I’ve written about this program before. You can use the search button to find old threads. Thirteen alumni from the program are freshman at Stanford this year. This doesn’t mean that you’ll get accepted to Stanford but it does suggest that you can do some meaningful research if you work hard and are able to get a good mentor.
Is there anyone out there who got an acceptance already? My son is anxiously waiting. I don’t think his chance is that high but one could always hope.
my daughter has interview next week. Any advice?
@jlhhlhlrh Good luck to your daughter. Because the project assignments are determined at RMP during the first week, RMP likes students who are open-minded about projects in several fields and eager to learn across a broad spectrum of topics.
@jihhlhlrh When did your daughter send in her completed application?
Can someone share some tips on how to select projects/mentors to optimize the research experience? i.e. have a chance to enter a national level competition with the research project done there.
Did she get her interview assigned way after receiving an email that her application is under review?
@nlee1012 My friend got her interview request around 3-4 weeks after that email came.
When my son did RMP several years ago, the projects were pitched to the admitted students at the beginning of the program. The kids ranked the projects that they were interested in, and they were then informed by the staff about which one they would be working on. In other words, there was no guarantee that you’d get the project that you preferred. My son, however, did indeed get his first choice.
My son also did RISE at BU as a rising senior. He is now a sophomore at MIT. He says that RMP was better than RISE at teaching him how to conduct research and how to write a technical paper.
My two cents is that RMP is a fine program but is too expensive. I think that they should eliminate a lot of the social activities to reduce the program cost. The most highly regarded summer programs in the country are those that are free or low cost (RSI, TASP, SSP, …) RMP should head in that direction, otherwise it will always come across as being only accessible to high SES kids.
@whatisyourquest I agree that RMP could cut out the weekend trips. I think those trips are part of the third-party housing provider’s setup. My son did RMP as a commuter student, so it was significantly less expensive for us. SSP has weekend field trips, but they are to local STEM destinations. RMP could do something similar in the Santa Barbara area, but it would take more staff resources.
SSP reduces its cost through significant fundraising. I suppose the same is true of TASP, RSI, and others. I don’t think that RMP has the structure to support major fundraising.
My son also did RMP several years ago. He was a rising sophomore at the time, and did not get his first choice project. But, he did enjoy his project and it was one that he could contribute a lot to at that time. It did give him a good feel for how to write a technical paper, create a technical poster, and give a technical presentation. And, it led to him doing further research on the campus.
He is a freshman at Caltech now, but some of that may be because he also attended SSP. There was at least one other person at SSP his year who had previously done RMP.
Did anyone accept RMP after all? We have one day to decide it, please share why you accept RMP. Many thanks.