TASP and PSAT's

<p>I know that testing and GPA aren't considered too much by admissions at TASP but are they even sent to TASP? If you got a lower then average PSAT score, will the TASP admissions see it?</p>

<p>prolly! haha I don't actually know... </p>

<p>I am wondering the same question too!</p>

<p>PSAT scores won't be seen by the TASP people unless your school puts them on your transcript (you do have to send that). </p>

<p>Generally though, I'd say essays are 95% of what they're looking at. I wouldn't worry about anything else. I remember last year when I was applying people were flipping out about whether they should mail in the app that was sent to them (because it would afford some kind of advantage that they had been invited to apply) or if it was okay to print a clean copy online. Other people worried that a C freshman year or a short list of ECs would keep them out. Let me tell you right now, IT DOESN'T MATTER. send Telluride good essays. That's the best and only thing you can really do to give yourself a running chance.</p>

<p>good luck.</p>

<p>Why does everyone on CC obsess over TASP? Not to sound ingnorant or anything, but I've never heard of this off the internet. What makes it so much better than any other program? I mean, what makes this special? I took advanced creative writing at Columbia last summer and I loved it. But, I mean, is there anything that TASP offers that makes it so highly regarded here? Or is it just the low acceptance rates that get people obsessing about their application months in advanced?</p>

<p>I'm not bashing, I just seriously want to know.</p>

<p>Thanks vegangirl, that makes sense. I hope our school doesn't put it on the transcript. :D lol. I'm going to have to find out. I don't want this extra pressure on me while I take the PSAT's, besides, I'm not sure how well I will do anyways.</p>

<p>I haven't attended other summer programs, but I think it's safe to say that TASP really is on a different level. It is considered one of the two most prestigious summer programs (along with RSI at MIT) for High Schoolers, and almost every TASPers ends up at an Ivy Leage (from my year 5 to Harvard, 4 to Yale, a couple to Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, 4 to Cornell, a couple to Columbia, Stanford- basically you name a great school and TASPers are there).<br>
Aside from it's prestige, TASP is truly life-altering. It changed my life in many ways, and I think most people who attend it feel the same way. It's different from other programs because not only is it free, but students get to work very intimately with some of the countr's greatest scholars; not to mention that many TASPers become the country's greatest scholars.<br>
I'm not going to tell much more about the program- you can look it up at tellurideassociation.org, but I highly highly recommend this program. Even the application process is good practice for college, and if you get in you will make friends for life and study in a graduate-level environment for six weeks. What more could you ask?</p>

<p>How many students to they accept for TASP each year? I just heard about it now, and am very interested in it. But from what I hear, it's killer getting in. And you have to be nominated by a teacher? Can you ask them for a nomination if they've never heard of it?</p>

<p>Great post Richard!</p>

<p>You dont have to be nominated, you can apply yourself. And yes, TASP is one of the toughest programs to get into. I think its like 1000 people who apply, and only 86 or so get accepted.</p>

<p>Last year 950 people applied, 150ish were interviewed, and 86 people were chosen to attend one of 5 TASPs (one at UT, one at Wash U, one at UMich, and two at Cornell). They are well regarded because of the low admission rate and the excellent college matriculation, but the experience is what makes TASPs so amazing. It's hard to descibe, but TASP is more fun and more meaningful than some soulless program that wants 6000 for a for week college class.</p>

<p>Vegangirl is right; essays are 95%, then there's a teacher recommendation, transcript, and maybe a few other EC related questions. Of those, the teacher rec is probably most important since it offers a description of you as a person. The testing/transcript is just to prove that you aren't a complete idiot.</p>

<p>well they must be kinda important b/c if you score pretty high on the PSAT you get a brochure/application sent to you...but your activities and passions and ESSAYS are more important by far, like the others have been saying.</p>

<p>so basically you have to write reallyyy amazing essays?
former taspers, did u all win national essay contests or something..or was it just b/c u wrote about things u were passionate about?</p>

<p>you have to be something of a good writer, and you must have intelligent things to talk about that. you don't have to be a published author though, if that's what you're asking.</p>

<p>What sort of essays do they ask you to write about? How many essays are there?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.tellurideassociation.org/tasp1.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.tellurideassociation.org/tasp1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm sure this question will be asked 83492030 more times before the application even comes out, but I'll list the basic topics of the essay questions once more:
1. write about your future plans (career/education) and if there's anything specifically that's influenced them.
2. list some of the books you've read in the last year and any periodicals you read regularly.
3. write a literary analysis.
4. write about an "issue of choice."
5. write about a conflict in your life and how you resolved it.
6. rank the TASP seminars and give reasons for your preferences.</p>

<p>The essays sound like fun. Well, at least 1,2,4, and 6. But 3 can be an essay we wrote for school, right? And 5 seems like such a bs question... lol</p>

<p>Thanks for posting the essay questions! :)</p>

<p>Re: PurpoisePal</p>

<p>For Question #3, they specifically request a literary analysis of a book you did not read in school. Whether you choose to honor that choice is another story, but the words are there.</p>

<p>If you think of the questions as ******** now, try to think of a way to frame it so that it isn't ********. I wrote about gaming and procrastination, and that evidently worked.</p>

<p>As for your academic statistics, they pretty much don't matter, and for good reason. As long as you are a terrific writer and can hold your own in an intellectual discussion, you stand a chance.</p>

<p>Thanks for the insignt butcherer! :) I didn't know that the literary work can't be from school... what if you learned of the book from school and its the best book you've read? </p>

<p>Also, for the booklist, it says to list books, and even publications, but can you list essays or long papers? Like for example, if you read Emerson's essays, can you list them? If so, should you list them individually, or just say like "Emerson, Essays" or "Bertrand Russell, Essays"?</p>

<p>Hi A-chan ;)</p>

<p>Well, the whole point of that essay is to see what you yourself, without any classroom guidance, can get out of a piece of literature. </p>

<p>For the essays... I don't know... you could try it...?</p>