<p>so, i just found out i'm going to socorro.</p>
<p>for anybody that knows, what are the "perks" of going to Socorro? accommodations, on campus activities, environment, the surroundings, the town, and such?</p>
<p>I will be there :)</p>
<p>Yay for Socorro!! The fact that Socorro TOTALLY trumps Ojai is a subject that has been discussed at much length, and for more detailed information you can go back through the rest of this thread or check the SSP Alums Facebook page, which has had a lively debate on the matter. Socorro doesn't really have a "town" so to speak; it does, but there's really not much you'd actually want to do there. That said, I don't think any of us felt like we were missing out on any experiences- there's so much else to do anyway. Environmentally, the two campuses are pretty similar; the staff changes every year, but you'll have Leslie as the site coordinator who's insanely nice, as well as Anna, who's the BEST TA EVER. It's quite hot (um...desert...summer...yeah), but everything's air-conditioned, and nobody ever really complained about it. Food isn't bad, dorms are pretty nice (unfortunately girls are on the first floor, and get the worst of the cockroaches, although that's only when people are stupid and don't close the doors to the dorm). Let me know if they still have the painfully out-of-tune piano in the lobby (the campus has practice rooms you can use, so don't despair when you listen to how ear-piercingly dreadful the other one is, if you play piano)! The observatory has a Takahashi astrograph (14" maybe, but I don't really remember) and a Celestron CCD, and there's also a really cool Newtonian-focus Dobsonian, which you can try to convince a TA to let you use when everyone has the required observations done. Great field trips: VLA (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), Apache Point, Sunspot, White Sands at sunset (similarly, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), atomic museum in Albuquerqe with tour guides who actually worked on the Manhattan project, street-dancing in a little town with its own mariachi band, 4th of July fun (it's legal to buy and set off fireworks in New Mexico, unlike in a lot of East Coast states.....SSP might change their policy this year, though, because of what happened last summer :P), EMRTECH, Magdalena Ridge (state of the art fast-slewing telescope that's just starting to be open to public usage). I'm probably forgetting stuff...... Congratulations to everyone- you're going to have a fabulous time!</p>
<p>it's not every second. its every section. hahahaha</p>
<p>ah, but then again, it's California... so, nuf said.</p>
<p>see the prolem is that no one will have experienced both campuses so really there is no true way to get a comparison.</p>
<p>unless you ask Mr. Bowdon.</p>
<p>He must of experienced both. lol</p>
<p>i would never trade california for NM... if i would have to come to Socorro, i'd have some trouble, changing flights 2 times and stuff... plus, i'm dreaming of caltech already:) the socorro people visit the large array though...</p>
<p>for thestralnerd:
what happened with the fireworks last year?</p>
<p>hm... does anyone know what other fieldtrips we're gonna have from Ojai? and will there be a special program for 4th of July?</p>
<p>Yes, thestralnerd, enlighten us.
What happened with the fireworks?</p>
<p>Well, a couple of students convinced the TAs to let them buy fireworks, but some of the larger ones (and you can buy surprisingly big ones in NM) they were worried about setting off in the soccer field where everyone was sitting. And since this was science camp, they decided to experiment with what happened to the fireworks if they were set off from different surfaces. Somehow one of them ended up falling over when they lit the fuse, so instead of going up, it went out and into the clump of students. Major injuries were avoided, but one person who didn't move quickly enough did get a rather nasty burn, and the police driving around campus drove over to see what was going on.... Anyway, the adult supervisors weren't really particularly thrilled with what we had done, although they did appreciate the fact that it was in the name of science. And I don't think it's a wholly unusual occurrence at a place like SSP. At both campuses a guy named Larry Svedrup gives a really neat guest lecture towards the end of the session that involves various explosions and large amounts of liquid nitrogen.</p>
<p>hey i had a q. At both campuses do they have a store where we can buy stuff like soap, headache medicne etc? Are these stores on campus and easily reachable?</p>
<h2>A-card, I think we have weekly trips to a town store to get toiletries and such.</h2>
<p>"get the worst of the cockroaches"</p>
<h2>Ha! I can already imagine the hilarity.</h2>
<h2>Since I'm going to Ojai... I have to say it is the better campus. Sorry, Socorro. California all the way. <em>puts on soda hat with "California #1".</em></h2>
<p>By the way, anyone from the east coast flying on Air Tran with a stop at Georgia? Or anyone from North Carolina for that matter? My dad e-mailed Mr. Bowden, and he said that someone else got in from NC, which pretty much made my mind asplode.</p>
<p>I agree with you shayonsaleh.
