<p>Look at it this way though: if for some reason, and I'm not saying you won't, but IF you don't get into SS, it's not too big of a deal. Yeah, it's a lot of fun, and a great opportunity to see the Academy, but not even half of the people who go to SS even come to the Academy. </p>
<p>SS is not primarily designed to tell you whether or not you are good enough to come here, although it can do that. Its primary purpose is to help YOU decide if you would really want to make a commitment to come here. If you come to SS and are like "Oh shoot, this place is hard and I'm going to have to sacrifice stuff. That doesn't sound like something I can do", then maybe you should think a little harder about applying a before you do it.</p>