<p>Hmm...some of you guys are treating the components of the paper as if you are answering essay prompts. My question is, why? Why not just follow a standard research paper in your field? I didn't even read too much into the prompts given, I just did a standard paper following the conventions of my field.</p>
<p>Yeah, the general format of my paper follows some example papers from my field. However, I tried to incoporate the things they asked for at some point in the paper.</p>
<p>What is this contest about anyways? I am seeing a bit of hype and I am a bit interested... can someone fill me in?</p>
<p>First, hello fellow Siemens Wanna-be's!</p>
<p>A-san:
The contest is about MONEY ( $100,000 to be exact), PRESTIGE, and the ability to in one fell swoop, join the inner circles of the Iluminati we call "the Siemens Scholars" (though newbies can due this through aceing the AP tests as well)!</p>
<p>No, seriously its a huge deal, the true Junior Nobel Prize and anyone who wins a gold can sit back and relax for the next few months ... heck college applications might as well write themselves if "Siemens-Westinghouse Science Competition" is writ in gold-leaf on your app.</p>
<p>BTW .... I haven't sent in my forms yet, but no worries, I'm signing my soul over to the devil (AirExpress) at George Bush Intercontinental Airport tomorrow evening to have it "same-day" shipped to Trenton!!! </p>
<p>A-san:
this is an example of the lengths people will go for Siemens. For more information <a href="http://www.siemens-foundation.org/competition/default.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.siemens-foundation.org/competition/default.htm</a></p>
<p>Also,</p>
<p>t3hcan0n and fruita:</p>
<p>quit barking!</p>
<p>..... my old man is a pointy-headed boss (Dilbert_References++;) yet I managed to get a 10-week internship at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider last summer, and am currently applying for one with the National Security Agency in '06 ..... you don't have to be lucky, just get a head start (read: middle-school), and network with people. </p>
<p>..... but on the other hand ... luck can't hurt >_></p>
<p>Oh noes. Fedex came at 12PM today to pick up my paper but I wasn't finished. Guess I am just going to have to take the train down to Trenton on Monday to hand deliver it.</p>
<p>haha ... yeah, in the same pickle here ..... </p>
<p>Hmmm, how do we know if everything is in good order? They say they won't confirm acceptence, but will they send us an email like "REJECTED" if something is awry?? Anyone know?</p>
<p>Does anyone know how the comeptition works? Like since I am in South Region, and doing Computer Science/Artificial Intelligence, do I have to compete with bio kids to get to semi's?</p>
<p>Also, can we start one Siemens thread so we don't clog the forums with 2 of them?</p>
<p>.....you applied without knowing how it works???? ........ okaaayyyy ....</p>
<p>Everyone competes against everyone .... its not even on a region-by-region basis</p>
<p>Then, after they wittle it down to 30, you are ASSIGNED a regional locale. Usually if you're in Texas (like me) you get assigned UT-Austin, but every year it seems the South West applicants spill over into adjacent regions (because we're awesome). </p>
<p>Then, each of the regional winners (sometimes 2 Texans, see above) go on to duke it out at Nationals.</p>
<p>Also, my report is standard physics format, sans-serif captions and all.</p>
<p>*Am I the ONLY person here deathly afraid of the question and answer session? It sounds like grad-school quals!! <shivers></shivers></p>
<p>"How is quark-gluon plasma useful, what are some ideas that stem from your research"</p>
<p>"LOOK, its elvis! <runs away="">"</runs></p>
<p>erosannin:
".....you applied without knowing how it works???? ........ okaaayyyy ....
Everyone competes against everyone .... its not even on a region-by-region basis"</p>
<p>Not true at all. They take 50 semifinalists from each region, thus making it a competition in your region. Learn the facts before making fun of other people. I'll try to find the link where I saw this. If you don't believe me, call the Siemens Westinhouse Competition people.</p>
<p>I can't find it on the website yet, but this is from a manager at SW:
"SWCmanager (17:43:27)
Tthe Siemens Westinghouse Competition begins with an initial judging process where judges will choose up to 300 semi-finalists (up to 50 from each of six regions)."
<a href="http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Community/AoPS_Y_MJ_Transcripts.php?mj_id=43%5B/url%5D">http://www.artofproblemsolving.com/Community/AoPS_Y_MJ_Transcripts.php?mj_id=43</a></p>
<p>".....you applied without knowing how it works???? ........ okaaayyyy ...."</p>
<p>...</p>
<p>I'm not such an idiot that I would have no clue to the process. </p>
<p>I know that we compete intra-region for semi-finalist, but since obviously judges with a background in Artificial Intelligence won't be judging projects about protein markers for Breast Cancer, how will the judges equate projects from different fields?</p>
<p>sagar: don't listen to erosannin. anyways i believe they get a crew of researchers from Universities, national labs, etc. They use a subjective judging criteria, judging only what they specialize in. Basically, its like a point system. We receive points and then whoever gets the top points gets semifinalist standing (top 25 per region for each division). its kind of unfair because the computer science and physics judges might be tougher than biology or chemistry judges (just an example, it might be the other way around).</p>
<p>Here's proof on CollegeBoard: <a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/article/0,3868,6-30-0-45289-ul,00.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/article/0,3868,6-30-0-45289-ul,00.html</a></p>
<p>"How many Semifinalists are chosen?
From all the projects submitted, up to 300 outstanding projects (a maximum of 50 in each of the six College Board geographic regions) are selected as Semifinalists."</p>
<p>Hmmm... so if perhaps not many people in South Region did AI, then a judge for AI might only look at my project, and thus alter the system?</p>
<p>Dude my paper's like...8 pages</p>
<p>ah.</p>
<p>Is anyone here actually doing 20/ close to it? because then I know I'm screwed and should just start planning for intel.</p>
<p>So I guess the question I have in mind is, who else is submitting from the midatlantic region and who else is doing computer science research?</p>
<p>sagar_indurkhya:
I don't mean to flame .... but what do you expect from "Does anyone know how the comeptition[sic] works?" THIS close to the deadline?</p>
<p>I apologize.</p>
<p>Confidential:
I'm talking about REGIONAL FINALISTS .... and no, they DON'T take location into account (quite ironic name, actually). The top 30 in the NATION get shuffled to their nearest regional competition, or to another one if its full.</p>
<p>True, semifinalists are "spread" but READ MY POST MORE CAREFULLY before you dismiss what I have to say. My sister made regionals and was moved to a different state because UT-Austin was full. I take attacks on my reputation quite seriously.</p>
<p>RamJag:
Mine's 13 + 7 appendices: I had to mercilessly cut down my data!! 8 should be fine if it was a short, but sweet, project.</p>
<p>Now that the air has cleared ......</p>
<br>
<p>"how will the judges equate projects from different fields?" The semifinalist process is pretty black-box (save for the handy "judging guidelines"), but at Regionals you are guaranteed to have at least one judge who understands your project, and understands it VERY well (both a blessing and a curse). However, from the mouth-of-the-horse "it is up to the contestants to help the other [non-specialist] judges understand their project" this is a big factor in determining the winners .... those who can bring requisite in-field experience for understanding their poster/speech to a minimum are the most likely to wind up at Nationals.</p>
<br>
<p>Sorry Erosannin. I guess I misunderstood you.</p>
<p>wow, 13 + 7 appendices? I had 19 pages of report + 1 apendix of references, and I had to cut away expansions, etc.</p>