<p>I've received a few private messages asking about TASP (Telluride Association Summer Program) and requesting a thread to ask questions.</p>
<p>Well, here it is.</p>
<p>I went to the U Mich tasp this summer (2005). TASP is like RSI for the humanities. Instead of 6 weeks of math at MIT or CalTech, you have six weeks of a humanities type course at U Mich, U TExas Austin, Wash U St. Louis, and two at Cornell.</p>
<p>I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.</p>
<p>Hmmm, it seems that people are being attracted to the RSI post.</p>
<p>Okay, TASP has an acceptance rate of 9%, and is probably the second most presitgious summer program.</p>
<p>Intrigued yet?</p>
<p>Sure! What kinds of courses are available through TASP? Do you select your own "concentration" - like history, literature, creative writing - or do they offer a general liberal arts curriculum?</p>
<p>Also, about how many kids are at each session? What do they look for when admitting students? Is it only for rising seniors? Can you give an overview of the types of people you encountered at TASP?</p>
<p>(Hey man, you asked for it.)</p>
<p>Lol, I suppose I did.</p>
<p>TASP, as I mentioned has a 9% admittance rate, and accepts approximately 80 rising seniors from the US and around the world.<br>
The topics are usually something humanities-ish. Check tellurideassociation.org for past seminar topics. You apply to one or more of the seminars (there are five in total) and then you are placed in one for which they feel you are best suited. </p>
<p>You and 17 other Taspers will spend three hours in class, Monday through Friday, with two university professors. There is extensive reading, sometimes difficult, always dense. </p>
<p>By the end of the six weeks you know more than you ever cared to know about your topic (mine was "Music of the Everyday.") Other ones this past year were "War and Terror: and ethical and legal perspective" and "Truth in History?"</p>
<p>You may self-nominate yourself, somehow, I am not sure, but the traditional way to receive an application is to score high on your PSAT (usually in the 99th percentile) and/or be recommended by your school.</p>
<p>Finally, the people at TASP are, hmmm... interesting. They are arguably the most intelligent and interesting people I have ever met. Not in the sense that they have high SATs and stacked resumes, but that they all share a passion for some topic, and have pursued that passion in formal (ie, awards) or an informal (ie, independent research) way. </p>
<p>Look for that app this fall, and good luck!</p>
<p>Oh, you mentioned selection, sorry. Like I hinted at before, you should show some sort of passion for learning and a potential to grow in the passion. We had people from a nationally recognized poet to a russian literature enthusiast. It can really be anything.</p>
<p>Approximately 850-900 applicants submit six essays, and 160 are invited to interview. From that 160, 80 are chosen, and five new TASPs are born!</p>
<p>My question kind of has to do with the topic but it has to do more with TASS, which is for rising juniors. </p>
<p>I was wondering if the program was targetted towards African-Americans since the picture shown on the site shows only that race and the topics are related to African-American studies.</p>
<p>Thanks, in advance!</p>
<p>Okay, traditionally, TASP would have been better named WASP, and in response, TASS was created. Now TASP is much more diverse, but still has a caucasion presence.<br>
TASS is mainly targeted at minorities such as African Amerians and Hispanics, as you noticed mainly African Americans.</p>
<p>There is deliberation right now as to which topics should be studied at TASS because the participants showed strong interest in studying topics similar to those studied at TASP.</p>
<p>The next year or two may still be african american studies-related, but that should change. </p>
<p>Non- African Americans do get in, but keep in mind the mission of the program, and if you are not of a minority, then you should feel free to apply to TASP next year and do something else this summer. (I got a job.)</p>
<p>Haha okay I'm getting my friend to apply for TASP. I told him it's a bunch of reading and discussion about liberal arts topics and that it sounded like hell to me, so it would be perfect for him. He was pretty happy about that.</p>
<p>Oh, and I just can't stress how valuable an experience TASP is. The seminar is super interesting and all, but it's the people there who make TASP so amazing. Definitely apply. I guess there'll be more interest once the 2006 seminar topics are revealed, but in the mean time please feel free to ask more questions. By the way, TASP is also open to international applicants, if you were wondering.</p>
<p>And you should all put UMich as your first choice. </p>
<p>That's all for now from me,</p>
<p>another '05 UMich TASPer</p>
<p>theoneo: don't be discouraged by the liberal arts-humanities-ness. I almost was. I, and a few others, were science guys who happened to like debating ideas. I hadn't read a single poem before I came to TASP, and to be honest, I felt a little out of place during some of those discussion, but the good thing about these literature people is that they are open to anything, unlike us who can be a little close minded if it doesn't have numbers in it.
I'll level with you, I found the seminar topic to be boring at times because sociology bores the hell out of me.</p>
<p>Basically, I like debating and discussing political and ethical ideas too, so I fit right in, and I see no reason why you should too.</p>
<p>You might want to check out RSI if you're absolutely allergic to the humanities (even the scientific ones like philsophy.)</p>
<p>Just a corrollary to my last post:
The seminar is really a small part of the overall experience, and I didn't do much of the reading. The real experience is meeting 17 other people who are absolutely incredible. You may think you know intelligent people now, but you really don't. It's not that I learned more facts like in school, but the experience helped refine and sharpen so many of my ideas and views that I feel that I gained more intelligence.
