found out about RSI two weeks before the deadline, and barely got everything in on time, and I didn't really know anything about the program until I got in. I almost gave up my spot at RSI to continue my previous research, which would have been the dumbest thing I've ever done. RSI has been one of the greatest experiences for me, and it really changed me. I'm closer friends with fellow rickoids than I am with the kids in my hometown.</p>
<p>To former RSIers, what would you recommend to those of us who are at a lack of extensive/impressive/useful previous research?</p>
<p>[EDIT: Also, would an additional rec from a college Ph.D. math professor help? I don't want to have him fill out a whole rec because he probably doesn't know me as well as the other rec-ers. He taught me Calc over the past summer and basically would write an extremely positive letter... would the RSI people understand if I sent that in as a supplemental letter?]</p>
<p>Not everyone has research experience at RSI. I did, so I can't say what to do from personal experience, but I would recommend trying to briefly explain why you couldn't do any research before, and definitely try to show that you are capable of not just learning but of trying to create knowledge. I would probably try to mention some problems I'm really interested in (they don't need to be p,np or other hard problems like that) and try to show some thought process that at least shows you enjoy speculating about extensions...</p>
<p>I'm just giving some ideas... don't take what I say too seriously.</p>
<p>Okay thanks, I like ideas, lol. I don't want them to think I didn't want to do research, but I'm just so involved in things that involve creation versus straight up research style.</p>
<p>How much of a disadvantage would an applicant have if they haven't participated/won in any major (or minor) science competitions? I haven't had much of a chance to compete in science olympiad or biology competitions but I've done a summer of research.</p>
<p>computergeek173 : I sent in an additional recommendation too, but it was from my mentor who knew me really well as a student. It should be fine if your prof just writes a letter rather than filling out the standard form, but make sure the prof at least has some specific details/stories to write about.</p>
<p>Emiiliye: I hadn't participated in any competitions of any kind when I applied to RSI, so it isn't a huge problem. I said in my app that I was considering publishing my previous research and submitting it to siemens next year.</p>
<p>Well, I actually know his son fairly well through my school, so he knows about me a decent amount; it's just that I didn't meet him until this summer (He and my father both teach at the same university). However, I had heard that he would write me a stellar recommendation (from his son), so I guess I'll just submit a separate letter.</p>
<p>oh yea so is anyone sure whether we can pick two of the same fields? cuz the app says that we can't this year, and i believe that years prior this was never the case</p>
<p>AS far as the field/subfield go - do the two most interesting problems in your field have to / should they pertain to your subfield? I don't understand whether they expect you to pick two random ones that may have nothing to do with the subfield or two that have everything to do with your subfield (as I would probably end up doing).</p>