<p>I was wondering if I should apply for TASP and spend the majority of my summer at a college. My questions is if TASP significantly helps one in admissions. And, if I wasn't to go to TASP, I would be doing other things (science research, teaching, etc) that would help my application.</p>
<p>What is TASP, and what exactly are your other options?</p>
<p>Of course you should apply. If you get in, you always have the option of declining the offer. But it's nice to have the option, and TASP can open a lot of doors.</p>
<p>TASP is probably the best thing you could do as far as improving chances at college admissions, as Harvard apparently no longer really respects RSI.</p>
<p>TASPers are ridiculously well represented at schools like Harvard and Yale. Part of this, I'm sure, is that admission to TASP is so competitive, but it definitely appears to be respected by adcoms.</p>
<p>What if I have a non-stellar GPA, stellar ECs, and TASP?</p>
<p>I got into both TASP and this research internship at Stanford, CCIS.</p>
<p>CCIS isn't too well-known outside of the Bay Area, I don't think, but I would be spending 40 hours/week there doing labs in a Stanford professor's lab, hopefully having to do with cancer research (it'll definitely be related to immunology). I'll also continue spending my weekends at the local rehab hospital, where I work one-on-one with patients in occupational and recreational therapy for six hours a day. I'd also be able to continue fundraising for my charity and hopefully raise three to four thousand dollars, and also do a bunch of KEY Club stuff because, as president, KEY Club is my passion. I absolutely LOVE doing all of these things and I hope to work in the dual field of nonprofit medicine when I grow up.</p>
<p>However, I love reading and history, though they are my second loves and not my absolute passions. I got into TASP, which absolutely thrills me with the idea of 3 AM bedroom debates over politics, current events, literary pieces with the brightest minds our generation has to offer, and I know I'll never be able to experience anything like this ever again.</p>
<p>Basically, I can choose one or the other, though I'm leaning slightly towards CCIS at this point.</p>
<p>Any opinions? Also, could I list being accepted into TASP on my college app if I choose to attend CCIS?</p>
<p>Yes, CCIS is a great opportunity, but in my opinion, TASP is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You can still do research and service work later on in your life (perhaps, next summer?), but if you let TASP pass by, who knows when you'll have another chance to live in a house with 17 other intellectuals?</p>
<p>Ultimately, however, it's your decision.</p>
<p>
[quote]
TASP is probably the best thing you could do as far as improving chances at college admissions, as Harvard apparently no longer really respects RSI.
[/quote]
Why would one say that? RSI is almost twice as selective as TASP, and both programs are excellent. So why would one assume that Harvard has more respect for TASP than RSI?</p>
<p>Because you're going to TASP and Harvard shall just adore you. :] lol. Thanks for your input, savoirfaire! And I saw your other post, and I think you're GPA's good enough to be competitive at any elite school. Best of luck to you in everything you do!</p>
<p>Savoir faire, my tactless friend, you should not be bringing in your personal biases into conversations with those seeking good advice. Both TASP and CCIS are "once in a lifetime" opportunities. Someone who is fortunate enough to have been accepted to both should recognize this, and make his or her own decision. If the student is truely enlivened by TASP, the student should do TASP, but if he is truely passionate about CCIS, the student should do that. However, the student must also take care, because colleges frequently look for those students who have great depth in all of his or her activities, not breadth. If the student has truely committed himself or herself to charitible activities, and is seriously considering a career in science or cancer research, perhaps this student should seriously look into CCIS.</p>
<p>I'm merely being honest. It seems as if CCIS is focused on research and TASP is more focused on community-building and developing relationships, which are important aspects of service/non-profit work. Yes, pursuing a passion or a career is important, but TASP exposes you to so many different points of view and feeds into your character.. it's just such a valuable opportunity to sacrifice.</p>
<p>That's my opinion, but as I acknowledged before, it's ultimately chillaxin's decision. And if chillaxin feels that he/she can attend CCIS without regrets, by all means, he/she should do so.</p>
<p>I most certainly agree with you on the most evident point, that it is the student's decision.
Your opinion, "pursuing a passion or a career is important, but TASP exposes you to so many different points of view and feeds into your character.. it's just such a valuable opportunity to sacrifice" is ultimately misleading to chillaxin. Yes, research can be accomplished later in this student's life, but any great university (which the student can surely look forward to going to if he or she pursues the summer options which the student has) will provide him or her with so many different points of view and will feed into his or her character. All of the ivies (Cornell excluded) are vibrant communities of intellectuals where youth meet different points of view and in which the student will have his or her character enriched moreso than at an experience at a TASP.</p>
<p>Well, it's no use arguing now.. chillaxin already chose CCIS.</p>
<p>And can anyone answer my previous question about Harvard's respect for RSI v. TASP? I believe that both programs are well-respected, tupac.</p>
<p>bump? 10char.</p>
<p>tupac said that because if you look at Harvard admission this year, many peeple who went to RSi were rejected</p>
<p>If you look at the history of "hooks," you'll find inconsistent stories. Some people with the hook got into a top 3 school while others didn't. The problem with a hook is this: simply being accepted to RSI or TASP doesn't mean you will get an acceptance to EVERY school. I know this from experience with close friends of mine who went to RSI, and some got into every school while others didn't. It seems that almost everyone from RSI will get into one of HYP, but that everyone is certainly NOT guaranteed to get into all 3.</p>
<p>To get into all 3, the hook itself does not suffice. It matters what you do with the hook - what you win/achieve compared to other people with same hook. The general aim: hooks put a label on you that is easy to discriminate for and against, so outperform the people with the same hook as you.</p>
<p>The way i think of it is that the colleges know RSI has 50 kids from the U.S., and Harvard doesn't want all 50, so they clash them with each other. Some RSI kids got intel semifinalist/finalist and those are usually accepted, while many others don't get achievement. </p>
<p>Many people claim that TASP is a program that teaches you thinking skills, rounds your personality, and gives you more views. To crack open the power of this program, you would have to show that you learned something (other than simply being accepted). People prove this in their essays, as several admissions officers praise TASP because of the imaginative essay topics picked by its participants.</p>