Summer Programs- How can students improve?

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
1

<p>Hello fellow CC-ers, </p>

<p>I applied this year to around four summer programs (two paid, two unpaid) and were rejected from all four. I was honestly a bit traumatized since I applied to programs that were not very well-known in addition to one that was very prestigious.</p>

<p>I have planned out my high school "career" pretty extensively and thought I was doing pretty well for my age, but obviously I haven't been getting the results I wanted.
I was hoping to share some of my stats and get some tips:</p>

<p>What do you think I'm doing wrong?
How can I improve my chances of getting in next year?</p>

<p>My stats:
-Sophomore
-Ranked in top 1% of my class at a very rigorous private high school
-Classes: Taking all Honors/AP classes available to me</p>

<p>-Perfect ACT score of 36
-Qualified for AIME, Scored top 1% of test-takers for the AMC12
-SAT II French subject test score 780
-Won several national honors for the National French Exam</p>

<p>-Volunteer 6-8 hours a week, with extensive work in humanitarian aid/education on a national level
-Started my own club for supplemental education at my school</p>

<p>-National orchestra for trumpet
-Marching Band
-Honors Orchestra for 6 years
-Won several competitions</p>

<p>-Only summer activities was COSMOS, California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science</p>

<p>I think some of my major flaws are that I don't have sports and that my school doesn't offer many AP's until Junior Year. I lack science awards.
I want to major in biology or sociology in college and was hoping to gain research experience this summer.</p>

<p>If you could offer any advice at all on why you think I didn't get in and how I could improve, I would appreciate your help so much. </p>

<p>Thank you to everyone who responds, and congratulations to all the hardworking students who got into the programs of their choice!</p>

2

<p>Sounds like you have pretty good credentials. You just have to accept that sometimes things are not meant to be. Could it be that others had connections? There could have been so many reasons that are not even related to you. If there is an interview sometimes that has a big impact. I’ve read so many times on the CC board about students with top notch credentials not getting into programs and others with less get in. Must be something at the interview? or is it in the stars? Either way, don’t beat yourself up about it. Someone as accomplished as yourself could definitely come up with something to do over the summer I am sure of it. Focus on building your people skills which will always get you far even if your scores drop.</p>

3

<p>Which programs did you apply to? A lot of research programs are quite competitive.</p>

<p>I second Midhelper. You’ve achieved a lot already as only a sophomore; I can’t see anything you’ve done wrong! I don’t think what you listed as your major flaws (lack of sports/APs) is a big reason for getting rejected. More likely, there are just too many competitive applicants and there’s a limit to the number of people each program to accept! maybe your essays/short answers on the applications didn’t have what they were looking for? The essays are pretty important in distinguishing between two applicant with nearly similar objective stats.</p>

<p>If you’d like to get research experience this summer, I highly recommend contacting local college professors who have labs, or any research institutes nearby, and see if you can help out at their labs in any way! Get as much hands on experience as you can.
You could also design and conduct your own science project, and maybe enter it in the science fair later in the year.</p>

4

<p>Midhelper:
There weren’t any interviews but I certainly appreciate your help. Hopefully I’ll have some better luck next time.</p>

<p>Archaic:
I agree that I should work on my essays- I’m guessing that might have hurt me some?
I think I will take your advice on contacting some nearby labs, thanks!
I applied to: Iowa SSTP, YSP Davis, Carleton CLAE, and Santa Clara Summer Engineering Seminar. From what I heard, I thought the first two were very difficult to get in and the latter two not quit as difficult.</p>

5

<p>Ohh hey! I applied for SSTP, YSP and SCU SES last summer and got in all of them. Ended up going to YSP and SES. I applied as a rising senior though. As a rising junior, I applied for SES but didn’t get in. The majority of people at both programs were rising seniors, not juniors - I’m pretty sure they give preference to rising seniors because sophomores still have another chance to apply the next year. Definitely reapply next summer if you’re interested in them, both are really great programs!</p>

<p>Looking back at what you wrote above, I don’t see anything that strongly expresses your interest in science (other than COSMOS). Note, my school also doesn’t offer APs until junior year and I had no science awards or competitions, but I had taken honors/AP sciences and taken SAT II Bio and Chem (and I went to COSMOS after sophomore year). So you definitely need to convey why you’re interested in science research (or engineering for SES) very strongly in your essays. Especially for YSP!!!</p>

6

<p>Archaic:</p>

<p>That’s incredible, good for you!
Unfortunately at my school the science olympiad/science fair/anything remotely scientific extracurricular related is so competitive that only juniors and seniors get to participate. Right now I finished a lot of my prerequisites for school and am taking both Biology and Chemistry (will take APChem and ABio next year). I think it will be difficult to balance science extracurriculars and the volunteering that I do (which I would not give up for the world).</p>

<p>Not sure what to do since colleges want to see a lot of activities in the field you want to study. The upside is that my goal is to go to Cambridge (UK), and Cambridge bases its admission almost purely on academics alone.</p>

7

<p>Thank you! Hope it didn’t sound like bragging, I wasn’t trying to. If you would like me to, I can read over your essays and see if there’s anything you could improve/change.</p>

<p>Whaaat, so even freshmen/sophomores who are smarter or have better projects are forbidden from participating, simply due to their age? o__O
Okay, it’s good that you’ll be taking those APs next year. Are you taking any science SAT II this June?</p>

<p>It’s definitely not easy to balance everything. Sometimes it feels like colleges expect more than we can possibly give. Don’t overburden yourself and don’t give up your volunteering if you really enjoy it!
Actually, a lot of colleges don’t even consider your specific major when you apply. As long as you dedicate yourself to SOMETHING (like your volunteering) and do well in academics, I think you’ll be fine.</p>

<p>Cambridge~ That’s awesome! Good luck (:</p>

8

<p>No, it’s definitely nice to hear success stories! </p>

<p>I think there’s one sophomore on the science olympiad team but it requires an insane amount of work just to qualify, so I chose not to get into that kind of thing.
I’m not taking any science SAT II’s, but I took the Math II and am getting scores back tomorrow.
As for Cambridge, a lot of people think I’m crazy but it’s good to dream big, right? :slight_smile: Hopefully I won’t be crushed if/when I get rejected! Fingers have been crossed for a while. </p>

<p>Thanks for the advice- really means a lot to me.</p>

9

<p>Hello Catch221,
Don’t be too hard on yourself about not getting into summer programs. The competition has risen significantly. My younger son applied to ~8 programs and was initially rejected by all of them. A student dropped out to one of the programs at the last minute and he was offered a spot. He is a high school junior and has a similar profile to yours - top grades/test scores, AIME qualifier, active in band, club Pres, volunteers, etc. Unfortunately, this profile is not unique. Participation in competitive sports is not critical for acceptance. As a sophomore, the key focus should be what skills, experiences can you gain that would make your application more competitive/stand out next summer as a junior? Here are some ideas: 1) Join a biology community group (see [BioCurious</a> | Experiment with friends](<a href=“http://biocurious.org/]BioCurious”>http://biocurious.org/)) and contribute to summer research project or participate in public classes, 2) Learn a computer language (C or Java) via an online course or self-study. Most labs are looking for students with some comp sci. 3) Identify any family members, parents’ close friends who have contacts in university/local college research labs and get them to make intro so you can volunteer. Most of the top summer programs ask for SAT scores, so you could also start studying on the side over the summer and take this test before Dec of junior year. Good luck!</p>