<p>Woo! I got my letter today for Ojai. Actually surprised after reading some of the actual stats here (Multivariable Calculus...) that I got in, but I think my PSAT (232) and packing in science courses into my schedule helped. The SAT score I sent them was 2020 (again, shocked by those that retook with a 2200+), but I pulled it up after mailing my app.</p>
<p>Now, I have to decide between this and Governor's School. Frustrating decision actually since Governor's School for NC is a one-hour car drive and California is an eight-hour flight from North Carolina... Any ideas?</p>
<p>I'll put my probability as 5/10, just because Governor's School and SSP is so different in every way (cost, location, etc...) and I'm torn between them.</p>
<p>When do we have to confirm our enrollment? Ten days after we got that email or ten days after we receive the package with details and financial aid?</p>
<p>On confirming enrollment, from the e-mail sent out...
"We ask for an enrollment decision within ten days after you receive the documents, but we would appreciate hearing from you as soon as possible."</p>
<p>Hello all you unbiased peoples,
Help me decide b/t HSHSP and SSP, as of now.</p>
<ol>
<li>fun-ness
-HSHSP sounds like a LOT of work, and SSP sounds more fun, since SSP is more groupwork.</li>
<li>selectivity
-i dont know which is better in terms of how hard it is to get in and how good it is for college and stuff (not that that's the most important thing)</li>
<li>research
-i could kinda like to do a little bit of research b/f i graduate.</li>
<li>people
-I'M ALREADY FACEBOOK FRIENDS WITH ALL OF U!!! WAHHHHHHH</li>
</ol>
<p>If I were you,
I would go to Summer Science.
I woul not be able to survive doing an individual project every single day for almost the whole summer.</p>
<p>i dont' know what hshsp is...but if it's a research program, I'd definitely go for it...mainly coz I'm more interested in doing a concentrated independent research on things I like...but that's just me.</p>
<p>@Narcissa: In case you're still trying to decide between SSP and HSHSP-</p>
<p>The two programs are roughly the same in size (HSHSP is slightly smaller), at least on a students-per-campus basis, and roughly the same length (HSHSP is a week longer). You'll be doing pretty different things at either one, though- From Dr. Richmond's acceptance letter (I got in as well, but I opted for RSI), it sounds like she sends you a list of possible projects which you either choose from or rank your preferences for, and the choices generally favor biology or chemistry projects, rather than physics/astronomy. So choosing one over the other might depend on what type of science you're most interested in; certainly not everyone at Socorro last year wanted to go into either physics or astronomy, but if you've dedicated your life thus far to understanding photosynthesis, probably HSHSP is a better fit. </p>
<p>SSP isn't really a group project; you do spend more time in formal lectures than you might at HSHSP, and when you go to the observatory and measure film plates, you are working in groups of three, but everyone writes their own orbit determination program and own final paper. The advantage is that you have the resource of 35 other students if you're having trouble with problem sets or debugging part of your code, and the fact that you're all working on a similar problem certainly doesn't preclude being innovative. E.g. There's nothing stopping you from making up your own method for deriving orbital elements- there are a number of very significant problems with Lagrange's methods, which are particularly fun to attempt to correct at 2 in the morning. :)</p>
<p>The selectivity of the two programs are fairly comparable; either would add to your college application, but certainly aren't tickets in anywhere. SSP has a very good record (from Socorro- nine or ten into MIT, three or four into Harvard, lots more into Stanford, Princeton, Harvey Mudd, Yale, etc.), but the students who go to SSP are the ones who were probably likely to be accepted either way, because the criteria for acceptance are relatively similar. </p>
<p>Hope that helps! If you have any specific questions about how AMAZINGLY AWESOME SSP is, feel free to PM me. :)</p>