Thank you! My thoughts exactly.
I’ve only written 1 essay (the second one) 
How screwed am I? I just got so busy over break and now I have so many regrets asldkja;ls
@Kallista don’t dwell on your regrets and start writing now! The essays (especially #1) can take a long time, but it’s doable. 
@Kallista don’t worry! just focus and write an essay a day and revise revise revise! These aren’t impossible essays!
Thanks guys, I really appreciate the encouragement (and honesty) time to start writing
Is it possible to get in if I start my app today? It’s literally humongous.
How many other summer programs should I apply to?
You can finish the app if you put the time in but if you’re going to end up doing a mediocre job, don’t waste your time.
Depends on how strong an applicant you are and how serious you are about attending a summer program. Just applying to RSI would not be a wise idea. How many others you should apply to only you can answer. The top programs have a 5-15% acceptance rate and every Intel ISEF finalist, MOP and Bio, Chem, Physics and CS Olympiad finalist will be applying to RSI and other top programs.
I generally consider RSI as such: If you were to apply to the most elite colleges right now RD (as a junior) and have a reasonably good chance of getting in based upon your STEM achievements, then you also have a chance at getting into RSI.
Should I cite research papers in the first essay (I’m talking about specific research that has been performed) or would that be taking it too far? Lol
Hey everyone! I’m RSI 2015, having done research in glacial dynamics in MIT’s EAPS department (I was one of the “weird” non-bio/pure math kids). I have some time to answer some questions and read some essays (PM me, no guarantees). I saw this year’s app and honestly, it’s super scary. Don’t worry about it - I can’t check off half of those boxes still :). Still, work hard on it, and you’ll have a shot at the best six weeks of your life (so far)! Good luck!
@coffeeaddicted Just talk about your research, what you’ve done, what you hope to accomplish [emphasis on “you”]. The committee wants to know about you, not your field/your compatriots
Thanks so much @ashgabat , I’ll definitely make sure I do that.
I was wondering, did you win any major awards in science before you applied (like Intel, Siemens, also the Olympiads)? Did everyone at the program seem to have done so?
@coffeeaddicted No problem! I was a regional winner for JSHS, but that was pretty much it. I did get an award at ISEF last year though, and have done some in math competitions (AIME, USAJMO). My year at least, we didn’t really have any people who won big things in sophomore year, although our class has a couple Siemens/ISEF category/etc. winners now. We also had a couple MOP-level math kids.
(Answer in a nutshell: No. It’s not necessary.)
@ashgabat thanks. It can be intimidating considering much of the applicant pool is comprised of these crazy sophomore year ISEF finalists and whatnot. I’m doing a conference this spring but that’s pretty much it, so I’ll just work hard on my essays and cross my fingers and hope for the best. Again thanks, this is really helpful!
@coffeeaddicted Yeah I understand, but RSI is just filled to the brim with these kind of people. (In my last post, I forgot a really quiet kid who made IChO. whoops :3 ) Definitely don’t be intimidated though, it seems like you have the right spirit. Good luck!
@ashgabat – thank you for being on this thread. Did you (and most students) get your first choice of research fields? Also, how distinct were your two fields and subfields? Having a hard time figuring that part out.
@Sorrento No problemo! Surprisingly, yes. They try really hard to match mentors with mentees, it’s quite impressive.
My two fields were Applied Math (Modeling Sea ice) and Environmental Engineering (Alternative Energy systems), so somewhat related. One was something that I was currently doing, the other something I wanted to do at RSI… but I didn’t switch my fields, because I thought there was no way they’d find someone in the first field. But, glaciers! 
Regardless, the fields can really be whatever you want. Just write about things you really are interested in, and want to spend 5 intense weeks researching.
How do we put PSAT scores in the app? They still have the three boxes for the different sections (format of the old test).
@rainstick I’m wondering the same thing here.
Speaking of the PSAT, what would be considered a good score to RSI this year? I know that for the old format they wanted above 220 and at least 76 in math (something like that).
Do you guys think it’s okay if we just submit our sophomore year PSAT scores?
@Rainstick They may have intentionally left it that way because PSAT scores came out pretty late this year. However, since they do have the “Date of Test” field, if you fill out your score for each subsection (maybe out of 38?) and indicate the test date, they would understand what that means. I’d probably contact them just to be sure though
@Runkeeper There are concordance tables on the CollegeBoard website (not sure how accurate they are…) But based on CC PSAT threads/PrepScholar, I think if your SI is around 216+ then it would be around 220+ from last year’s PSAT.
@Runkeeper Your percentiles may also help you get a better idea of your score.