Does anyone know where there may be a list of research fields and sub-fields that are supported by RSI research mentors? I would want to make sure I put research interests that are actually possibilities, as I am a more Bio person than a physical science type.
@mochafrozen Awards in the sciences definitely matter; it’s just that if you have fantastic essays, you might be able to reduce the need to have solid awards in science.
Same applies for you. Although it would have been nice to have great science awards, focus on the essays and you’ll have as good a chance as any.
@jamini My second choice subject was Cell Biology. For a lot of people, they don’t necessarily get you exactly the kind of work that you’ve described in your application. I’m pretty sure any mainstream subfield of biology is fine. Some of my friends who wrote down something like “epigenetics” for the subfield ended up getting placed in computational biology. As long as you have thoroughly researched the questions/problems for that essay question, I don’t think it is of great relevance what subfield you have put down. It definitely isn’t possible for someone to give you a list of possibilities since the mentors change from year to year.
@qwerytiop If you can, definitely, definitely try to get that second teacher rec. I don’t think anyone on this thread could tell you how much not having a second teacher rec would affect you but seeing that you’re a MOPper, you probably have pretty decent chances.
@schakrab They consider your home state. Andover/Exeter all register as their home state.
@debate4ever Definitely apply.
@swimmygirl123 Apply for sure.
@guilou25 SAT I will hurt but since you have USAMO…
@mathgenes Wow, you have some pretty specific problems. I’d advise you to ask CEE directly - I think teachers being on strike is a valid reason for not having a recommendation letter.
@seal16 They are important in the application process, no doubt. But, they are not the only factor that determine your admission. It doesn’t have to be competitions. I mentioned open source projects I’ve worked on, etc., not just competitions and extracurriculars.
@PoisonIvy20 I’d probably #yolo and miss that day of school and I’m sure there’s some way to solve that problem What if someone got sick on that day? There’s gotta be a plan B.
@magic125
“do you guys get single dorms for RSI? what house do you stay at?”
We stayed at Maseeh hall and most of us had double rooms. Maseeh Hall is awesome though.
@feedtheduck
"Would the field/subfield you apply for affect your chances of getting in? I’m applying for computational biology, which from this thread seems to be a rather popular field. If there were more qualified people also applying for that field, would my chances for acceptance be reduced? "
I haven’t the slightest idea. A lot of my friends worked on computational biology though, so I guess they don’t care that much about that kind of thing? In my opinion, write about fields you actually care about (and know a lot about!) rather than trying to please the adcom. Yeah, you’ve heard this (supposed) BS a million times, but this time, it’s actually legit.
(Note: at this point, I’m just answering random questions in the hope that they’ll be useful to someone)
@EileenStarz Don’t worry about your SAT score (2340, for anyone else reading) it’s fine.
@Ivy2020 Nobody knows how are important they are exactly. All we can say is “they matter.”
@teenagecrime Don’t.
Just mailed mine out. Good luck to everyone! I’ll probably post whether i got in or not here when results come out.
For PSAT score verification, can we make a photocopy of the score report that the school gave to us when the scores came out and send that in?
Also, how much does a high SAT score, like 2350+, increase your chances of getting in? And how do we get an official score report of this? I am going to include the score in the PDF for sure, but I am not sure how to verify it.
Hi! So if we are requesting for them to waive the application fee, do we still have to pay first and then have them refund it? Or do we just click on the waive the application fee?
@dpandah @feedtheduck i have the same question how important are you research field and subfield as far as i’ve seen nobody has the same interests as me which i guess is good
Do we need to show proof in order to waive the application fee? Also, will waiving the fee negatively impact our chances in any way? My family isn’t all that well off, but I don’t want to do anything to detract from my application.
@feedtheduck @teenagecrime Another 2014er here. I’m not sure how much the field you choose affects your application. I had a somewhat “unique field”, but I’m not sure if that helped. I think the most important thing is to be honest. Whatever you are good at and passionate about, put that as your Research fields/subfields. Many people at RSI have very similar interests (something I noticed especially in biological and mathematical disciplines) while others like me were alone in their fields. I don’t think you need to go out of your way to find something nobody else will have applied for. Being passionate and authentic goes a long way.
I would like to do something in the environmental science field, but I’m not sure how to put that down as my concentration. How would I do that?
Does anyone know how many applications RSI received last year?
@msdarcy not sure about last year but it’s generally between 3000-4000 applications