hpyscm

There's really no difference between the two camps, so please apply to both. It could mean the difference between getting waitlisted and getting in.

HDHunter

Hey guys so somebody up there asked for a New Mexico alum. And here I am from 2012. Also don't forget its focused around an astronomy program, Socorro has great conditions for astronomy and is better than CA. (out of the 36 students at NM, i'm sure 100% would agree that NM > CA) I've actually met hpyscm in real life just to give you an idea of how tight knit the alumni network is. So here are the question answers.

1) The experience: I'll start by saying that its not a joke, the workload is intense. I think I can count on one hand the amount of nights I went to sleep before 1AM. The lectures are fast-paced and cover topics in physics, calculus, astronomy, and programming. However, you also grow as a family. I still talk to a lot of people from the program and the time there was great. There IS free time, the staff makes sure we have fun. There are great field trips and we played a lot of frisbee. We had weekly movie nights and lots of snacks while doing problem sets.

2) From what I saw, they truly do care that they are admitting PEOPLE and not academic machines. Everybody there will have great scores. On the essays, it is best to be yourself. If you are a good fit for SSP, it will show. Everybody there was extremely passionate about science, but also great people. Winning big awards and having great scores will help, but the essays I feel really make or break your app. Don't skimp on these at all.

3) I took the SAT, SAT II's, APs and got good scores on all of them. It doesn't matter too much though, although you may want to show that you have at least some physics or calculus background.

4) The diversity was something that took me by surprise. There were quite a few international students, 3 from China, 2 from Romania, and I can't remember if there were any others off the top of my head. The students also came from around the country. The diversity will not be that it will be boring for you, trust me. People come from all walks of life with different interests, except we obviously all love science.

5) 18 females and 18 males, so exactly 1:1. As hpyscm said, I'm pretty sure this was on purpose. As you can imagine, this did lead to some "couples." They're fun and part of the program but dont' worry about it too much.

6) Can't really answer this. I guess I could say that you should say you can do both campuses. I actually originally put down CA but got NM (thank god). NM is better than CA but CA is still alright. All jokes aside you will have the time of your life and I wish every one of you guys the best of luck.

Anybody can feel free to PM me with any questions about me or my experience or SSP in general and I'll try my best to answer.

hpyscm

let's be serious here... why would you go to NM if you could go to CA? lolol
Me: 1 You: 0

HDHunter

look at how standoffish hpyscm is...now do you guys really want to go to the campus that admitted him? :P

Oh also you guys will learn how to swing dance, that was probably the most important skill I picked up there. Seriously

biovball

Thanks so much HDHunter, I will make sure to apply to both.

I have the option of choosing 1 maybe 2 classes to take at a local community college next term. Which do you think would be the most impressive for admissions purposes (I enjoy all of these subjects, so not just doing it to impress).

-Differential Equations
-Introduction to Astronomy
-Physics C

I am also taking an online astronomy course on Coursera currently.

HDHunter

All great classes. Physics C would probably be the most useful to you since you can take the APs and since it has some sort of tangible test associated with it it may help. Other than that I can't really decide for you. All three sound very SSP-ey, in that those were things I wish I had known/known more of prior to SSP.
It was sort of expected that students wouldn't have a background in astro (I happened to because of my research but I could tell you didn't need it.)

hpyscm

Yeah I would say Diff. Equations would be the least helpful from ssp's point of view, but really - do what you really like. Physics c is self-studyable if you've taken B, so in that case doing differential equations might be better... Definitely do astro though if you're interested in it!

biovball

Thanks for the fast response.

I think I'll try to register for Diff. Eq. and Physics C because the online astronomy class seems like it will be very informative on its own. Plus, you are right - Physics C will also be an AP test opportunity. I was originally planning on taking that class senior year, so that will free up a slot later on at least.

The website said that you are arranged in teams of three. How does that work? Do they group you by skill, so maybe one person in each group has programming experience, etc. or is it random? Did you feel more isolated with your group or was everyone in the program cooperative?

biovball

If I can fit it in my schedule, though, I will try to take astro in addition.

hpyscm

VERY VERY VERY cooperative. Legitimately, cooperation and tightly-knit bonds of friendship are what get you through the camp. If you're not friends with everyone by the time you leave - you're doing something wrong

Also, I think they DO group you by varying skills somewhat, but I'm not really sure

HDHunter

Your groups of three are who you will be spending most of the time with when doing the actual project. Observations, writing progress reports, the final report, will all be done with them. However, thats relatively little compared to the rest of the program, as hpyscm said you will become SUPER close with everybody. As for the skillset, I actually can't say. It certainly seemed like that in some groups but not as much in others, I think it was more random.

biovball

You guys have been so helpful, thanks so much.

One last question - what are the essays like? I didn't get a chance to look at last year's application, and it would be nice to know the general topic of the essays so I can begin to think about what I want to write about.

StudiousMaximus

I'm really excited to apply for this program. Every SSP'er whom I've seen on CC raves about his/her experience, so I presume it's pretty great! I hope I get in.

hpyscm

Essays are modest and really let you tell them about the person you are. Similar to MIT's essays :P

HDHunter

The essays are a lot like college essays, and I think two were the exact same questions as from two schools I've applied to. They want to know about your background (school, family) and how its affected you in one of the essays. In another they want to know about why you think you'd be a good fit for SSP. Again be honest. I said I liked astronomy but that was the truth and not just to get in. My roommate said he talked about chemistry and got in, remember that passon will speak loudly. I forget the others at the moment.