Determind15

Are less people applying this year??

Bump.

yellowbelly

OK guys
I love the enthusiasm.
TA has been cracking down on preTASP communication: it has led to bad group chemistry and part of TASP is learning to chill with and learn with people who are bright who you don't know. Some of you will say that you just will keep your usernames secret and not tell who is where until after TASP. You'll figure it out anyways.
Shut this down if you guys have sense. You'll have enough time to communicate at TASP believe me.
Good luck and have fun with your apps.

embeezy

yellowbelly, I respectfully disagree. My TASP had the most amount of accepted CCers of any this year, and while it did bring about some problems, I don't think this thread needs to be shut down. The problem is not the threads, but the one-on-one pre-TASP communication.

I (and a few other TASPers) straddled that line of involvement on the TASP thread for the longest time--posting when the topic was relevant to me, asking questions about the app or interviews, and reporting my acceptance, etc. Though I did figure out who was who at TASP, that part wasn't a big deal at all. However, you definitely shouldn't get carried away. Hence...

Some Annoyingly Vague and Blase General Advice For Posting on This Thread:

1. Chill: we know it's TASP, it's amazing, it's going to change your life if you get in, yadda yadda yadda--but seriously, relax. Trust me on this one. I was surprisingly laid back during the TASPlication process and was accepted, but I applied to another program simultaneously (and freaked out about it in an unhealthy manner) and was rejected. I was definitely more 'me' in presenting myself to TA as a result, which is what the application process is all about.

2. Limit the posts: there will be times (especially around notification times) when you'll be contributing to the thread a lot since no one else 'gets it,' but other than that, sometimes it's best to sit back and take it all in if it doesn't directly pertain to you. Have a specific question or answer to someone else's question? Go for it and toss your $.02 into the mix. Otherwise, think twice before padding your interweb involvement with superfluous postage.

3. Don't post/share essays: this is the internet, citizens. What you post here is public, and these essays have the potential to be mad personal. Ask your teachers, friends, or mentors to edit your essays, but keep them off of CC.

4. Don't bring it to Facebook: save the friend requesting and Facebook chatting for TASP if you're accepted--or for the onset of rejection blues if you're not. It's simply way too personal, and Facebook makes it extremely easy to talk to people you might be living with too much. Keep it to the CC threads (or PMs, if it has to come to that).

5. Play nicely: there was some mad trolling last year, which got really awkward. If you're going to post, keep in mind that there is a chance (though admittedly infinitesimal for some) that you'll be living with someone else on this thread for six weeks next summer. It's best not to have a sullied reputation at TASP because of some lame and catty CC posts.

Good luck, kiddies. Hit up a CC UTer with questions if you've got 'em. (Mah apologies, but come on, I had to rep THEEE best TASP in the history of L.L. Nunnship, yaddimean?) Heartsiez.

Determind15

People need a place to vent about how they don't think they'll finish the app. or think that they wont be accepted. This is what these posts are about. I remember when I had no one to talk to about TASP and came on the site to see what people going through the same things I was going through posted.

The TASP section is important, and can provide emotional support as well as information.

Keilexandra

embeezy (<3!) said exactly what I would have said, and more, regarding this thread's involvement. I would emphasize restraint on Facebook (with real names and pictures) and for love of whatever god or gods are out there, DON'T POST YOUR ESSAYS.

The sole "problem" at my TASP (rather minor, really, nothing like the schisms I've heard about) was related to pre-TASP communication but I truly believe that it couldn't have been avoided even in the olden days before Internet. People, and any conflicts arising between people, don't change.

chocobok

I'm applying

I heard somewhere that they're cutting one of the sessions. Is that true? If it is, that sucks.

Keilexandra

^ Yes, UMich is hosting only a TASS--not a TASP--this year.

chocobok

So that's going to make it even harder to get in.

*sigh*

embeezy

Keil, heartsiez (!).

Also, as an addendum to last post: if the CC thread for TASP had been "shut down" as early as yellowbelly is suggesting this one should be, I never would have known about TASP. I put up with CC shenanigans in homage to the fact that without it I would never have had the best six weeks of my life. Please, don't prevent dozens of nerds from becoming TASPlicants. Viva la thread!

(UTers, please note Trotsky-factotum reference in last sentence. That is all.)

wombatsoup

I have to agree. I too am from UT, and the CC thread in itself had no affect on anything socially for me. As long as you don't use it as a get to know each other chatroom (we didn't) I don't see it causing any problems.

Keilexandra

Hi wombat. UT '09 represent! We probably had the greatest quotient of ACTIVE CCers, too.

Delaluna

I'm definitely applying Really looking forward to it. How many sessions will there be then?

wombatsoup

There will be three sessions this year, two at Cornell and one at the University of Texas. If the numbers are the same there will be sixteen people at each Cornell seminar and eighteen people at the UT Austin seminar.

JamesChang

I am seriously interested in this and would drop any commitment to go if I'm accepted (:

samching

Hi, i'm a student from Singapore and would like to check the chances of an international student applying and getting accepted. thanks(: