<p>@CalTechJPL - just delete your PMs…</p>
<p>To do that, go to your PMs. To the left of the message there is a check box. Check the box, then scroll down and click on the option box that says “Move to folder…” and choose delete. Then hit go (#).</p>
<p>I deleted them a long time back but still it has reached the limit… I dont even have a single inbox message… And there is no way to delete the outbox messages…</p>
<p>There’s a button saying empty folder - it works. I just deleted all of my sent items. It says something like this </p>
<p>“Sent Items contains 0 messages.
You have 4 messages stored, of a total 100 allowed. (Empty Folder)” Push the Empty Folder button? </p>
<p>Make sure you’re in the Sent Items folder though.</p>
<p>After rereading my last post I realize that it was rambling and hard to understand. </p>
<p>My question is why would RSI want to accept a student who already has a relatively significant amount of research for a secondary school student under his belt. I know that it’s for diversity but bear with me.</p>
<p>Here is an example:</p>
<p>Student A
high PSAT and grades are all A’s, however he has no research experience </p>
<p>Student B
Has 3 Bs and PSAT is likely going to be on the border (btw I took the PSAT this year), however he has won awards at isef, etc. </p>
<p>I know it is impossible to predict chances, but I am asking for the reasoning of why the RSI adcom would pick up these two example students applications and pick student B. After all, student A has more potential and needs a research opportunity more than B does.</p>
<p>I hope I am more clear in this post. </p>
<p>Thanks,
Starchow</p>
<p>Well I guess the madness can start now. I’ll be looking through the application and worrying during every free minute at school today…</p>
<p>I can’t do this anymore. Screw it all. I’m gonna major in literature at a local state college.</p>
<p>Who did you guys approach for recommendation letters? How well did the teachers know you? What kind of things did they write about you?</p>
<p>@CalTechJPL I live in the US (not sure if this matters), and am a high school junior</p>
<p>@starchow: Thank you for the clarification of your question. First, let me say for the record that it is not necessarily the case that the selection committee would pick Student A over Student B, Student B over Student A, both, or neither. Any one of these is a possibility. It is my impression that selection is based substantially on how a student communicates his interest and aptitude through the essays and on how a student’s recommenders describe him in the letters of recommendation. In other words, the selection committee is not concerned solely with a student’s objective qualifications, which is why the selection committee each year ends up picking a group of students with such wildly varying levels of experience. I would think that it is equally likely that a student with perfect stats and no research experience would be able to communicate clearly through essays and receive glowing recommendations as a student with non-perfect stats and substantial research experience. I would advise you against assuming that RSI selects every student with some idealistic big picture in mind, and instead think about it this way: RSI wants to select the students who submit the best applications. The essays and letters of recommendation – arguably the most substantial portions of the application – aren’t r</p>
<p>@LuoSciOly, I saw some abstracts of RSI which I cannot understand at all!! Is it even worthit for a person like me to apply? All of it just went over my head…
I mean, the children who come to RSI, are they EXTREMELY intellogent or in the 6 weeks they learn soo much that it makes it seem that they are very intelligent?</p>
<p>Prospective RSI applicants should consider also applying to SIMR. As some of the previous applicants to RSI have stated, the admissions process to RSI is extremely selective so it is a good idea to apply widely. Here is the 2014 SIMR thread.</p>
<p><a href=“Official SIMR 2014 Thread - Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums”>Official SIMR 2014 Thread - Summer Programs - College Confidential Forums;
<p>@CaltechJPL: Not being able to immediately understand highly technical scientific abstracts does not mean you are unqualified to attend RSI. Don’t be discouraged.</p>
<p>@LuoSciOly, can you suggest some books or sources to enhance my knowledge for RSI abstracts etc.</p>
<p>I contacted her, all thanks to you and was told that I should apply for RSI 2015. 
So I have time to prepare…</p>
<p>@CaltechJPL: If you’re looking to understand specific RSI abstracts, simply Googling unknown terms in the abstracts and reading the Wikipedia entries or whatever else comes up is probably the most effective way. If you’re looking to understand scientific abstracts better in general, just read any introductory textbook on whatever subject strikes your fancy. To determine which textbooks are the best, I would recommend simply using reviews on Amazon or else looking up the syllabi online of introductory courses at top universities (MIT OpenCourseWare can be useful for this). The RSI 2014 thread on College Confidential is probably not the correct thread for further advice on how to most effectively learn science.</p>
<p>Thank You @LuoSciOly.
:-)</p>
<p>In the application requirement, it says that “Please do not staple or fold the pages of the application.” Does it include the teacher’s recommendation letter? Do I need to specifically ask them to put it in the large envelope? Thanks for any information.</p>
<p>@littlegrass: In 2011, when I applied for RSI 2012, Maite said that it was fine for the teacher recommendation letters to be folded in a regular envelope. If you would like more official confirmation, I would recommend emailing her to ascertain that this is still the case. In general, very specific questions about what is permitted/not permitted in the application are better to be directed by email to Ms. Maite Ballestero rather than to the RSI 2014 thread on College Confidential, since we are unable to answer in an official capacity.</p>
<p>@LuoSciOly: Thanks for your information. I will contact Ms. Maite Ballestero.</p>
<p>Hi LuoSciOly and CompSciStudent
Does RSI select students to work on projects in Engineering? How many students go to Engineering projects last year? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Hi House4</p>
<p>I knew several people in Engineering last year. One of my friends did a Biomedical Engineering project, another worked in Mechanical Engineering, and yet another did a project in the area of Civil Engineering.</p>
<p>RSI tries to match you to your research interests and offers quite a variety of fields of study. So just write about what you are truly interested in! :)</p>