Tasp

Pre-College Issues High School Life
481

<p>No way am I close to being done. NO WAY. lol</p>

<p>Our report cards come out soon too, but they have to check them, insert them, etc. They said it takes any school at least 2-3 weeks, so I doubt mine will be on there. I hope they understand (they would have to, right? It's not like I can manually go in an insert my grades. :p)</p>

<p>I'm not bright either. Really.</p>

<p>For the "position held" portion of our ECs, do we just list our current position, or all the ones over the years until present?</p>

482

<p>I just finished my "attempt to resolve" essay.
Its two pages long but its heartfelt. Two pages exactly (times new roman, 12 pt, normal, single spaced). Too long?</p>

<p>Hmm.
I want the Cornell I: Foreign Policy so badly :P
I'm always angry with the United States lol for their foreign relations and I hope (<em>fingers crossed</em>) that I will finally meet some CCers there (if on the select chance that I do get accepted...)</p>

<p>Oi! What if, lets say, 83 people are picked but not all 83 attend? Do they pick more people to fill the remaing spots from the others they interviewed or do they just leave the spaces open? (for instance, RSI program and such)</p>

<p>Oh and I think just the one this year. But not quite sure. I would love to meet you in this program...:D</p>

483

<p>A couple of answers:</p>

<p>Don't sweat the essay length; if you've said all you want to say in less than 2 pages, leave it be. I looked back at my TASP essays and most of them are about a page and a half, give or take.</p>

<p>I think I did a progression of positions, but it wasn't a very long progression. I don't think it really matters as long as you state your current position held.</p>

<p>If someone decides not to attend, TA chooses a list of alternates that does actually get used.</p>

484

<p>omg...only 9 people were from international........gosh, that's really depressing.</p>

<p>Anyway, I was wondering, for academic awards etc., how far back are you supposed to go? year 9,10? Or is it just up to me..?</p>

<p>And, what is a school transcript?? is it my simply the grades that I earnt? I'm from Hong Kong, and the system is very different here...</p>

<p>Last Question...:D...I haven't done the PSAT, but I'm doing the SAT in Jan 2006. Does that mean I'm not allowed to apply or what??</p>

485

<p>SourApplezz, my transcript only goes up through sophomore year as well. It's kind of nice, actually, because my rank was higher then than it will be when the new semester's grades are on it:)</p>

486

<ol>
<li>when it says hrs. per week spent on an activity, is it averaged year long or for that season (ie. swimming...15 hrs)</li>
<li>on the essay asking for an analysis of a work, do I provide a copy of the work, just name it, or provide a website that will enable one to access it?</li>
<li>on the essay asking about an issue that one feels strongly about, it provides that he essay should not be a research paper. What does this mean, if the topic I want to discuss is my aff in policy debate and I have already extensively researched it, is it no longer valid?</li>
<li>should i list any extraneous activities (summer progs)?</li>
<li>if i were to apply online, would I have to send the transcripts and recommendation via mail anyway?
thx, i really need to start writing my essays...</li>
</ol>

487

<p>bump...plz</p>

488

<p>ok, i'll answer some of the questions...</p>

<ol>
<li><p>when it says hrs. per week spent on an activity, is it averaged year long or for that season (ie. swimming...15 hrs) - it's for the season. it doesn't make sense if you average a short season over a year, and end up with like .3 hours a week of swimming. </p></li>
<li><p>on the essay asking for an analysis of a work, do I provide a copy of the work, just name it, or provide a website that will enable one to access it? - i did neither. you just analyse it like you would a school assignment, i guess. ideally if you do a good analysis, then even someone who hasn't read the work would be able to understand it. that said, i don't see any harm providing a link or a copy of the work.</p></li>
<li><p>on the essay asking about an issue that one feels strongly about, it provides that he essay should not be a research paper. What does this mean, if the topic I want to discuss is my aff in policy debate and I have already extensively researched it, is it no longer valid? - i'm guessing if they're reading 900 applications, your policy debate aff would be more of a disadvantage than anything. but since you're so familiar with the topic, i'm sure you won't have a problem downsizing/simplifying it so that it has more of your passion and less of your research.</p></li>
<li><p>should i list any extraneous activities (summer progs)? - if you want to.</p></li>
<li><p>if i were to apply online, would I have to send the transcripts and recommendation via mail anyway? - i don't know the answer to this one, cos applying online wasn't an option then. but they are pretty flexible with deadlines if you talk to them. because i'm international i got the app in the mail like a week before the deadline, and then we had like 5 public holidays in a row, so i couldn't send the stuff out, but they gave me a few days extra after i talked to ellen.</p></li>
</ol>

