Summer Science Program 2016

@kattymiao When I emailed SSP to ask them about transcripts, they said that they don’t accept “unofficial” transcripts from students and that I should ask my guidance counselor to send them in, and that the transcripts should include all grades from freshman fall to junior winter. I told my guidance counselor to email my official transcript to admissions@ssp.org, and she seemed to understand what “official” transcript meant.

If my official transcript arrives after the deadline, do you think they’ll care much? It’ll be postmarked before the deadline, but it’s going to be sent tomorrow, so I don’t know if it’ll arrive in time. I can send them an unofficial transcript in the meantime.

@tonystarkofwinterfell According to the SSP website, “The deadline is not absolute. Applications arriving a couple of days late will still be reviewed. But don’t push your luck. See next question.” And then the next answer says, Doing whatever you need to do to get all required parts of your application to us by the deadline is your responsibility. Confirm with your teachers and school that they sent the required parts, and to log in to confirm that we have them. Don’t assume anything. Once the deadline is passed, we need to move our process along quickly. Unlike many programs, we do not use “rolling admissions”. A late application is a late application; why it is late is not especially interesting or relevant to us.

Asdf I’ll email them the unofficial transcript just in case it doesn’t arrive by the deadline. Not sure how much time mail usually takes to arrive.

I feel like if it’s postmarked before 3/4 you’ll be fine

Is there any other way to convey my extracurricular activities, awards, etc., other than through the short answers? This application seems to be asking for a lot less than many other summer program applications.

Also, what are you guys submitting for the optional supplemental component? Resume? Another essay?

I’m not sure if I should still apply because I’m not really interested in astrophysics, I honestly just want to do a summer program. Are all of you genuinely interested?
And are all of you submitting a supplemental component?

@kattymiao I read that a lot of alumni aren’t necessarily interested in just astrophysics/don’t plan to pursue a career in astrophysics, but they are genuinely interested in the opportunity to be exposed to different STEM fields.

Does Friday by midnight mean… Thursday night 11:59 or Friday 11:59 PM?

@curiousgeorgerp I’d say to include a resume as your supplementary information so you can list all your extracurriculars there.

@tauisgood Friday 11:59 PM

I’m definitely interested in the subject; for a while, I wanted to major in astrophysics at college (now it’s computer science and geology, but still. astrophysics = bae.).

I’m using my resume as supplementary material. It demonstrates my breadth, especially since I talked about having two loves in my application.

It’s Friday 11:59 PM? Oh thank god. I thought it was today… last minute editing is always fun

I don’t know why there isn’t that much of a discussion this year compared to that of 2015 or 2014!
Regardless… my application is done… now I just have to wait and pray that I get in…

I’m finishing my app up tonight as well! I have a conference tomorrow, which means no submitting at 11:59 PM exact for me (which, sadly, I have done before).

Do you guys think I should include an abstract for the research I did last summer in my resume, or nah? I already mentioned that I presented it at a conference and described it in a sentence, but that’s about it.

Is anyone actually writing something for #6, the broader context/ personal issues one?

@kattymiao I didn’t, as I felt there was nothing significant enough in my life to feel like I’m not making excuses (I don’t know whether this is the right way to think about it).

I just finished (well, last-minute re-wrote) my last essay during school lunch and hit submit. Fingers are crossed until the notification date!

@coffeeaddicted just to clarify, there is no final “submit” button, right? As long as we have “yes” and >= 2 teacher recs, we’re “submitted”?

@tauisgood correct–I was talking about the essays.

This is a bit at the last minute. What exactly is an official transcript and how does it need to be submitted. I go to a slightly different school, and my transcript is being sent by an academic counselor.

@bob6500 An official transcript is a basically a copy of the classes you’ve taken since 9th grade, your final grades, and your GPA. It’s a summary of your high school grades. If you ask you counselor to send your transcript, I’m pretty sure that makes it “official.” Just ask your counselor to attach your transcript in PDF form and send it via email to SSP.