Hi there! I didn’t see a thread for SSP this year so I decided it would be nice to make one since the application starts today. I’m not sure how much advice I personally can give, but feel free to ask questions about the application here and hopefully I or someone else (an alumnus, perhaps?) can answer them. I’m applying to the Astrophysics program as a junior. Nice to meet you all!
Hey fellow applicants, applying to SSP 2019 as an international student! Hope to make it to astrophysics program! Good luck everyone!
Hey I am also applying to SSP biochem. Do you think they accept much international students.
I think they usually have about 10-12 international students of the 72 total for astrophysics, so I assume that 6/36 for biochem would be international? Don’t quote me on this though.
collegeapplicant123, I’m also applying to astrophysics but from illinois instead :D. Honestly, this year is the first year I’m taking physics and I lack any physics related test scores or competitions (except maybe f=ma this year) so I just hope my passion for physics/math might pull me through :’).
I haven’t looked much into the application form do they ask for ECAs?
ECA = Extracurricular Activities? If so, then I don’t think SSP has a section specifically for you to just list them, but they do have an essay prompt about your extracurriculars where you can elaborate more.
Just noticed they added UCSD for biochemistry. anyone knows how many students will they admit for UCSD?
Oh! You’re right! That’s pretty interesting; I had no idea they expanded biochem to two campuses.
I don’t know how many students they are going to take, but I do know this:
- Purdue took 36 last year and will likely do so this year
- The year that Purdue launched (2 years ago), it only took 24 people.
Thus, I think that UCSD may take 24 since this is its first year. Then again, they might expand it straight to 36 since the biochem program has been established for a couple years now.
What math/science classes are you guys taking this year?
Hey guys, is there going to be a competition between me and my friend if we are applying from the same school (and the same country…), but to different campuses. I am applying to astrophysics and he is applying to biochem.
I’m pretty sure you are not directly competing with your friend, only with the international applicants interested in astro.
@fouriercat I am taking precalcus and physics. Actually I can’t decide which courses I should take because there is specified list of subjects from the government. There is no AP or honors program. The good thing is college prep years( grade 11& 12) are considered as college freshmen year.
Hey SSP applicants… you should consider also applying to the Yale Summer Program in Astrophysics (yspa.yale.edu). I was an instructor at SSP for many years, and I decided to start a new program at Yale based on the structure of SSP. We accept 32 rising high school seniors to come to Yale and use our telescopes to do research on extragalactic supernovae. We also have other enrichment activities like field trips to New York, guest speakers, a college essay writing workshop (with Yale admissions officers), building a spectrograph, and so on. Take a look at the website and let us know if you have any questions.
@Tsitobia Cool. I’m taking Multi and AP Physics 1/2 (no calc) this year. I’m sure SSP won’t hold it against you if you don’t take any AP/honors classes since your school doesn’t offer them.
For the first essay (topic in science you are interested in), are you writing about a broad topic (i.e physics, bio, chem) or a more specific topic (i.e. particle physics, some subsection of bio, etc.) or something even more specific (i.e. a research topic)?
YSPA sounds pretty cool; I’ll check it out 
Hey everybody I was at SSP 18 astro! Feel free to message me anything 
Any advice on describing yourself on the short answers?
@JohnJohn10 Are you applying to biochem or physics?
SSP 18 Biochem alum here. Feel free to message me or ask questions about SSP.