Summer Science Program (SSP) 2010

<p>As an international student, I haven’t taken PSAT or SAT since I haven’t prepared for SAT.
I’ve only taken 2 SAT Subject tests( math2 and physics).
Will it be a disadvantage that I only have SAT2 scores</p>

<p>To be honest, not taking the SAT is definitely a disadvantage. However, if you have taken a similar test (ACT, TOEFL, or GRE), it would make up for the lack of SAT I scores.</p>

<p>people who went last year and those applying this year</p>

<p>how good do your reqs have to be</p>

<p>if the teacher checked top 5% for everything does that like completely screw you?</p>

<p>Noone really knows - especially because you’re not supposed to have seen your teacher rec. (How would you know you would get mostly 5%'s?) However, it is safe to assume that you probably want to be one of the top students your teacher has taught, as most of the people I had seen at SSP were one of the best students in their schools.</p>

<p>I have a letter somewhere with the average PSAT scores from last year - Bowdoin sent us something after SSP was over… </p>

<p>Found it!</p>

<p>SSP 2009:
Applicants: 315
Enrolled: 72
Mean PSAT of Applicants: 70 CR, 74 M
Mean PSAT of Enrolled: 74 CR, 77 M</p>

<p>Don’t panic, please D:</p>

<p>When I applied I sent in all of the scores I had earned, including a 5 on APUSH/800 US History and a 750 on Math II. My scores made me look relatively weak in math. I did fine. </p>

<p>As for word count on essays, you can cut more. I know you don’t believe this, but you can eliminate part of a story that really doesn’t affect the outcome as much, or you can simply write about something else. Be concise and get your point across. </p>

<p>Teacher recs - I can’t really say much about them. I would think that what the teacher writes about you would be more important than the boxes they check, but that’s just me.</p>

<p>@badfish129:
I know my math teacher checked top 5% for everything. Dunno about my chem teacher, but she didn’t like me too much and I was only okay at chem, so I’m assuming top 5-10%.</p>

<p>My take on word count:
My writing always tends to be extremely wordy, and I definitely exceeded the word count by at least 50 words for most of the short answers. The readers probably won’t be counting the number of words in your essays, but, as book_worm said, just make sure each sentence says something new and makes the essay move forward.</p>

<p>with teacher recs, i would say that theyre seemingly given very little weight in comparison to everything else.</p>

<p>cuz i still remember how much i freaked out when i gave the recommendation form to my physics teacher at the beginning of class one day, and how (shes not the most eloquent of people or anything) at the end of class she already gave it back to me, sealed and everything, along with a copy of her 4 line recommendation for my reference. it was ok.</p>

<p>I just mailed mine today. For those who have mailed out already, did you get any sort of receiving confirmation from SSP?
I think my scores are really low comparing to other applicants.
Hope they will find my essays interesting and teachers recs impresive ( one teacher circled “one of the top few I ever had” for everything, and he said I was the best student in his 33 years of teaching~) </p>

<p>PSAT: 51, 71, 57 *as an exchange student
SAT 2: math 800, physics 800
ACT: 34+36+26+32 C:32
TOEFL: 108</p>

<p>Feel free to leave your opinion about those horrible scores…</p>

<p>Just curious, has anyone been notified of the admission decision yet?</p>

<p>^um, correct me if im wrong but i dont believe the application deadline has passed yet?</p>

<p>zest21:
but someone said before that the admission will come in “three waves”, so it is possible that some decisions are made before the deadline.</p>

<p>^interesting, i didn’t know that. do you think people have less of a chance if they apply later? i hope not haha</p>

<p>Not really – I got in last year having mailed mine in overnight just before the deadline.</p>

<p>@ nopurpose:</p>

<p>Sorry, I gave incorrect information before; there’s been a modification to the admission decision release this year. Decisions are probably going to come out all at once in April.</p>

<p>What should I do if I’m gonna apply but haven’t taken SAT I or II (only date I can take is March 13, due the 15 right? so that wouldn’t work. Or can I tell them that and send in scores late?), and my PSAT is low- 196 b/c I had no prep, now that I have studied I expect at least 2100-2300. I didn’t find out about SSP until like 2 days ago and it seems too late. Ahhh. Also, does living near the campus have any benefits?</p>

<p>@Jobbin:</p>

<p>You probably can send them in a bit later; try e-mailing them to ask.</p>

<p>I’m not sure what you mean by “benefits” - benefits in admission, or during your stay at SSP? I don’t think it really matters in terms of admission, considering that 2/3 of my campus didn’t live in-state. I lived less than an hour (I think?) away from my campus, so my mom dropped by to resupply me with ramen and other study foods/midnight snacks once in a while. :D</p>

<p>Yeah, I emailed them, yet to get a response though. “resupply me with ramen” that’s hilarious. If I get in I’ll tell my mom to do that XD.</p>

<p>Anyways, so is the main thing I should worry about the essays? Just convey myself as an interesting person, considering decent scores/grades/etc., and I have a good shot? Also, on the app I didn’t see anywhere for ECs or awards, is that right?</p>

<p>@Jobbin:</p>

<p>:D There would be a midnight ramen party pretty much every other day. Oh it was glorious… lol I was one of the main ramen suppliers. I also had like a bunch of random Asian snacks. XD And it turns out a lot of people, not just Asians, knew how to use chopsticks…</p>

<p>Well obviously application situations vary from individual to individual, but I was basically lacking in every area so I tried to make up for it with random essays. I mentioned sciencey ECs and awards in my essays (I do believe there was a question about what you enjoy about your ECs or something? Not sure.)</p>

<p>Also, would it be unwise to say my favorite science topic is one other than physics, calculus, physics, or programming? Or does it make much of a difference if i say bioengineering (which does include some computer science and math)? Are the essays mainly to show your personality or for them to find out your interests, or both (mostly the former I’m guessing?)?</p>

<p>And I know people have asked similar questions, but is 275 too much for a 150 word essay?</p>

<p>@Jobbin:</p>

<p>Personally, my favorite science topic is cog neuropsych… but back then, the old application question asked me what my favorite topic in astronomy and/or physics was. I think you can probably try to stress the compsci/math parts of bioengineering, just to be safe. Just, I dunno, relax and just show that you’re having a good time when you’re learning? :]</p>

<p>Ideally, the essays would exhibit both interests/willingness to learn and personality. I’m sure they get enough essays from people who think they’re impressing the adcoms with their advanced knowledge of the field - some of these essays would be truly impressive, while the rest probably deal with topics that are relatively elementary for the readers. I think somebody I knew wrote an app essay trying to explain/show off his knowledge about Schrodinger’s cat. (Not a successful application, btw.) You can probably talk about why Schrodinger’s cat interests you or a personal connection w/ the topic, but the physics profs reading it most likely know more about its technical intricacies than you do. (Plus, what if you make a mistake? :[) Similarly, if you write really funny/entertaining essays without much substance to back it up, the readers will probably assume that your brain is a bit… fluffier (sorry, first word that popped into my mind) than they would like. They want an interesting group of kids with good chemistry together, but they also want to make sure that there is a solid enough intellectual foundation so that somebody can crack a supernerdy joke and everybody would laugh.</p>

<p>And yeah, 275 words is almost double the word limit. I suggest something around 200, at most 220 words.</p>