<p>OHOOHHHHHHH HOLY ■■■ IT’S STEPHIE!!! <em>jumps all over you</em> <333333333</p>
<p><em>shakes head proudly</em> and nope, matt, my purity score only went down 0.4%!!! lol :D</p>
<p>good thing i moved out in time. hahahaha</p>
<p>Good times indeed… oh, the memories!</p>
<p>for the record,
i don’t cut myself.</p>
<p>I miss you RSI_05 - {Arun}!</p>
<p>lol… yeah, really, I’d estimate that my purity score only went down a few percent. But that’s because they weren’t asking quite the right questions. ;)</p>
<p>tsr: I knew you would succumb…</p>
<p>Derick!!! Nice to see you on CC! (don’t worry about getting addicted… it’s a beneficial addiction… somehow)</p>
<p>per my discussion with sr6622, i think addiction to AoPS would be more beneficial…</p>
<p>but CC is a nice [non-math] alternative.</p>
<p>hahaha… he has returned… and will continue to do so! :-P</p>
<p>hello, harry. :)</p>
<p>(cindy!!! OMGOMGOMG <em>hugs</em> <3 <3 <3)</p>
<p>Wow…This is like an RSI '05 reunion special or something…</p>
<p>I should just wait and post again in December or January</p>
<p>hello harry indeed!</p>
<p>We need to convince him to dress up as Harry for Halloween. :-D</p>
<p>Yeah, I definitely was thinking the same thing - addiction to AoPS would be way better. But I ran into a problem last Friday when I tried to switch my “random message board downtime” from CC to AoPS - I became so interested in the problems that I spent the entire day on them, neglecting everything that was really urgent. A great way to spend time when I don’t have anything really immediate to do… but right now, not the best.</p>
<p>Anyway… back to eugenics. :)</p>
<p>So I’m an opinionated alum … and this thread scares me. Random responses to other people: (pardon the length, and interpret “…” as you wish)
- The competition for spots at RSI is approximately 10 to 1. Some people will get in; some won’t. Sometimes very good people don’t get into RSI; more importantly, cool people also don’t always get in. If you don’t, it’ll be fine – and I’m trust no one will be crushed.
- Mr. Layman: “How many people do you know who got into RSI that had no research experience/crazy olympiad awards at all before applying?” Sorry, but I’ll venture “alot.” “To what extent do applicants from one state compete with those from another state in admissions?” Would you want to get into RSI only because of your state?
- whsox: “And is it strictly juniors only?” For the most part, in recent years, the only sophomores have been international or ended up graduating early. There have been international seniors, too. I actually wouldn’t discourage applying as a sophomore; make a personal decision on whether you would like to go or not. Some later-Rickoids applied (and were rejected) as sophomores. “I got a 1440 in 7th grade” … “Just out of curiousity, are you forced to submit SAT scores if you’ve taken them?” Are you trying to hide something?
- theblumuffin: “stupid silly school” Actually, the majority of the students at RSI come from somewhat unknown schools. Make the best of what you have; go to the library and get a book if your classes aren’t challenging enough.
- randomperson (yeah, I know you went to RSI): “Then again, one of the most insanely brilliant people I met there didn’t have all 800s.” I hope you meet some more.
- theoneo, ThE<em>GuRl</em>NeXt<em>DoOr, et al: Pick the teachers that will write the best recommendations. It won’t come down to “wow, this is a spectacular recommendation, but it was from a freshmen teacher”. Follow the rules, but bend them if you want; several people I know submitted recommendations from English teachers to science competitions and did very well. I’d check with someone who may have heard something about this, but is there anything against submitting more recommendations than requested?
- sr6622: “I just have my passion…and some research” Key words there … and a bonus, too!
- natureme06: “If you don’t [apply], you won’t have any chance of getting in.” Damn good point.
- Reaching: “What Are My Chances” …
- theoneo, spydertennis, zogoto: “Does the field you declare on your application affect your chances of admission?” -> “yes it does affect your chances of admission” + “Yeah, field probably influences admission, but pretty subtley.” I doubt it, actually. There’s a reason they ask for more than one field, after all.
- Rivetta: “oh yeah, and don’t overanalyze the process …” Everyone should read that post. frankenchris1’s, too.
- sagar</em>indurkhya: “MIT has a supercomputer right? Does it let RSI kids use it for CompSci stuff?” No, not really (to both). It is up to your mentor, and some of the faculty have access to better facilities than others. But MIT just has a lot of computers, so if you’re into distributed computing …
- ThE<em>GuRl</em>NeXt_DoOr: “80 Math PSAT make up for a ~700 SAT Math 1??? … I also have a 800 in Math 2C and a 5 in Calc AB” …
- corinao: “Were there any Romanians at RSI?” By ethnicity, yes.</p>
<p>I did math at RSI. I got approximately ~225 on the PSAT. My SAT was under 1500. I didn’t take any SAT IIs. I had one AP (Calc AB). No AMC/AIME/USAMO greatness. No research experience. So some people have asked me why I got in. For a long time, I thought that I had a good response to question 2. I just looked over my response, and not only is it poorly written, but I said that “[graph isomorphism] is known to be NP-complete,” which still isn’t known nor do people believe it’s true. Am I being modest? Perhaps. Hiding something? No.</p>
<p>Just be your ****ing selves.</p>
<p>What’s your name, Phooey? are you RSI’05?</p>
<p>3 questions:</p>
<p>Do the questions on the application change from year to year?</p>
<p>Are the teacher recommendations in addition to the questions they have directed to a teacher on the application or is that the recommendation?</p>
<p>Do the questions directed to the teacher change each year? Because my old school is in the Dominican Republic and mail there has been known to take upwards of a few months so I would need to ask them to start writing about now.</p>
<p>Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>Well, I think I’m gonna dual major in econ and in physics (i really can’t decide). What I meant by “a lot going on during my junior” is that I have college app to write, Harvard SS to go, and some other ECs. Hey, btw, if I want to go to RSI (if I get in), I have to sacrifice one of the following summer plans:
- Harvard Summer School-Economics
- a school language trip to China.</p>
<p>Which one should I give up?</p>
<p>Also, my freshman physics teacher really loves me. When I apply as a junior, should I get a rec from my freshman physics teacher (I’m positive that she’s gonna give a glowing rec) or from my sophomore science teacher (probably chem)? What about college rec? Does getting a rec from teacher from my freshman year hurt my chances?</p>
<p>You’re a freshman… you still have plenty of time to think out your plans for junior year… don’t panic or worry yourself to death about RSI yet! (but please, bring a towel and believe in the power of 42)</p>
<p>Umm, you can’t do both RSI and Harvard summer school…they overlap.</p>
<p>And I think just RSI would be plenty…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Those questions are the teacher recommendation. A teacher may answer them point-blank or write a letter that addresses them.</p>
<p>(I don’t mean to ignore your other questions, but I don’t know. If I had to guess, there’s little change year-to-year, especially in the teacher rec questions. The only thing I’m thinking will change on that form is that “Insitute” will become “Institute.” 
)</p>