<p>Just out of curiosity, has anyone gotten into RSI without extensive research experience and internships and didn't get any prestigious awards or anything? Just wondering...because it seems that all the RSI kids have done so much research beforehand and won so many awards.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>LOL it has probably happened lydia but it's kinda like asking whether anybody has gotten into Harvard with <strong><em>ty recs, *</em></strong>ty scores, and ***ty grades.;)</p>
<p>haha i second</p>
<p>Lydia, that's a definite yes. With no offense meant to evil<em>asian</em>dictator or akshay, they're applying to RSI now and thus rather vulnerable to taking scary impressions from CC of an ueber-qualified applicant pool far too seriously. Many students complete their first research at RSI and get in without having prestigious awards.</p>
<p>I got in (haha, you knew the personal story was coming) with pretty good scores/grades/recs, but no prior research experience or major awards. I'm very glad I didn't think too much about my decision to apply, or I would probably have decided it wasn't worth it! It's always worth a shot :)</p>
<p>Any one else been accepted without having done outstanding research or getting prestigious awards?</p>
<p>I'm a bit curious, why do you care so much about this? Worry about competing with best students in the world is not going to make your application any better. Your time would probably be better spent on the official rsi thread or even better on your application but from what i've gathered, past rickoids have 1. awesome grade 2. awesome test scores 3. awesome awards AND/OR 4. research. Nothing should discourage anyone form applying though.</p>
<p>And to directly answer the question, there really are many other Rickoids who had little-to-no research experience... there just aren't that many answering questions on CC.</p>
<p>RSI geographically discriminates, as they should. If they admitted students based upon how many diseases they've cured on their resumes, rsi would just be a bunch of californians, new yorkers, and virginians like every other pointless science competition out there.</p>
<p>purgeofdoors, actually, from the official RSI 2006 thread, I've garnered that, while the staff does read applications by region, they don't have regional quotas.
Kim, you've egged me on to posting on this one. lydia423, I was accepted to RSI with no significant awards. The only "research" that I had done was at the Summer Science Program the previous summer (where I tracked an asteroid and wrote a computer program to calculate its orbit, as did the 30+ other students), and I hadn't submitted that to any competitions or anything. I definitely agree with Kim (flierdeke) that it's always worth a shot. I'd also suggest checking out the Research Science Institute 2006 thread in this forum to get a wider view of some of the other Rickoids, although (as mentioned previously) take this pool with a pillar of salt. It's not entirely representative, as usual on CC.</p>
<p>Quotas? Nah.</p>
<p>It's like what colleges do with race... they don't have to admit a certain number of minorities, but it certainly helps if you are one. And yes, after working for CEE, I do know that they do this.</p>
<p>purgeofdoors- what was your position within CEE?</p>
<p>And I'm not so sure being an URM helps at all for RSI; there wasn't exactly a large URM presence...</p>
<p>
I concur 100%!!!</p>
<p>"RSI geographically discriminates, as they should. If they admitted students based upon how many diseases they've cured on their resumes, rsi would just be a bunch of californians, new yorkers, and virginians like every other pointless science competition out there."</p>
<p>I don't believe that! I'm sure that there would be a lot of them, but there would be a ton of kids from other states too. If I've seen one thing in the Rickoids, its that you can't try and harvest diamonds based on averages. They appear in all sorts of places.</p>
<p>I got waitlisted (uhh..indefinitely but that's besides the point) last year without any research experience, internships or science/math awards whatsoever (not even non-prestigious ones). The most I did was take a few science courses at CTY and do a few school projects on scientificly-linked subjects. In comparison to rickoids, my scores were very ordinary. I'm assuming admissions thought me 'qualified'..they just didn't have enough space. So I'm sure people without research experience/major awards were admitted. </p>
<p>RSI is extremely egalitarian I think...it provides opportunities for those deserving of it, regardless of prestige and such. They do discriminate based on geography and rightly so. In many states people simply don't have the access to rack up prestigious credentials.
Point is...just show a passion for science in any way you can and you have a shot.</p>
<p>I really don't know what sort of URM preferences CEE uses for RSI, but it's not much if any compared with geographic preferences. Well said, LadyinRed... show a passion in science and you've got a good shot.</p>
<p>I personally come more from the USABO side of things, but I've had enough conversations with RSI directors (mostly past ones like Matt P, though) to know the way they do some things. USABO is the reason I still come on this forum occasionally anyway, to see what's up with next year's potential team. :)</p>
<p>purgeofdoors, I'm a current junior who is interested in Yale and I remember you from the old school CC forums, and u got a gold medal in the IBO? Anyway, i was wondering, are you pursuing biology in college? If so, what's your opinion of Yale's biology program? Why did you choose Yale over other colleges that you were accepted to? I was hoping to major in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry. Do you know anything about that major? Thanks.</p>
<p>I'm a bio and econ double major at yale now; I'm doing biotech startup and VC stuff in the new haven area along with classes. I think our bio program is great here, especially how easy it is to get an awesome job in a lab over the summer or even during the school year if you can manage it. </p>
<p>The two programs, MCDB (Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental bio) and MB&B are very similar. The latter makes you take a bit more physics and biochemistry though, and the former gives you more choice over classes. Check this out:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mbb.yale.edu/up/up_02.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.mbb.yale.edu/up/up_02.htm</a></p>
<p>"I remember you from the old school CC forums, and u got a gold medal in the IBO?"</p>
<p>Heh. Feels like a past life, man.</p>