I’d write a coherent essay. If you can respond to all of them in one essay, then you can, but you don’t have to.
I want to second @tonystarkofwinterfell 's question on whether or not we should include non-science extracurriculars on our supplement. Also is it recommended that the essays/short answers are close to the capped word limit, or is short and sweet just as good?
I’m applying too. Do not have a great test score but still taking chance to apply
F.Y.I.
SSP will be expanding to Purdue University :O! There will be 3 campuses for SSP '17. For the summer of '16, SSP '15 will be testing out the Biochemistry curriculum planned for Purdue! Unfortunately, you guys won’t be able to apply for this :/…just wanted to note this for future reference.
Information here:
http://www.summerscience.org/about/life-science-research-projects/
Hey - SSP 2015 here. You can find answers to most of these questions by searching for past SSP threads. Personally the only thing remotely close to astronomy on my application was talking about KSP and how much i enjoyed building rockets in the game.
Hi! I have an idea very few sophomores are admitted but I lie somewhere between being a sophomore and a high school junior applicant. Does anyone has any stats as to how many were admitted last year? I have a SAT score of 2370, and a bit of experience is Asteroid search, tmk.
They take very few sophomores. I’ve seen some years where only 1 was taken and some where as many as 4. I don’t know if they have some internal limit but the competition is really stiff if you’re a sophomore, Don’t know what you mean you’re in between a sophomore and a junior. If you’re graduating next year, you’re considered a junior. If you’re not, you’re a sophomore.
Hi guys! I’m considering applying to SSP. I have no research experience nor any stellar science ECs. However, I have preformed well on many math competitions, and I am sure that I will be able to demonstrate strong passion for math. What are my chances?
Does SSP also offer mathematical research like RSI? From their website, I got the idea that they mainly, if not only, do science research.
Hey RSI & SSP squad! XD good seeing you guys here.
@Runkeeper From what I’ve read on the website/alumni, it seems that SSP is largely focused on astrophysics research. The project involves exploring experimental methods as well as gaining experience in the observatory. The entire program revolves around a group project that ties in physics, calculus, and python in determining the orbit of an asteroid. It doesn’t seem like there is a lot of freedom allowed outside of that big group project.
Again, this is just what I’ve read from the website/alumni. 
Hi, guys! I have a question. Is the character limit strict? Can I exceed the limit a little bit?
@shanghai001 I bet its fine, but I wouldn’t push my luck. Often, if you look closely enough you’ll find the places you can take out some words.
@shanghai001 I’m not sure if the form allows anything above the character limit? Some forms cut off responses after a certain point.
Question: I have a borderline-megabyte planetary science conference paper which I’m first author of. Is this the kind of thing they want in “supplementary material?” It seems pretty long, but the abstract alone doesn’t seem worth sending IMO
@coffeeaddicted I don’t think you need the whole thing in supplementary material; maybe mention in a resume that you submit as supplementary material.
Also, another question- would they want competition scores like from AMC and such? If so, should they be submitted in the test scores sections or put in a resume or what?
@Falcon1 thanks! Are prerequisites like Calculus or Physics mandatory, don’t they appreciate some research papers or similar sort of work? tmk, if they can exempt guys without calculus, having these things.
@hmvdrt2016 Their website says that if you’re a junior, you must’ve completed either Calculus or Physics by summer. If you’re a sophomore, you must’ve taken both.
I think both are OK. I put AMC on the test section.
Heyyy nice to find a thread here.
I am also curious about the ‘supplementary information’
Is it for just anything? Like my resume…?
Also, I have 3 SAT subject scores (Math level 2/Chem/Phys) and AMC score and 3 AP scores (Calc BC/Chem/Phys1)
Since there are only 6 blanks for the test score, I do not know which will be better to put!
(I know the test scores are not as important as the essays… but still)
I’m just adding in a resume in the supplementary information portion. I have a poster of research I completed last summer, but it’s paleobiology, so not really related to SSP. Either way, it was a pretty simple data analysis project–it was mostly just tedious (and writing the code for the graphs was a pain).
@tonystarkofwinterfell I’ve written a conference paper and am entering a science fair with a poster in a little over a week, with basically the same project. Do you think it’d be okay to include the paper’s abstract and the poster? I wanted to include the graphs and such since it’d show the complexity of the project but I also wanted to send something that was accepted to a conference lol