Telluride Association Summer Program ( TASP ) 2008

<p>^haha, oh right, i didnt think about that at first. but then again, still, at least the people know OF CC. :P
The program sounds so amazing ... sighs... i hope i get in.</p>

<p>i'm so glad i wasn't the only one who saw it was due on the 15th hahaha. i sent the letter today (although via normal mail). phewww.</p>

<p>crap... Post office is closed on sunday **and **monday this week. gah. <em>whack head repeatedly on table</em></p>

<p>My teacher hasn't even given me her recommendation yet.
Oh well.........</p>

<p>so.... print out three copies, keep one for yourself, send two in, no staples (paperclips perhaps), put sealed recommendation inside...?
I know this sounds really OCD and I'll probably laugh at myself in a few years, but should I number the pages and put my name on each page as a header/footer sort of thing?</p>

<p>^ Someone needs to clear this up once and for all. If we were mailed a application, we need to send the original set along with one copy of everything (application + essays) right?</p>

<p>And also, on the copy, we can only paperclip the essays and application and not staple... right?</p>

<p>Well, I just found out about TASP, even though I got high PSAT scores, and I'd love to attend. I don't have a teacher rec or anything yet. Do you think if I write all of my essays in 5 days and send my transcript and rec as soon as possible, there's a chance for me? Or is it worthless to try at this point?</p>

<p>I'm planning to go to another summer program, but it's nothing compared to TASP.</p>

<p>This probably has been asked, but what would be considered an ideal length for the essays. Mine are about 2 pages double spaced, because I was doing it MLA, but then I realized it said single spaced is fine ~_~</p>

<p>Oh man, my conflict essay is pretty bad. It basically came down to "I realize that sometimes I'll get screwed over, but it's a part of life that I have come to accept"</p>

<p>So...for the rank your topics essay, how did you all deal with the topics you weren't too interested in? I don't know how to kindly say that I don't want to learn about Caribbean art. ;_;</p>

<p>2 Pages, Single Spaced.</p>

<p>There is no "ideal" length: Write until you feel you have written about your topic well. However, don't go over 2 pages single spaced. Less than that is totally fine.</p>

<p>ajk: Yes, that's what the instructions say :) Last year, it was three copies, but I guess they decided to have less readers this year? Who knows. Yep - paperclipping = :D because remember, it's not just one person who's reading the essays.</p>

<p>Digging: Totally worth it, Telluride is also ridiculously lenient on recs/transcripts. If you get them in by this week, it should probably be okay. Probably - you might want to send Telluride an email just in case, but for the most part I think they'll forgive you.</p>

<p>Sigurros: Quality, not quantity ;) Some people will write a page single-spaced or less for each essay, others will adjust margins + font size + font in order to make their essays fit in the two page limit. Personally, I would advocate for length (1 1/2 - 2 pages), but if you get your message across in one, then it's fine. :)</p>

<p>I don't think it's about length really, ... it's more about quality. Anyway, I guess anywhere from 1 to 2 pages should be fine, sigurros?
and i agree that the conflict essay is the hardest one to write.
wow, illuminar,haha, i said that i wanted to go to carribean art as first choice! hahaha
but then i said i didnt want globalization. :P</p>

<p>To each his own haha. I'm not much of a visual arts person, and having never been to the Caribbean/not living in an area with many people from the Caribbean, I'm not particularly compelled to choose it.</p>

<p>I'm torn between the Hollywood/Africa thing (I'm a dork; when it mentioned "heart of darkness" in the summary, I lunged for it) and Carribean art (culture's always fun :)).</p>

<p>But, wow, globalization would give me a literal headache. I had a bad run-in with it this year. Interesting - but the bad memories I'm dredging up right now are urging me to put it as my last choice.</p>

<p>I've never read Heart of Darkness. Being from Nova Scotia, there's not much of an emphasis on African History here, especially since we didn't have a civil rights movement like in the States and all that. I think what's most interesting about that program is the idea of the representation of Hollywood. It's almost like historiography, except not through text...</p>

<p>Heart of Darkness is amazing! (And I think I'm one of the few people to say so.). But it's not everyone's cup of tea. Still, try reading it. At the very least, it'd improve your patience quite a bit, because - I won't kid you - it's a slog. You need to hack and slash your way through the jungle of words. ^^;</p>

<p>The thought of questioning the reality of what's portrayed onscreen also drew me in. Makes me think of perception vs. reality things (though that probably doesn't relate at all).</p>

<p>Oh yeah. Is doing a critnal on an entire series not advised? Because the series I'm thinking of would fall apart if it wasn't put together...Or, at least, the message wouldn't exist otherwise.</p>

<p>ajk, if that's what the directions say then don't worry about last year's directions. it's just two sets of essays. </p>

<p>brevity is a good thing. if you can get what you want across in one and a half pages, that's not something to worry about. and telluride will be reading thousands and thousands of essays so they'll appreciate a concise well-written one. </p>

<p>illuminar, one of TASPers wrote "Please do not put me in this seminar" for her last choice. while you certainly do not need to gloss over and euphemize your rationale for picking a last choice, also remember that a big part of TASP is experiencing and learning something new that you have not been exposed to before. telluride has assigned people their last choices before in the past, and it's not just your rankings essay that is considered when they're making seminar placement decisions (your interview report, group dynamics, etc).</p>

<p>I'm applying too!</p>

<p>I prefer the Global South, Caribbean, the Hollywood one, and then the Environment one (which sounds horrible because I like UMich, being a Michigander!)</p>

<p>I am writing my crit on Twilight. You read that right. Twilight. But I kind of bashed the organization and style in it, and said that Steph Meyer only had one good point in the entire thing. Hopefully that will not make me seem like a prick!</p>

<p>My conflict was LAME-OH LAME-OH. Mostly because a lot of my conflicts have been family-related, and I really don't feel comfortable discussing them (even with the rest of my family), so I picked something of a lighter nature.</p>

<p>I've tried to restrain myself from reading this board for the entire time I've been working on my app in case I start getting paranoid and begin worrying, but today I was just kind of like SCREW IT and decided to come here to see everyone's tips and stories anyway. </p>

<p>So anyway, I'm paranoid and worrying. XD This is going to sound like a stupid question, but in your applications, how much personality/quirk are they looking for? It's not that my essays are bad, really; they're eloquent and intellectual enough. But I took the serious route, and I'm just afraid I'll come across as a pedantic bore in comparison to others wittily writing on quirky topics. I mean, will they understand that people might not necessarily lay out their humorous, interesting, or weird sides in these essays? I'm really not a stiff person, but I'm just afraid that they'll read my essays and be like "dude, shut up pompous Asian girl" and pick someone who eloquently wrote about soap or something (IDK how but you know what I mean).</p>

<p>oh wow, i was the only person from my school to apply</p>

<p>Don't worry about it, I'm Asian too. Except I am definitely quirky, though I try not to be. Like I was almost voted Most Unique in my class.</p>

<p>I'm sure if you're intellectual and seem fun, you shouldn't have to worry about quirkiness. I even mentioned quirkiness in my critical, saying that Isabella Swan isn't quirky enough to be a strong narrator.</p>