<p>Well, being an alum from Socorro, I guess it's up to me to answer the call! But I'm not that great at giving overall experience ratings, so I'll just be answering specific questions. :) I think Robert gave a pretty good summary of the SSP experience as a whole. (On that note, we also had a student from Romania. And you're getting a Romania TA this year at Socorro. Alright!)</p>
<p>Food first: So, New Mexico Tech is a college campus. Expect a college cafeteria. It's good and not so good at the same time. The soft serve machine broke down halfway through the program, but we made up for it with $0.50 smoothies. That's right, fifty cents (real fruit too). I can't say too much about the food, cause I'm not sure of your tastes, but expect a lot of green chili. It is New Mexico afterall.</p>
<p>Let's segue into caffeine...you won't need it too much. You have stimulating people around you! But if necessary there are random vending machines around campus (the one in the dorm always runs out), and the cafeteria doesn't say anything to you filling up a water bottle with whatever drink you want. Also, the TAs will most likely take you to Walmart (you learn to appreciate it) where you can buy all the soda/coffee you need.</p>
<p>Don't worry about the sleep deprivation thing. I always got enough. You can get enough sleep if you have the self-motivation.</p>
<p>Field trips: Awesome. Remember that New Mexico is not all desert. There were a few trips that I know were a once in a lifetime deal, like meeting Roy Kerr at a supermassive black hole conference. But you will get to visit the Trinity Site, White Sands (the national park), EMRTC, and the VLA. There were also a bunch of telescopes and radio telescopes that I can't remember. And the NRAO's VLA and VLBA headquarters is right on the NMT campus.</p>
<p>If none of that really appeals to you, NMT also has it's own activities. The normal stuff any college campus would have. I really liked the swing dancing on Thursday nights (you always have time to swing dance). And the boys loved the fact that there was a DDR machine in the gym. It was free for most of the time, but they mysteriously started charging before long...</p>
<p>And stop this studying nonsense! You'll learn enough at SSP. I myself had little calculus and no physics or astronomy before going to SSP. I was fine. As long as you learn to ask for help. (It sounds like I didn't deserve to go to SSP, huh? I really have no idea...I'm a fast learner though.)</p>
<p>Congrats to all who got in! I know you'll have fun. I could take a PM or two if there are more questions. OR, you could ask Mr. Bowdon for an alum e-mail. That works too.</p>