Do most RSI applicants complete Calculus by 10th grade?

LuoSciOly
Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:07:53 +0000

“Our Science Olympiad team shouldn’t count, we are a joke.”

Aw come on, that doesn’t mean you can’t still join the team and have fun! After all, that’s what all these activities are for - having fun doing science, not just racking up accolades for applications. Science Olympiad is pretty much the funnest thing there is! And of course a research internship is something you could write about! The application, in my view, is a place to talk about stuff you’ve done with science/math that you think is cool or interesting. So if you enjoy the research you do, and think it shows your scientific interest and aptitude, by all means write about it.

The USAPhO open exam this year was in January and results were released in February, too late for the RSI application. But really, I don’t think it’s a huge deal for the application whether you’ve won all sorts of stuff or been a USAPhO uber-genius; I think that the application is much more conducive to telling about how much you love science rather than rattling off a list of awards or accomplishments. (Though admittedly, having awards to mention doesn’t hurt.) Anyway, I wish you the best of luck.