Do they only accept super lit/humanities oriented people?
Or are they just looking for intellectually curious people. Like do you have to be a super philosophy/humanities enthusiast to be accepted?
I am considering applying. I have good grades/GPA/test scores and all that. But I would say my EC’s and my interests lie in advocacy and social entrepreneurship. I also run a business and a nonprofit (related to said interests). I’m just wondering if I should even think of applying, or if I’m not the “type” TASP would consider.
I would encourage you to apply. TASP honestly, based on my personal experience, chooses literally all types of people; it’s just that they choose the best of each type. A few years back, there were a lot of people at my TASP who were more interested in STEM fields, wrote their essays about those interests, and still got accepted. Just try to showcase yourself best of what you are.
Be sure to have backup plans besides applying to top programs like TASP. It is great if you can get in (and I thought the essays were good practice for my kid for college essays, even though she didn’t get into TASP). But you want to have a productive summer if it doesn’t work out.
TASP looks for exceptionally bright kids that can think great thoughts and write very well. They are not strictly looking for humanities kids, nor are they looking just for kids with high stats (although those don’t hurt). More than anything, I think that they are looking for diversity – racial, cultural, ethnic, as well as diversity of thought. They are trying to create a culturally-rich community of people and of ideas. And yes, writing the essays was really helpful in preparing for college and scholarship apps and TASP itself was truly an amazing and transformative experience for my D.