<p>There seems to be a bit of confusion (and a bit of misinformation) in some of the answers by applicants above, so I will seek to clarify things a bit here. I speak in no official capacity, but I will try my best as someone who has been through the process before, as an applicant and then as an RSI 2012 student.</p>
<p>@FierceTiger (post #202): Regarding your first question, as for any application, I would caution you against specifically defying the directions stated on the application. However, I promise you that the RSI selection committee isn’t a Draconian death panel that seeks pleasure in denying applicants based on minute details. My guess is that it won’t really matter one way or the other what you do, but why not just follow the directions to be safe? If it means anything, one of my paragraphs was a mammoth – 378 words. Regarding your second question, I think it would be fine to omit math things in your essays as long as you think the rest of your essays and examples are sufficiently impactful, but I would caution you against assuming that the recommendations are going to “fill in the gaps.” In general, I would recommend discussing and including the things that will place you in the best light, and that you believe best demonstrate your interest and aptitude in scientific inquiry. Regarding your third question, I don’t know because the list of accomplishments was not a part of the application when I applied for RSI 2012, but the consensus on this thread seems to be that it is separate. Email Ms. Maite Ballestero if you would like a more authoritative answer.</p>
<p>@SJSF01 (post #204): The topic that you mention seems appropriate to discuss for question 7. However, I would encourage you to think about the spirit of the question – have you adequately demonstrated that you are proficient in “computer programming, modeling, and data analysis”? If not, you may want to consider adding other examples to your response. Use your best judgment.</p>
<p>@Justong (post #205): Don’t worry – I would not be concerned about the impact on your application of your specific field of interest, unless it is absolutely bizarre. First of all, students who are selected for RSI do not always get a project that is exactly what they wrote about in their application, but rather something closely related. CEE does a great job of matching students to mentors based on the students’ application essays and indicated research fields. For example, I wrote about a very specific subfield of bioengineering in my first essay, but I was matched with a mentor and project in a different subfield of bioengineering, and it was a great match. This type of thing is common. Second of all, the great thing about Boston as a location for RSI is that there are so many universities and institutions where mentorships can be located – RSI students have had mentorships at MIT, Harvard, Harvard Medical School, Boston College, Boston University, Tufts, Tufts Dental School, Northeastern University, companies in the Boston area, and a plethora of teaching hospitals including Massachusetts General, Beth Israel Deaconess, and Brigham & Women’s. So there are plenty of options for finding you a mentorship elsewhere if MIT does not have a good fit.</p>
<p>@Daedalus3140 (post #206): The question is very broad, and those sound like perfectly appropriate things to mention.</p>
<p>@academicnut (post #207): I think the items you mention sound perfectly fine – distinct enough to be separate subfields. I disagree with what SJSF01 wrote in post #209. When the application still had a dropdown menu for fields (back when I applied), the biology-related fields listed were Biochemistry, Biophysics, Bioengineering, Biomedicine, Integrative Biology, and Molecular & Cell Biology. I chose two of those fields and then a subfield within each field. (Note: I don’t think it necessarily would be wrong to include “Biology” as a field instead, if that’s what anyone reading this has chosen to do; I’m just saying that what @academicnut suggested in post #207 – namely, treating Biomedicine and Cell Biology as two separate fields – sounds perfectly fine to me as well.)</p>
<p>@science2015 (post #208): I always recommend that students include and discuss whichever things they believe will place them in the best light and will best demonstrate their interest and aptitude in scientific inquiry. Whether this means discussing all of your activities, or only a subset of your activities, is up to you to decide. More informally, I would recommend that you include and discuss the things that you are most proud of!</p>
<p>@SJSF01 (post #209): I disagree that a “field” must be as broad as “Biology” or “Chemistry.” I believe that slightly more narrow “fields” would be perfectly appropriate as well, if a student wishes to use them. Please see my response to @academicnut above.</p>
<p>@Vinefeather (post #212): Almost every RSI student, when they applied, thought that they had essentially no chance of being selected. The qualifications you mention do not sound inherently bad – when I applied to RSI, I had taken 3 AP classes, only one of which was a science, and I had much less programming experience than it sounds like you have. Make the most of the experiences and achievements you do have, and demonstrate your passion for the sciences through kicka** essays and letters of recommendation. Please see my post from a previous thread that SJSF01 quotes in post #213. :)</p>
<p>@academicnut (post #214): I recommend that students send whichever scores they believe will place them in the best light. Will the ACT scores you mention improve the overall appearance of your application, in light of whichever other scores you are including? If yes, then send them. If not, then do not send them.</p>
<p>I wish everyone the best of luck and skill as the application deadline approaches. Take a deep breath! You can do it. :)</p>
Since there’s not a lot of time at RSI (4ish weeks of actual research time), most projects that RSI students do are portions/subsets of a larger project that the lab is working on. These are important, and original, contributions nonetheless, and RSI students often receive co-authorship on resulting papers published by the lab. It’s amazing how much work RSI students can get done in so little time.<br>
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