Going to COSMOS increases acceptance chances?

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Does it?</p>

<p>10char</p>

2

<p>Pretty much.</p>

3

<p>“pretty much”? What do you mean?</p>

4

<p>Maybe</p>

<p>10char</p>

5

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6

<p>Anything you do will “increase” your chances…
Join all the clubs at your school. That’ll increase your chances.
Join all the sports teams at your school. That’ll increase your chances.
Get a job. That’ll increase your chances.
Anything you do that isn’t bad will increase your chances…</p>

<p>What answer are you looking for?</p>

7

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<p>from: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/670123-cosmos-2009-a.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/summer-programs/670123-cosmos-2009-a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It just intrigued me because I’ve always wanted to go to COSMOS, but I never knew it could have an impact on admissions.</p>

8

<p>You expected us to quantify how much activity “X” increases your chance of getting in?</p>

9

<p>The amount that Cosmos will help depends on the number of activities you have. If you have almost no extracurriculars, then it will increase your chances dramatically. But if you have a ton of EC’s, then it will get lost among them…</p>

10

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<p>No. I wanted to know if it did or did not. When did I say I wanted a number?</p>

11

<p>Yes it will help quite a bit but getting into COSMOS may be a tad more difficult than getting into Cal. So apply widely.</p>

<p>Programs like COSMOS cannot be compared to the run-of-the-mill ECs people mentioned above. They’re unique and will make the applicants stand out. If you’re very competitive academically, these are the kind of ECs you need to get into HYPS.</p>

12

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<p>Yes, because only like 10 people attend COSMOS, EPGY, CTY, etcetc…
These activities are not really unique. Thousands of students attend each program every year. </p>

<p>COSMOS will NOT be the reason you are admitted to HYPSM, unless you generate a project that makes you a finalist in Intel ISEF.</p>

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<p>If you are looking to attend COSMOS just to increase your chances, you should not go there. Go to COSMOS if you are genuinely interested in spending 4 weeks learning about some science/math areas that you wouldn’t normally learn. Basically do something that interests you and that will reflect in you essays and your passion and that will get you closer to your colleges.</p>

14

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<p>I’m really into video games and I would love to get into the video game cluster. :)</p>

15

<p>Go to COSMOS! Best summer of my life. End of story.</p>

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<p>“Programs like COSMOS” are very run-of-the-mill for people who can afford them.</p>

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<p>COSMOS is quite selective. While it is not as hard as getting into UC Berkeley, the acceptance rate is still quite low. Generally, if you aren’t in advanced math or have lower than a 3.75, you do not have a very good chance at getting into COSMOS, although you might get into some of the less selective topics.</p>

<p>However, it doesn’t make you “stand out” for places like HYPS. While it’s not run-of-the-mill, it isn’t ultra-prestigious like RSI or TASP - and even those kids get rejected sometimes. It is a nice thing to have on college applications, but it is not huge for those places.</p>

<p>At the UC’s, however, COSMOS does boost admissions chances more. The 20% figure is probably around accurate (As in, if you would have a 50% chance, then you would have a 60% chance if you did attend COSMOS). They used to give “UC points” to COSMOS, but now, since the admissions system is no longer point based, it simply increases your chances a bit.</p>

18

<p>Is the video game design cluster at UC Santa Cruz competitive to get into? That’s something that I would really want to do.</p>

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<p>I am not sure about Santa Cruz. Generally I think Davis is the most competitive (I attended Davis COSMOS).</p>