It is both challenging and rewarding and an opportunity you should not pass up.</p>
<p>Do they send invitations to ALL people who score in the 99%ile? Or do you have to mail them and tell them, "I scored in the 99%ile on the PSATs."</p>
<p>Also, you said:</p>
<p>"Instead of 6 weeks of math at MIT or CalTech, you have six weeks of a humanities type course at U Mich, U TExas Austin, Wash U St. Louis, and two at Cornell."</p>
<p>So, this is an 8 week program, a 2 different campuses? Do all of the TASPers meet up at Cornell at the end of the 6 weeks, for another 2 week dealie?</p>
<p>Also, one of the main points of RSI that attracted me was the freedom (No bed times, etc. lol). I'm kind of a night person, so I like to go out and grab something to eat every now and then at night (Think 2:00, yeah, I know it's unhealthy :)). Are we allowed to do this? Or is everything strictly closed after xx:xx PM?</p>
<p>Hokay, I can answer this one.</p>
<p>The big shiny brochure (it's not actually shiny) randomly showed up in the mail. I had never heard of TASP before this. And I don't even live in the States. So I'm assuming that if you score well, they'll find you. And even if you don't get one, it's not a problem. I'm pretty sure that you can download applications from the Telluride Association website.</p>
<p>Uh... no. It's six weeks at one of the universities. What pianoking meant was that there were two TASP seminars going on at Cornell, and one each at WashU, UT Austin, and UMich.</p>
<p>And we had quite a lot freedom, although be warned this depends on the factota. So there's probably going to be a be-in-the-house curfew. But we weren't happy with ours and staged a revolution on the second weekend (haha, memories of the Turquoise Revolution), and got our curfew extended. It's not a problem.</p>
<p>Oh, and I know I sound like a broken record, but downloading the app off the internet does not decrease your chances of admission. Once all the apps are in, they do not even distinguish between the nominees, on-their-owns, and PSAT-acers. I am not sure whether they consider PSATs when you apply. One kid at our TASP (a nominee) had PSATs in the 180s.</p>
<p>As for the percentile, it's by state, and it's 99.5th. I'd guess about 5-10 points above your state's National Merit Cutoff. But they do find you.</p>
<p>Hehe yeah thanks pianoking I'm still going to apply. I'm generally not the hugest fan of all the humanities (like American history... ew) but I'm definitely open to this kind of experience. I was just trying to get my friend (who loves things like political science and debating) into it too. :P</p>
<p>So about the seminars... Here's what I understand: there are a few seminars offered at each campus, you indicate your interest in a few on your application - which has no influence on your decision, then if you get in they assign you a seminar based on your preferences, right?</p>
<p>Not sure exactly what you mean theoneo, but only Cornell has two seminars. Judging by past summers there will probably be five seminars offered next year. Two will be at Cornell, and there will be one each at UMich, WashU, and UT Austin (I'm not sure about the Austin one, but WashU and UMich have ongoing TASP contracts). I know, I just repeated part of a previous post, but I <em>think</em> this answers part of your question.</p>
<p>You rank the seminars in order of interest, along with justification, and I have no clue whether they take preference into account. Although some fellow TASPers had last choices which they explicitly said they did not want to go to...</p>
<p>But don't let that distract you for a moment. Pick what you think is most interesting. If you get in you'll end up loving your TASP, wherever it is.</p>
<p>And by the way, I'm definitely more of a math-science person, as were several others in Ann Arbor this past summer. I felt rather uneasy before the program, not knowing whether I would fit into the "humanities" theme, but my qualms were completely unfounded. The seminar and related work are challenging academic experiences of the liberal arts kind, but the rest of the time is spent with a bunch of amazing people who love anything from particle physics to ultimate frisbee. </p>
<p>'Twas great.</p>
<p>Haha okay.</p>
<p>Yeah, I was confused before because I thought there was more than one seminar at each session. Then I checked out the website and found out each location (aside from Cornell) only has one seminar. That makes a lot more sense now. :P</p>
<p>Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>About the curfews, Jsn and I had a pretty strict factotus (fancy name for counselor I guess), but the only real penalty was an earlier curfew, and in retrospect we could have broken them easily with little to no penalty. We just had a particularly "good" group, but don't let any stringency (stringentness?) deter you. Self governance has as much or as little freedom as you want. It's what you make of it.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is it an all-expense paid trip or will it cost a crap load of money(something I dont have)?</p></li>
<li><p>How old or what grade do you have to be to apply?</p></li>
<li><p>Are they any requirements?</p></li>
<li><p>Would this be something good for a debater?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanx</p>
<ol>
<li><p>One of the great things about TASP is that the six weeks are COMPLETELY free of charge. All you pay for are transport to and from the program. Wonderful accomodation: Cornell TASPers stay at the Telluride House there - think cosy with wooden floors - while UMich TASPers usually get the Michigan Branch Telluride House, which is freaking gigantic with great facilities (think trampoline, ping-pong, foosball, and a baby grand piano) and super comfy couches. I don't know about Austin and St. Louis but I assume that their lodgings were comparable to ours. Great food: did I mention that each house has its own chef(s)?</p></li>
<li><p>It's only open to juniors, and takes place in the summer between junior and senior year.</p></li>
<li><p>Requirements? Not sure what you mean, but I don't think so. Must have taken the PSAT, maybe? But appart from going through the applications process, I really don't think that there are any other pre-requisites to becoming a TASPer.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes is would.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Pianoking, isn't the singular of factota "factotum"? Or am I wrong? And being plain anal-retentive? :D</p>