I think @jamini makes some good points. Even at RSI, I’ve heard that a lot of kids work on projects that they have been working on before RSI. I’ve often wondered if this is really true.
I would just make sure that you have the opportunity to do independent research at Georgia Tech and are not just washing test tubes.
Good luck!
Do you guys think it’s too late to reach out to a mentor? What did you say in your email? Did you email several researchers?
Yeah March 1st was the deadline for requesting mentors. Look at mentors under the about tab on the Simons website. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Oh ok. thanks anyway!
would it be strange to update Simons with some accolades? I’m planning to do that…
@BasedBioGod you mean by email?
@brainchild11
yup
i actually already did…hopefully it’s something standard
I just saw that the 2015 Intel STS 2nd place winner for Innovation was a Simons Fellow. They are now awarding three different 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners with the prizes being $150,000, $75,000, and $35,000, respectively. Wow!
Decisions are starting to come out by email
Accepted! Might do ssp though
Accepted
@Astros12 How do you know you’re in SSP already? Simons doesn’t accept international applicants.
Rejected…guess I should have contacted a mentor earlier 
ACCEPTED AND LITERALLY SO SURPRISED!! Sorry I really just cannot contain my excitement right now. I seriously did not think there was a good chance of me getting in; I confirmed my mentor about 10 days ago (way after the deadline) but he said he emailed the program chair himself, which might have carried more weight. Either way I CANNOT WAIT!!! Congrats to everyone else and I can’t wait to meet you!
I’m considering declining Simons to wait and hear from ssp. Are you going to Simons? @Multiverse7
@Astros12 Still waiting to hear if I got in first. You must be a pretty strong applicant for SSP!
@astros12 You would chose SSP over Simons??? SSP is good, but Simons is more prestigious for real research in the eyes of any competitive admissions office. And has more success in competitions if that is an interest of yours.
Rejected (should have contacted mentors early and more)
@jamini Have you heard anything yet? I still haven’t
@jamini I think it’s an apples and oranges comparison - Simons vs. SSP. Would an SSP attendee even have a project to compete with for Intel or Siemens? They do get to name an asteroid I believe that is recorded by Smithsonian.