Ojai, California will rock. =D</p>
<p>Btw, I'm from the east coast. Just not Georgia. lol</p>
<p>btw, anyone else besides kmac who's from NJ?</p>
<p>Kmac betrayed my trust by going to Sorocoo. Arg... lol</p>
<p>COCKROACHES?!?!</p>
<p>I have cockroachophobia</p>
<p>Save me. I'm taking so many cans of pesticide, my roommate will die of cancer. Hahahahaha...</p>
<p>Sorry in advance, my dear nameless roomie.</p>
<p>haha my bad silverdragon. socorro was just too alluring......haha not really. you know...this might tick some people off, but from what i've read here, ojai sounds a bit more appealing...hmmm</p>
<p>Oh no!
kmac!
Don't give into such propaganda!!</p>
<p>lol... hey, handbook didn't mention cockroaches at socorro.. but they did say spideys in ojai! i've got arachnophopia! ... ... yeah... dang it. >.></p>
<p>so anyone else going from Maryland?</p>
<p>wait, so u can email Mr. Bowdon asking whether there are ppl from ur state got in? i would like to go to SSP together with someone... dun wanna get lost alone in Los Angeles...</p>
<p>LAX isn't really that hard to navigate (and yes I do still stalk this thread). Once outside the terminal, it's pretty easy to spot the flyaway stop, and then it's just an hour ride to van nuys where if you arrive during the designated time, you should see a crowd of kids our age sitting awkwardly either with the staff or waiting for the staff to arrive. Last year, there was bad traffic and the staff was late- BUT we did end up getting mexican food... </p>
<p>Spiders isn't really an issue. We did see several tarantullas and a black widow, but if you stay out of the "gym" and you are cautious enough to spot huge black things, you should really be fine. It's not like the tarantullas move really fast and chase you around. Rather.. they tend to be really slow and stay in a general area, and as long as you stay clear, nothing bad will happen. There are also snakes and coyotes at ojai, but again... don't disturb the snakes and they won't disturb you. The coyotes are just heard off in the distance. </p>
<p>OJAI is amazing. Apart from the fact that we're good at softball and that we have Edwin Hubble's measuring machine, we also have the Cali Beaches (We went to Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, and another one I forget.. ) and Ojai town trips (we saw Harry Potter and Knocked Up... ). We also have "exclusive" trips to Caltech and JPL, and a trip to the Ventura mall. </p>
<p>Ojai valley is gorgeous, and Ojai is a tiny little town (not sizewise, just downtown) in a really scenic area. If you're from the Northeast, think of the Berkshires but in California. The Happy Valley School (err.. Besant Hill School) is tucked away from the town, but you don't really feel secluded, because the main campus is small enough that you always see everyone, but the surrounding area (hiking, whatnot) is large enough that it's not cramped. </p>
<p>Packing-- If you're going to Ojai, know that the schoolbus from Van Nuys to Ojai will drop you off at the bottom of the hill of the school. This means that you, yes YOU, will have to drag up all of your luggage (hopefully in one trip) up the hill that is the Besant Hill School. It's really not that bad, but considering flying in, manuevering LAX, and hiking up the hill (okay it's not THAT steep), you should really pack only what you can carry.</p>
<p>There are town trips into Ojai and beach trips into.. beach towns, so within a week, you'll have access to grocery stores and convenience stores where you can buy neccessities (like lucky charms and detergent). Personally, I brought my own shampoo and whatnot because I'm somewhat picky, but I picked up detergent at the grocery store. You can always mooch off some detergent from your roomate the first week. </p>
<p>Okay I have to go hw-ize now (wk before APs, AHHH) but yeah.
Ojai's awesome. :)</p>
<p>omg...the ssp financial aid committee is sooo generous. seriously. SSP <333333</p>