<p>Well I got a brochure in the mail for TASP a few days ago, so I'm guessing I did well on the PSAT! <em>yay</em> On the other hand, while I really do want to go to TASP (it sounds amazing; I've been to a summer thing before but I was only in sixth grade... ._. oh well it was still fun), I don't have that great of a chance of making it. I'll still apply, but what are some other summer programs like TASP (preferably free... :D)? I'm more language/humanities person than science.</p>
<p>Just for some ideas... What are some people writing for the "specific problem" question?</p>
<p>The specific problem question I'm leaving for last, because I really can't think of anything at the moment. </p>
<p>While one of my essays are really long (had to extend margins to 0.6 to fit), another one is a lot shorter...anyone know if its ok to vary margins from essay to essay? </p>
<p>Stupid question: Is it bad if your answer is a bit short (as in a page and a half-ish single spaced)?</p>
<p>I'm also leaving the specific problem question for last. Somewhere in this thread a few people said it would be best to express an opinion that has not already been expressed repeatedly in the media, leading me to avoid some of the more prominent political issues of today. I thought about tackling the idea of being a "global citizen", but that ended up in my personal issue essay.</p>
<p>leezy23: that is good advice, but keep in mind that if you write essays like a poltically conscious person, you should in fact be politically conscious.</p>
<p>My literature analysis was a study of totalitarianism and invidivualism in Dr. Seuss, and I made many arguments based on political precedents.</p>
<p>During my interview, they started talking about politics related to my essay, and in case you forgot, this was in the heat of Terry Schiavo, and you can be sure they asked my opinion on that.</p>
<p>Basically, know what's going on so you sound like an informed and aware person.</p>
<p>Pianoking, thanks for the advice and good use of dr. seuss.</p>
<p>I think you may have misunderstood my post. I said I am avoiding prominent political issues because an opinion on such polarizing issues as abortion or the Patriot Act will already have two, and sometimes even more, clearly defined positions. Some TASP alumnus in this post said that that will no place the applicant's own analysis and opinions on full display and might lead readers to confuse a genuine personal opinion with adherence to someone else's. I could easily write my essay on Bush vs Kerry, but would my argument reflect curiosity and intelligence or possibly indicate that I watched one episode of Crossfire and chose sides?</p>
<p>I just realized how incoherent my previous post is. What I am saying is NOT that I am trying to fake political awareness, but I am trying to avoid SEEMING like I am faking political awareness. Another post said that the only way to do this is to avoid issues that dominate the media today, which anyone could speak "passionately" about after reading the newspaper and taking a side on the issue. Anyone can look up "abortion", read the arguments of either side and decorate them and restructure them into a two-page paper. To avoid looking like that sort of applicant, the other post said to choose a unique issue probably untouched by most other applicants. </p>
<p>Is tasp more for the hardcore intelligent kids out there, or for really anyone with geniune interest in learning --even though s/he may not be the brightest out there, and are strong and pasionate? or relaly just a comboo of both? but what i'm really asking is if kids who are really not math or english whizzes would get in =D thanks. whoa, bad grammar up there, but hey it's 2 am!</p>
<p>I would say both, to an extent. Everyone was passionate about something, and that something is more random than you would think. That is something everyone shared.</p>
<p>Now, everyone was intelligent, some were really intelligent, some you know would solve world hunger or win a Nobel Prize, but I don't think everyone was a super-genius. If you really care about learning (which is something very rare among people our age... ie. everyone on CC) you'll be fine.</p>
<p>^ How did you create your own language? Did you base it on an existing language? We tried doing that in Theory of Knowledge during our language unit.. didn't work out so well. My group decided to develop a "classier" version of "1337speak." Ugh.</p>
<p>Very complicated, too much so to describe here. It has many novel grammar ideas that don't exist at all and takes the best aspects of grammars from extant languages.</p>
<p>All my essays are unified by a common theme: my interest in international affairs and my experiences grwoing up in different countries with unique traditions/cultures.</p>
<p>sounds good to me. We had a really internationally focused person who had lived all over the world too. </p>
<p>I wonder if everyone interested in IR and other related subjects lived in a different country at one point.... it would be an interesting psychological study.</p>
<p>(see, I can "bump" without actually using the word, lol)</p>
<p>What I hope to convey in mine is that my love for history has instilled in me a strong interest in civil rights and justice that carries over to other parts of my life as well. My literary analysis, which is of a turkish poem, is the only part of the app that probably won't convey this, or at least not extensively.</p>
<p>vegangirl: Do you speak Turkish? If not, and the poem is in translation, it would be really cool to analyze different translations and talk about how different meanings and connotations were added/lost/changed, etc.</p>
<p>I have a couple of questions. I want to write about a Clockwork Orange's unique slang. Would this be an acceptable topic for the critical analysis?. Also, for the shorter essays, like the future plans and top seminars, did people just answer the question normally, or did they do unique things like tell anecdotes for each or create something profound? Im kinda freaking out here, lol</p>