<p>@otter101 She’s also like, freaking homecoming queen and it’s not fair. </p>
<p>@topaz1116 I know!!! I saw it on Facebook and I was like, not even surprised LOL. </p>
<p>From what I gathered from reading through the threads of previous years and the SIMR accepted, the determining factor to whom SIMR picks is the essays.<br>
Generally, the people accepted were all around good students, but SIMR seemed to have picked mostly based on essays. Obviously, the other stuff helps (APs, SAT and AP scores. ECs), but it seemed like showing your passion for biomedical sciences via essays was what they cared the most about. </p>
<p>Note from a parent of a Stanford High School Summer Intern (not SIMR) last year - under 18 housing is a TOUGH challenge in Palo Alto/Bay Area in the summer. SIMR requires written verification of your housing with a supervising adult. Your parents can try to rent a Stanford family apartment and MUST be there with you (expensive) since under 18 you cannot stay in Univ housing without being part of a supervised program. Craigslist is another option, but places are terribly expensive and you really need to be there to actually see them to snap one up. My D and I ended up camping in a cheap hotel which was still about 200 a night, after months of effort, until she found a spare room in another high school supervised program (paid full freight for the program to get the room). Her lab partner stayed in a church an hour away from campus and took the train. There are no easy solutions unless you have family nearby.</p>
<p>@2prepMom, thanks for sharing your experience. A couple of years ago, DS didn’t apply precisely because we thought we would not be able to maneuver though the housing requirement. </p>
<p>I had a friend who rented a room from one of the grad student housings for cheap! And I know someone who rented an small apartment (not incredibly close, but decently enough) for a month, though that was probably much more expensive. </p>
<p>@otter101 (or anyone else), if one were to rent a little ways away (say up by Oregon Expressway, near Steve Jobs’ house) and did not drive, are there ways to commute in? Maybe bike to downtown near the library and catch a bus or something?</p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool I know that there are buses that go to Stanford; that’s how my cousin got there last summer (although I don’t know why she didn’t drive). Stanford should be easy to access through bus from the Bay Area, since it’s such a popular tourist destination.</p>
<p>The CALTRAIN is very dependable and there is a stop at the entrance to Stanford, which is serviced by the Marguerite shuttle bus every few minutes, which goes all over campus. </p>
<p>Thanks @topaz1116 and @2prepmom. So she would just need to get from the outer reaches of PA (around Oregon Expy & the 101) into downtown near the train station. I’m sure that is doable by bike or local bus. Looks promising!</p>
<p>@2prepmom- lab partner stayed in a church? Did they know she was in there? Did she sleep in the pews? How do you stay in a church? Fascinating!</p>
<p>With CALTRAIN you could even live right in SF! Wouldn’t that be fun? Do the students have programming (i.e. do they work on campus) on the weekends, or do some go off exploring? For a high-school student, walking up from the CALTRAIN terminus up to Market and even into Chinatown would be no big deal.</p>
<p>I plan to stay with a family friend and possibly rent housing through his name if I’m accepted !</p>
<p>@ItsJustSchool You could live in SF, but remember that living in SF is pretty expensive. It’s actually not that hard to walk around SF without using Caltrain or whatever; if needed, there’s always trolleys or trams or whatever they’re called. SF isn’t actually that big–it’s just really hilly. </p>
<p>I’m applying this year! I want to get in sosososo badly, but I’m also a bit worried cause I’ve had absolutely no lab research experience… will that be a problem? </p>
<p>From talking to others, that would be a disadvantage, but it seemed like it’s not impossible to get in without the experience. You should go for it, but keep in mind that you are at a disadvantage. </p>
<p>@joeythedog I have very little serious research outside of something small I pursued in my high school lab. I have a ltot of clinic experience though, so don’t worry you are not alone. </p>
<p>I’m applying for SIMR and the NIH internships in neurology. Hope we all get in! :)</p>
<p>^^ Thanks for bringing it up! A while back I did the NIH summer internship program. Basically, it’s an 8-10 week biomedical research internship at the National Institutes of Health in Washington DC, and they pay you approximately a $4,000-$5,000 stipend to cover costs (commuting, etc). It’s a very prestigious program (even more so that SIMR in my opinion 
). However, you NEED to spend a lot of time working diligently on the application. The key to getting in is really just submitting an early application and then emailing prospective Principle Investigators (PI) for lab positions. On the NIH website, there is a database of available PI’s and their labs, which is easily accessible by Google.</p>
<p>For the application, you have to fill out your basic information, like your coursework, GPA, etc. You also have to fill out a cover letter, and sample cover letters are available on the website. There’s also a video on how to apply somewhere there too. It is a competitive position, and there are around 8,000 applicants every year for only 700 spots, so APPLY EARLY! Lab positions are taken up pretty quickly, although the submission deadline is sometime in March. After submitting your application, you should email SEVERAL (I did like 30) principle investigators expressing an interest in their lab and how you would like to contribute to their work. Basically just look them up on the NIH database, read a synopsis of their work, and then tell them why you’re interested. Not trying to dissuade you from SIMR, but NIH is just as noteworthy on an application and has a slightly more forgiving acceptance rate, so if you’re serious about NIH, you should focus on perfecting the application, which isn’t too difficult!
The link to the program is right here: <a href=“Summer Internship Program (SIP) - Training Programs in the Biomedical Sciences - Office of Intramural Training & Education at the National Institutes of Health”>https://www.training.nih.gov/programs/sip</a>. </p>
<p>Of course, don’t hesitate to ask me questions! </p>
<p>hey guys, for the essays, are you addressing each specific point directly? like “my participation in this program fits into my future career because…” or are you containing them more indirectly w/in the body of a more personalized essay? I was doing the latter and reflecting on past experiences that contributed to my passion for science, but then when I sent a snippet for my friend to read he was like “HOW DOES ANY OF THIS ANSWER THE PROMPT”? so now im not sure :</p>
<p>Does anyone know if we are allowed to update our applications with awards/honors AFTER the deadline? </p>
<p>@Nanotech123 do you live in the DMV? Because I live in Cali and I’m thinking of doing the NIH program but idk how I would get housing as a minor.</p>