<p>I'm just curious, I hard is it to get into these summer programs. If one has good grades, like a 104.4 GPA and a, lets say 2200/2400 SAT score, but no actual "hook" that real college admissions require, what are the chances of acceptance into SUMaC and RSI?</p>
<p>Dude, you could probably get into SUMAC with those scores in your sleep but umm RSI is a different story...that might just be reserved for your dreams with your credentials.;)</p>
<p>SUMaC requires an interest in math...which SAT and GPA don't really show. </p>
<p>The acceptance rate is decent -- around 33%. It's not necessarily something you could get in "in your sleep" though, especially without interest shown through competitions, recommendations, and work on qualifying problem set.</p>
<p>So, then I suppose its safe to say that RSI is probably more challenging, and prestigious, right?</p>
<p>Well, I have had two major internships, one at Brookhaven Hospital, and the other at Hi-Tech Pharmical, a booming company that specializes in chemistry and pharmaceuticals (which I so stupidly forgot to add in one of my other "chance or no chance" type of thread). At the pharmiceutical lab, I got to work a lot with an analytical chemist, and gained lots of knowledge in that specific field. Would it help a lot if I can get letters of recommendations confirming my aptitude for science from these two places. I really do love science and hope to go to medical school in the future. As for the math, I made top twenty in the New York state mathletes competition. And I have extraordinary math grades which should not cause a challenge to get great letters of recommendation from my math teachers. Also, I did get a 770 on the math part of the SAT's. But I am still not sure of the competition I'll be facing in this admissions process, what would you guys evaluate my chances as now.</p>
<p>you can never tell with RSI. They have quotas of admits for each state, and NY is probably the toughest state to get in from (you prolly know why...)</p>
<p>for SUMaC, I need more concrete info. you did compete in more math competitions, no? oh, and it's tougher for guys to get in, too, 'cause they maintain a roughly 1:1 guy-to-girl ratio. hmm maybe a 3:2 ratio, ish. but the guys i knew were all wicked smart.</p>
<p>wait, are you from 2005, Cortigiana? (I must know you if you are)</p>
<p>I think it's too late for you to apply to either program shsman2091 unless you are a sophmore--in which case, you have next year.</p>
<p>Is RSI really by state rather than region? I mean, how do you know this? :p</p>
<p>no, sorry, '04.</p>
<p>RSI: I don't remember. I was following the RSI thread last year, and they said that NY was one of the toughest states/regions =P.</p>
<p>did anybody get into MIT from sumac?</p>
<p>for the sumac research project, can you send that into the colleges?<br>
can you get the professor recommendations for OTHER colleges?</p>
<p>just curious.. hope somebody can answer these questions</p>
<p>I think people got in; I don't think anyone is going, however. </p>
<p>The SUMaC research project is not original work so you don't send it to other colleges(I guess you can, but it doesn't do anything). </p>
<p>I am not sure about the last one, but as I heard from the seniors last year, a recommendation letter from a professor is awfully useful.</p>
<p>3 people got into MIT from sumac (0 going). a few were rejected or waitlisted though. and yes you can get your professor to write recommendations for other colleges.</p>
<p>from '04, 3 that i know of got in, 1 i think is going. the research project wasn't intensive enough to be worth much to colleges. it was fun tho!</p>
<p>is it hard to persuade a prof to get recommendation? isn't there only two..i think it'd be hard though if you're thinking of applying to at least 5 schools
they might just do it for stanford</p>
<p>i heard a lot of ppl went to good schools from this program.. but are there more juniors or seniors who do this.. generally each year?</p>
<p>There are more seniors - iirc, there were 7 juniors last year.</p>
<p>juniors are seniors are about half and half. i think 18-ish each.</p>
<p>like people have said, the profs are more than happy to write you a rec. or you can ask the TAs (you're assigned to one TA so s/he might know you better). i know that the prof offered to write me recs for more than just stanford if i needed to, but i didn't ask for more than 1.</p>
<p>[EDIT] lol. just saw logicus' reply. i guess it varies?</p>
<p>Oh boy did this thread discourage me even more. I'm a male New Yorker. Oh God! Life is over as I know it!!! j/k. But I'm curious, I'm a sophomore, and since registration for this summer is already over, what can I do to increase my chances DRASTICALLY for getting into RSI. I have decent grades, and I can great letters of recommendation from my math and science teachers since they know my love for these areas. I came in 10th place in the New York Math Olympiads contest. Is that good, or still missing the mark that these programs set?</p>
<p>do you do any national level math stuff? I imagine RSI looks for more than just one thing.</p>
<p>But to drastically increase your chances, you probably have to do something really drastic like uh...get in mop? Or if you do well in research.</p>
<p>(I did neither, I also got waitlisted first, so it's probably good to do one :P)</p>
<p>Oh, I see. No, haven't done any national stuff yet. I think I have the potential though, just gotta crack open some fatter books this summer. Anyhow, how do you think you got in? Was it grades, some other program, some hook, etc? </p>
<p>Also, when you say do well in research, do you have any tips on how to get started? Because I'm lost in that area. I went to the RSI website, and it said that many projects done their are used as the basis for many entries into competitions such as that of Intel, but I don't have a clue on how to get started alone.</p>
<p>I am not sure how I got in -- it probably helped that i am from a crappy midwestern state where few people ever apply. I suspect I had good recommendations, though I didn't read them. My essay was sort of crappy(I had grammar mistakes) and I basically wrote about various things I took an interest in in the past few years. My grades and test scores were probably pretty average for someone applying to RSI. If you really care, i posted them in a page on this particular forum a few pages back.</p>
<p>I don't know how to get started in actual research; hence, I didn't have any for my application.</p>
<p>Yes, I see. Thank you for your help with this topic, you have been very helpful.</p>
<p>One doesn't know about getting into MOP until AFTER one knows about getting into RSI, if I remember the dates for each program correctly.</p>