Is it better to ask for teacher recommendations from current teachers or teachers from last year?
Also in the lab I worked in I worked mainly with a graduate student that I saw every day but the actual professor I only met with like twice a week. Should I still ask for a recommendation and if so which person should it be from? The student doesn’t speak English as a first language either.
@OleColtrane in your opinion should the essays and short responses be focused more on the informative side of things, or should the answers aim to tell a story and describe personal characteristics.
@hereforquestions Ask the people who would know you best. If those are teachers, then I would recommend teachers from last year unless you have one this year that you have good chemistry with. If the lab professor didn’t know you very well, then I wouldn’t ask them. Asking a graduate student may be not be the best choice.
@EiPi It depends on the prompt. You’re really trying to show your enthusiasm and commitment to STEM, so if that means telling a story then go ahead. For questions such as what extracurriculars you’re involved in, obviously this would be better answered as an explanation/description. For other questions like why you’re interested in your fields of study or how you demonstrate leadership/creativity/etc., feel free to make it a bit more personal as you see fit. It’s really up to you as to what seems appropriate based on your own experiences, as long as it showcases your passion.
Is RSI only for current Juniors?
Does anyone know if our school counselor needs to also submit test scores? Or do we need to just submit a pdf of the score report we can download off the Collegeboard/ACT website? Also, how do we submit AP scores, is there a way we can download those also?
@kapila generally yes, though exceptional younger/older students can seek an explicit exception granted from CEE.
@exa526 you just need to self-report scores and upload a compiled pdf of score reports on Slideroom. You can download your AP score report from the “View Your Scores” page.
Check this out
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm4fmgeVd0Y&t=0s
RSI looks sooooo cool!
does anyone know if i am required to report ap scores? i fight do so well and i don’t want to report them
also can all of you just not apply bc i really need to get in 
@taehyung @OleColtrane do you recommend making our personal statements close in length to the recommended character count? For instance, the long-term plans essay is 5000 characters, and I’m not sure how to make that essay so long.
@recvolleyball I wrote up to the character limit for all of the essays except for the long term plans essay (I think I only wrote 3000 characters for that one). Generally you should interpret the character count as a recommended length, but if it doesn’t seem natural to write that much then obviously you should stop when you have nothing more to say.
@hereforquestions Remember, that’s the limit, not a recommendation, of length. So just write as much as you need to get your point across. My essays were anywhere from 40% to 90% of the character count, based on how much I had to say.
@OleColtrane @taehyung thank you for answers! also, for the research question essay, do you recommend researching a field to determine what some unsolved questions are in the area? How did you come up with the questions you found most interesting in the research fields?
hi i just have a question about the research fields that you can choose.
for the first choice, i am putting biology w/a sub-field of cellular & molecular biology. for my second choice, i think i will put chemistry although i’m not sure what sub-field to put. i was thinking biochemistry but am not sure whether that would be considered biology?
Hi all, quick question.
Regarding the 2 questions about leaderships and creativity (What activities and/or hobbies demonstrate your leadership, creativity and uniqueness?) and extracurriculars (Describe your participation in extracurricular or community outreach activities?), is it necessary to develop these on a very STEM heavy idea or can we branch off our ideas to the other extracurriculars we do?
I don’t want to seem like all I care about is research research research, as I want to show that my research skills have helped me develop skills in other extracurriculars and activities and helped me become a more wholesome person. Is that a valid way to approach these questions? I know RSI focuses heavily on the research aspect of things, but these questions seem a bit broad and I want to show a cohesive perspective on who I am.
If I got a 1500 on the PSAT but only a 1530 on the SAT should i put in my SAT score or leave it out? I don’t have any other standardized test score so idk if it looks bad to just have the PSAT, most people seem to have their ACT and SAT done too
@scurt8899 I’m in the same boat as you, I got a 1500 PSAT but only a 1510 SAT (taking ACT in Feb). I’m just going to leave it in.
are the teacher recs due on 1/13 as well
i mean 1/15