<hr>

<p>Anyway, I was wondering, for academic awards etc., how far back are you supposed to go? year 9,10? Or is it just up to me..? - i think it's up to you. </p>

<p>And, what is a school transcript?? is it my simply the grades that I earnt? I'm from Hong Kong, and the system is very different here... - yeah, transcript = grades. i had the same problem with the different education systems, but they're fine with it.</p>

<p>Last Question......I haven't done the PSAT, but I'm doing the SAT in Jan 2006. Does that mean I'm not allowed to apply or what?? - i hadn't done the SATs either. no worries.</p>

<hr>

<p>good luck with everything. you guys all sound like you have a lot of alternative plans lined up if you don't get this, so just treat it like a very good practice for college apps, i'm sure you'll do fine. :)</p>

489

<p>thanks so much for the bump</p>

490

<p>That's actually why I'm even enjoying this process of just applying to the program. Gives me a taste on what I'm going to be doing my senior year for college <em>shudders</em>. :)</p>

491

<p>pleasedon'tspam-</p>

<p>I'm applying from Taiwan. =p</p>

492

<p>The booklist asks for titles, but do you think you should include the authors as well? Also, anyone care to say anything about what they did for the conflict essay? It scares me. o.o</p>

493

<p>For the essay abou the important issue, I am having some trouble steering away from the "research paper" type of format. My issue is most likely an unknown to most readers and therefore the basis for my opinions will have to be addressed thoroughly. In other words, I will do a lot of what seems like narrating in the first few paragraphs. My personal opinion is present throughout the essay because there are many different ways to explain the phenomenon I am writing about, and in the last 1 or 2 paragraphs I provide my own analysis. However, my issue, unlike abortion or other big topics in American politics, doesnt have 2 clearly defined sides. Therefore, my opinion may not be as directly clear to a reader who isnt familiar with the issue as it would be on other issues. Has anyone else encountered a similar problem in trying to strike the balance between solid background information and a purely analytical essay?</p>

494

<p>leezy23, do you have AIM or MSN? (or Yahoo, I guess... T-T)</p>

<p>And I don't think I'd worry too much about making it a research paper; their point is that they want it to be your views and thoughts, your thought processes and your conclusions--not a collection of other people's ideas and information from sources that supports a given conclusion. They want a dedutive-type thing: why you think what you do, not an inductive-type thing: "this seems likely because it has support from so many different sources." That's my take on it, anyway...</p>

<p>EDIT: Also, they ask for a discussion of the problem, which isn't necessarily an actual solution to the problem...</p>

495

<p>my book list has titles and authors, and I decided to group it into School, Non-school fiction, and non-school nonfiction.</p>

496

<p>For the third essay (critical analysis) would comparing two poems and discussing the overall sort of theme be straying too much for what they're asking for? Because it does say "a"...</p>

497

<p>I'm not sure if anyone could really answer a question like that, unless they've done it themselves. Just go for it, if it fits their prompt in some way (for get the "a").</p>

<p>I just love bumping up this thread for some reason...I like seeing on the first page.:)</p>

498

<p>no school monday = extra time on these TASP essays :)</p>

499

<p>leezy23: i'm international - for that essay i worte about a problem that was specific to my country, and i did it in a two pages, so it really should be doable.</p>

500

<p>okay. i got tasp in the mail about three weeks ago but i didn't want to go and i threw the app away. now i reconsidered and want to apply again. but getting tasp in the mail showed that i did well on my psats.. now i have to print my app online</p>

<ol>
<li> does it matter whether you have an original or a printed one.. there is no place to send/type in your psat scores so i thought an original app might show good standardized test scores and printed apps might be at a disadvantage.. no matter how small?</li>
</ol>

<p>any ideas... i know it's pretty picky but still i regret it a lot</p>