Telluride Association Summer Program (TASP) 2013

<p>I was thinking about reading the Confessions of Saint Augustine. Do you guys know what kind of literature TASP likes to see?</p>

<p>It’s not so much about what you pick as it is about what you write and how. Anything from Mark Twain to Harry Potter.</p>

<p>As someone who grew obsessed with this program prematurely and saw rejection in the first round, let me tell you, spend your time elsewhere. Start thinking about your essays, since the prompts hardly ever change (and when they do, not by much), but spend your Junior year focusing on academics and what Telluride would want you to be doing: reading intellectually stimulating books, writing and attempting to engage in dialogue on these things however you can.</p>

<p>Edit: I don’t mean spend your time elsewhere as in “don’t apply”, I mean you have time and don’t start obsessing over it so soon.</p>

<p>The only advice for everyone who is a TASPlicant, coming from a former TASPer and now an interviewer/TASPlication reader is to be yourself and speak in your own voice, be concise, and support your ideas. </p>

<p>There is no “typical” TASPlicant/TASPer, and there’s very little you can gain from this thread, other than preTASP communication, which is a Telluridian nono.</p>

<p>I meant for the purpose of the thread to be more for the discussion of the application, how writing essays is going, and the like for applicants. Just a pillow for potential TASP-ers to scream in, or a friend to gush to. Upholding that purpose is dependent on other CCers themselves.</p>

<p>I’m going to start by laying a few things out there on the table.
First, I went to the Michigan I Politics of Evolution TASP this summer. It might have been the greatest thing I’ve ever done.
Second, the notion that one wouldn’t benefit from a TASP is completely baseless. Any TASP is worthwhile for the community alone, and if you believe that something won’t help you, your mindset predisposes you to be rejected before the interview.
Third, the most important factor to consider is intellectual desire. My TASP succeeded because we wanted to learn things. We read a lot, and still less than the Modernism TASP. If you don’t want to work to break down your thoughts and build them anew, you should stop working on your application immediately.
That is all.</p>

<p>I’ve heard many good things about this program. I hope to be able to go when I’m a junior/senior.</p>

<p>I was really excited to apply, until I saw the topics this year. I’ll probably still apply to the literature one, but I don’t think I would want to attend any of the other ones. I’m sure they’ll be very interesting, but I don’t think I’d want to spend a significant part of my summer studying those topics.</p>

<p>Especially not “Times Square.” I don’t know how many New Yorkers will want to attend that one…</p>

<p>^ apply to all of them. You don’t know what you’re going to miss out on. This may or may not be from a 2011 TASP alum</p>

<p>I think I’m going to apply to both the Cornell ones. Neither of the Mich ones though.</p>

<p>Is it true people with strong desire in Math/Science won’t really apply to this because they have RSI/SSP and etc over TASP? Cause I kinda want to apply to TASP to give it a chance… So that I don’t regret it later but yea…Any thoughts?</p>

<p>Oooh, this question is up my ally (somewhat). </p>

<p>A wide and diverse range of students ultimately attend TASP, not just diverse re: academic interests but also re: socioeconomic background, etc. There will likely be at least a few students who are interested in STEM-related areas.</p>

<p>However, the program is geared towards the humanities. While TASP won’t be an enriching science research experience (an experience you would get from programs like RSI, for instance), it will be an enriching personal experience, so apply, irrespective of your academic interests!</p>

<p>im a tasper and i just wanna say that the feminism tasp sounds awesome and if youre not interested youre probably wack</p>

<p>that said i went to my third to last choice for tasp (umich modernism holler!) and it was still awesome and fun. so like yall have some really awesome choices and theyre all gonna be worth it and eye-opening regardless of how initially interested or not interested you feel abt them.</p>

<p>The flack the feminism seminar is getting is a bit unfair, imo. It’s a niche topic, that’s for sure, but I bet it’ll be enthralling (more so than the Times Square one, at least).</p>

<p>mathdork: for the few STEM kids there, were they heavily outnumbered or was it a pretty fair mix?</p>

<p>I’m not sure if the composition of my TASP (Cornell) will be entirely consistent with past/future TASP’s, but math/science kids were outnumbered. Out of 32, I’d estimate about five or six were seriously considering fields in STEM. Still, many more were involved in STEM programs at their high school and had participated in various regional science fairs. Proficiency and interest in science was common at TASP.</p>

<p>TASPers struck me as, on balance, more interested in majoring in the social sciences and the humanities, but this is probably because Cornell I and II seminars were specifically geared towards the humanities and social sciences. It’s possible that Michigan attracted more students seriously interested in majoring in science-related fields with the Politics of Evolution seminar.</p>

<p>Still, if you end up going to TASP, you will meet a lot of kids who are at least interested and involved in science and math. And familiarity+background with STEM fields will certainly enhance the quality of philosophical discussions!</p>

<p>Awesome, thanks for the account. If any other TASPers wanna pipe in on the matter, please do so!</p>

<p>Hehe, STEM kid here ^<em>^
I want to apply to TASP. Not my first choice, but it sounds so cool anyway @</em>@</p>

<p>Applications are open.</p>

<p>How many books are you guys going to list for that essay question?</p>

<p>Bookmarking</p>