@CIRCUITDEBATER I hear this alot and from doing my research, if you feel you’ve developed your essay enough and it satisfies the prompt, then 700 words is just fine. There’s no point in overwriting if it’s just going to drag on and be more verbose than it has to be
@FreePariah Lol my sleep schedule is horrible!! Just went back to school Monday, still can’t sleep until 4… And I wake up at 6.
I live in Bible belt GA so I’m really excited about TASP because I was born in the North and miss it a lot
is anyone taking the January SAT?? I hate that everything important is falling on the next few weeks of Jan bc I have 0 time
Hey everyone! I hope you all are having a swell time with your essays! I am a current junior living in Wisconsin! The essays are driving my anxieties up the roof haha. It’s good to hear there are others who are freaking out like me lol. Keep writing them essays!
Hey guys, how’s it going with the essays? I cleared my schedule and headed to the library and have decided that I’m going to spend all of today just writing the first drafts of all of the essays LOL. Good luck to me. How are you guys doing? Any TASP alumnis have any good advice?
Would it be ok if the tone of my essay was more on the conversational side?
What sort of resume do you have? Does it matter if a person has low or high GPA/SAT/PSAT?
@hyperbola What exactly do you mean by conversational? For the essays I’ve heard that it’s alright to be informal, but you still need to have some reservations on exactly HOW informal you go
@Yalie2011 They do look for some good academic achievements but most of the emphasis is on the essays. So don’t worry if you don’t have the most outstanding resume 
Hey guys, for the essay question about favourite pieces of media, how are you guys doing it? Paragraph form or simply a list?
Hey all, sorry I haven’t opened my laptop in a while. I’m from Minnesota, the Minneapolis area. @peachprincess lol I feel the same way about my finals. At least I don’t have an SAT to worry about on top of my other stuff. I have 12-16 pages of papers to write in the next 10 days. I haven’t gotten any progress on my essays, since I’m so consumed with other work. I’ll probably have to write them all in a tight window.
These essays have given me so much anxiety and stress that I’ve actually given up on applying. Because of my school environment, I got to the point that I started looking at TASP as a college resume booster instead of the program it really is. I actually consider it really unfortunate that I’ve made my decision like this, because it’s always been my dream to engage in the kind of advanced intellectual discourse TASP promotes, a kind of discussion that is based on pure passion, regardless of superficial benefits.
Fortunately, I’ve found a different program. This program isn’t what some people might call “competitive” in the college admissions process. It’s not to get me into an Ivy, which TASP might. But I’m sick of trying to get into Ivies.
@idealeducation - If you can manage to keep the anxiety level at bay and just write your essays from the heart, I would encourage you to still apply. TASP was an incredible – life-changing – experience for my daughter, who had already had some pretty amazing options lined up for last summer and had to do some major soul-searching and create a long (weighted) pros/cons list to decide which among them to do. Without a doubt, she made the right choice to attend TASP.
Don’t make TASP be about the admissions boost you may or may not get; it’s about being part of a community of passionate thinkers. (I can tell you, however, that an additional side benefit in applying is that you will have a ton of material to cull from when it’s time to write college app essays. Also, TASP itself will give you no shortage of material to write about.)
For the record, at this time last year, my daughter was also on the fence about applying and thought it would add too much stress at a very busy time. Ultimately, she decided that she didn’t want to be left wondering “what if…?” and threw the essays together at the last minute.
But, if indeed it’s “…always been [your] dream to engage in the kind of advanced intellectual discourse TASP promotes, a kind of discussion that is based on pure passion, regardless of superficial benefits.” then TASP is the perfect environment for you. Just convey that sentiment in your essays.
By the way, if indeed you decide not to apply to TASP (which, for the reasons stated above, I hope is not the case), or, if you do apply and don’t get in (a very real possibility as you know), my daughter’s back up plan included the Carleton Summer Humanities Institute which also looked quite interesting:
https://apps.carleton.edu/summer/humanities/courses/
Good luck whatever you decide!
still suffering COMPLETE writer’s block for essay #3 #:-S wishing all of u the best with the next couple weeks (they’re super busy for me too, so everyone just hang in there and try not to get too stressed!!!)
SAME except for #1…any help? 
@candylover1005 Tbh, what helps me with writers block is just to completely put away my writing for a few days and just think freely about the topic in a casual way. Eventually it helps me get my thoughts together and figure out something to write.
@idealeducation like what @LoveTheBard said, I think you should apply anyways, despite your busy schedule. Even if its just pulled together last minute in a few hours, you have the chance to participate in what I’ve heard is a life-changing program.
@ChasingMerit @PotatoStorm If it’s okay for you guys, can y’all send me your previous TASP essay??? I’m so lost at where to start, but it’s totally understandable if you don’t feel like sharing it.
@eawtammany do you by any chance still have your TASP application essay that you’re willing to share? I’m so lost at where to begin, but it’s totally fine if you don’t want to!
@abell73 - Usually it works the other way. You ask people if you can share your essays with them and get some feedback. I doubt anyone would want to share their TASP essays – nor should they!
@LoveTheBard I see. Thanks for your advice