<p>If you want to have any hope of getting in, start your app now.</p>
<p>Wow. Trollery level over 9000!!!11!!one!!1!!11!!!</p>
<p>oh my goodness</p>
<p>Holyyyy craaaaaab!!! I couldn’t even believe that when my friends told me this! HAHAHAHAHAHA :D:DDDD I am just a freshman and I started my RSI app!! Loool… Let’s go for RSI 2016… Go rising high school freshmen!</p>
<p>You have to really have 3 things to get into RSI:</p>
<p>1) A really high PSAT - 230+
2) Stellar grades
3) Some really good math or science ECs - Either you have already been to ISEF/Won awards/Really high USAMO, etc.</p>
<p>^Ditto, for 1) and 2) but not 3). Even though many Rickoids have ISEF, awards, international olympiads, medals and MANY MORE, I know some people who get in just because they REALLY love and excel at a specific subject and that they show it through the application without even participating in anything particularly prestigious.</p>
<p>Don’t be discouraged if you don’t think you have “really good” math or science extracurriculars or awards when you apply to RSI. I certainly didn’t – I had never taken an Olympiad test, I had never set foot in a laboratory, and I had taken exactly one science AP class/test when I applied. It’s true that a lot of Rickoids have done crazily impressive things, but there are also plenty of Rickoids who have had no research or Olympiad experience at all.</p>
<p>And although it’s true that you should have good test scores and grades to maximize your chances of admission to RSI, applicants with less-than-perfect scores or grades shouldn’t be discouraged either. Plenty of Rickoids had scores or grades that were not perfect or close to perfect.</p>
<p>What are the age ranges of the attendees?</p>
<p>RSI attendees (at least, domestic students) are supposed to be 1 year away from college, meaning that students attend RSI during the summer between their junior and senior years of high school unless they are planning to graduate high school early. Thus, pretty much everyone is 16 or 17, though a few of the international students coming from different school system structures are 18 or 19. There are occasionally students (domestic or international) who are younger than 16, but that is a rarity.</p>
<p>I’m a freshman and I literally just heard about this from one thread. Can freshman apply? I know nothing about biomechanic informatics. I’m decent at math and I’m pretty good at science. Should I go at sophomore or junior year? I still want to study as much as possible. My high school is fairly new so the possibility of this happening now is not do likely.</p>
<p>@ScienceKid99: RSI requires that domestic applicants be one year away from graduation from high school. Thus, most apply during their junior year of high school; if you are planning to graduate high school a year early, you would apply during your sophomore year.</p>
<p>Ooooooh! Thanks a bunch!!</p>
<p>@LuoSciOly, how can I contact you? I have reached the PM limit. I really need help.
Would you be fine if I give my email to you and you can email back to me?</p>
<p>Feel free to ask questions to me via this thread or (preferably) the RSI 2014 thread. I’m happy to help, but I am not comfortable distributing my email address to strangers.</p>
<p>Thank You sooo much. :-)</p>
<p>I can’t believe this thread exists! I’m an rsi 2015 hopeful (and a procrastinator). What are other current sophomores planning on doing summer 2014?</p>
<p>I cannot find the RSI 2017 thread :’(</p>
<p>You people need to stop saying Rickoids.</p>
<p>Class of 2016 doesn’t seem to be too concerned about becoming Rickoids…</p>
<p>@yellowdog84 - LOL I’m in the class of 2016. RSI would be incredible, but the chances of me getting accepted are infinitesimal, so most likely going to focus my energy on applying to other, (slightly) more viable programs.</p>