Sorry for the radio silence everyone! I’ve been wanting to come back and answer questions but scholarship applications are quite a pain.
@alzhao I would get a paper copy just in case, unless your teacher has already received confirmation that SSP has gotten your letter. When I applied, my recommenders gave me their letters in sealed envelopes with their signatures on the flap to show that the seal hadn’t been broken. I included that in my entire package.
@derylshort I personally find it better to talk about one accomplishment. It shows your dedication more clearly and will give you more space to talk about the activity’s impact/value to you. This, of course, depends on what you plan on talking about. I wouldn’t just cram in a bunch of things in order to seem better or more impressive. Try and fit those in elsewhere if you can.
@kkpanu9 Getting into SSP is difficult as a sophomore is difficult (as @araethusa mentioned above, there were only 4 out of the 72 total), but I imagine it can be even more difficult to be a rising junior at the program. Mentally, you’re in a different place than rising seniors. This isn’t a comment on intellect (I’m good friends with the girl from my campus who was admitted as a sophomore and she is absolutely brilliant) but more so about the fact that rising seniors have another year’s experience with school/activities/life and are also prepping for college.
@bernoulli521 As far as I know, you don’t have to include full score reports when sending scores to SSP. When I sent in scores, I took screenshots and made sure they included my name. However, I only submitted my PSAT so it may be different. If it’s a financial obstacle, I doubt SSP would want you to have to spend the money to send both of the score reports. Email them to make sure though!
@seal16 As @Ynotgo mentioned, dark skies are a big deal. I was not at Westmont but I do imagine humidity was more of a factor for them. Surprisingly, we had to contend with clouds in Socorro too; the rainy season in New Mexico starts in early/mid July and there were several nights when observing groups were rained out of the observatory.
It also has to do with what facilities are available. New Mexico Tech is in a fairly remote area, but that meant that we were basically the only group on campus (give or take a few that stayed for a week or so) so we had free reign. We could stay outside late and spread out across the campus without worrying too much about disturbing others or being unsafe. Very few locations across the US that have good seeing also allow for such freedom for the students, and for that I am extremely grateful to NM Tech.
Also, neither campuses are really that far out of the way. Boulder is a fairly large city in Colorado as far as I know and Socorro is an hour south of ABQ. Transportation is provided to and from the airport/any field trips so the locations (besides flight-wise I guess) are sort of irrelevant during the program.