@Sinphirho2 Haha I just reread my essays that I wrote for SSP and the feeling just got worse xD.
I’ve gotten acceptance in YSPA. Now idk how I feel about SSP.
If it comes down to it, which one should I choose?
@szhang9246 Same…I thought when applying that I’d pick SSP for sure, but I’ve looked into YSPA so much now (the blog is great) that I don’t know. Still don’t know whether I’ll get into SSP, of course.
@schrodingersowl yeah exactly. SSP was my main attraction and YSPA was only something that I learned later and applied more as a backup. That blog though was really eye-opening with all their activities and such.
Is there a similar blog about SSP?
Yep, there’s one for each campus: https://ssp2016nmt.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/ and https://ssp2016cub.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/ from last year. They’re not quite as detailed about daily life and other activities as the YSPA one, though.
@szhang9246 Here are the blogs for both campuses for last year. Great reads!
Colorado: https://ssp2016cub.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/
New Mexico: https://ssp2016nmt.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/
@schrodingersowl Did you get into YSPA?
After getting rejected from YSPA I’m hoping immensely that I get into either campus, even if that means missing Girls State this summer. I probably won’t get in, though. Just got to remain optimistic! 
YSPA is great because it’s close to where I live (way closer than CUB or NMT for sure) and I’m also applying to Yale next year. SSP, however, is longer and I get to travel on a plane to get there. They’re also in completely different parts of the country from where I live and have traveled, so it would be great to have the opportunity to explore. An added bonus about SSP is that they have more financial aid as well as a travel stipend; I would need that.
Guys I really want to know my chances of getting in. I’m a junior and I haven’t done any research before but I’ve taken advantage of the science classes I have. I’ve spent a lot of my time engineering in FIRST FTC robotics and wrote about that in some of my essays. I’m applying to biochem.
I have a 4.0 (4.5)
1520 PSAT
1580 SAT
800 Math 2
800 Chem
Thoughts?
Just got rejected from HSHSP…granted my SSP essays were much better but I’m feelin pretty pessimistic rn
@szhang9246 Are you an international? And YSPA is great as well. SSP & YSPA conduct joint observation programs, during their asteroid orbit determination project. So it’s good as well.
Sorry to interrupt, but did anybody here apply to Stanford GeneCamp? And if so, did anybody get notified of it as of now?
Is GeneCamp super competitive? Haven’t found much information about it online
@florencewelch666 No I’m domestic.
@szhang9246 I’m pretty sure that they are basically the same things, except YSPA is newer. They do the same projects (I think–don’t quote me).
I just read my application essays again and I actually feel really good because it’s one of the best essays I wrote. But I feel insecure about the admissionbecause I am a sophomore… And score wise, I have most of the tests done except SAT 1 so I am a bit worried about that lol. I am pretty sure my teachers wrote me a good recommendation essay because they want the best for me so… welp
@szhang9246 Well the choice really lies in your hand after this much speculation. Let SSP release its decisions first, and then think again thoroughly. Hope whatever you choose turns out to be the best for you!
SSP is definitely way better than YSPA. YSPA is just a knockoff version of SSP that claims to be better because it’s at Yale. Let’s not forget that SSP is the one that’s actually affiliated with MIT and Caltech. Also, it becomes clear from YSPA’s director’s remarks that he is clearly incredibly self-promoting, which says a lot about his character and the character of YSPA. I don’t know why anyone would go to YSPA over SSP if accepted to both other than being attracted to the Yale eliteness that YSPA claims is its own.
I won a title at a math competition yesterday, but do you guys think it’s too late to include that in the Note to Admissions Committee sections considering that fact that decisions are expected to come out this Monday?
Probably, but it couldn’t hurt
I’m a parent, and I don’t think the professor who runs YSPA is a salesman, and I wouldn’t call YPSA a “knockoff” because that has bad connotations.
Professor Faison is an SSP alumni and is involved with volunteering for SSP. It looks to me like SSP is happy about him starting YSPA; it is not an antagonistic relationship as far as I could tell.
SSP has wanted to find ways to expand beyond serving 72 students for a few years. The bio campus is the culmination of that and is funded by an expansion grant. But YSPA is also essentially an expansion of the SSP idea. Since SSP has been around since 1959, astronomy technology was of course very different then. There seem to always be different schools of thought within SSP about whether current students should be doing things “the hard way” or using the latest astro technology. (If you read the old SSP newsletters, it appears there was resistance when they went from photographic plates to digital photos.)
I’m sure Professor Faison has had to answer that same “YSPA vs. SSP” question a number of times last year and this year. The message pasted above is similar to what he sent my son last year. (I remember the fork part.)
My son was lucky to be able to choose between SSP and YSPA last year. He chose SSP, partly because YSPA was new and untested that year, partly because of the whole alumni-owned tradition thing, and partly because he knows he does more work in person than online and didn’t trust himself to do the online work. The more advanced technology at YSPA was certainly a draw for him, however.
Good luck to all of you who are waiting to hear! I know it is tough waiting. You are all students who are really interested in learning because learning is fun. That by itself will take you far, and I wish you all the best.
Hi all. A colleague made me aware of this thread. I’m the current Academic Director of YSPA and occasional past Academic Director or AAD of SSP. I’m saddened that there are these misunderstandings about YSPA and SSP.
I started teaching at SSP in 2003 when it was located in Ojai, CA, and I was blown away by the quality of students and their engagement, the challenges and joys of the asteroid OD project, and the closeness of the SSP family. My summers at SSP have been some of the best teaching experiences of my life, and I am still in touch with many of my students and colleagues from those years. (Indeed, two of our TA’s at YSPA this year are my former SSP students.)
I wanted to extend the experience of SSP to include at least some of the exceptionally qualified students who are not admitted to SSP each year (simply because there isn’t space), I wanted to make use of the excellent facilities we have for student research at the Leitner Observatory, and I wanted to make some updates to the SSP curriculum. If you were at a university starting an SSP-like program today from scratch, it would not look exactly the same as SSP does right now, and those of us in the Yale Astronomy Department who are shaping YSPA going forward are thinking hard about what we might keep or adapt from the successful model of SSP and what makes sense to completely change.
I wouldn’t say that YSPA is a knock-off of SSP, but it is the fruit of SSP. Over time, the style and structure of YSPA will likely change relative to SSP, and the two programs will influence each other. In some years (including probably this year), YSPA and SSP students are able to collaborate and share data or other resources, which is win-win for all of us. I want SSP to be the best that it can be, and I want YSPA to be the best that it can be. We’re on the same team.
Congrats to this year’s SSP students and best of luck to future applicants. If you are admitted to SSP, congrats and perhaps I’ll see you at an SSP alumni event in the future, or maybe I’ll see you at the observatory at Yale in a year or so! If you are admitted to both SSP and YSPA, there are differences between the programs, but both are excellent opportunities to have an amazing summer experience… make the most of it!