<p>Got rejected. Not surprised. … idk, should I follow up and ask how I could’ve improved my app so I don’t make the same mistakes again? I basically stuffed my essays with awards…but I put a lot of passion into it too. idk…it was the most passionate thing I’ve ever written. Like it sounded almost overblown (although, I must say, it was very true)…science and technology are the center of my life ambitions, I want to provide a forum where scientists can debate, science is central to human progress, I want to be the junction between science, political leadership, and society etc.etc. Looking at Palau’s post though…I didn’t really give any specific examples of life experiences. Nothing much about curiosity. More about what I want to do with my life and science. It wasn’t poetic or in anyway profoundish, if you know what I mean. I just wish I could call them and be like “so…did I have a chance at all in the first place? did I make it to the final cut or was a 2160 on SAT too low to even be considered?” Btw I got my math score back last month and I got a 750…idk, would sending them a supplement have raised my chances? idk, first rejection letter ever…maybe it’s good it was from RSI and not somewhere else</p>
<p>^sorry, long post…</p>
<p>i was rejected-for a second i think i misread it and got excited-but then i realized i wasnt</p>
<p>anyways-im not necessarily surprised-i just wish i knew why i didnt get in-i guess i feel like im in a similar position as Enigma is</p>
<p>Ive been doing research since the 8th grade and qualled to ISEF from california last year, I placed in a lot of local science fairs-did an extensive internship at columbia, and actually was a 2nd author for a paper, </p>
<p>i guess what im trying to say is that I love doing research, and i felt like my application highlighted my passions and my willingness to work extremely hard</p>
<p>I also had rec letters from my professors, and my teachers really put in a good word-both of them know what RSI is and have written letters for it before</p>
<p>But my PSAT score was a dismal 209, maybe this was the reason? I sent in my updated SAT score-which was a 2280, and 790 chem-but maybe it was too late</p>
<p>overall, like hopeland said, im not used to being rejected from programs, but im glad i have experienced this, i mean better now than in college-and plus the application was really enjoyable-i had a great time experiencing the process and I know what to expect for college
but to everyone who was rejected-dont be too dissapointed, if you love research, find another lab or program and just work really hard-it may not have the same prestige as RSI-but im sure you can complete just as good of a project</p>
<p>yea, but i really do wish we could know how far we made it in the process or why we were rejected</p>
<p>at least two people from my school got in</p>
<p>is that unusual?</p>
<p>@ iamalgebra</p>
<p>Not if it’s like… Exeter or something.</p>
<p>That depends where you go.
TJ frequently has two participants, and has had up to 3 some years.</p>
<p>Oh one other thing: RSI really does get far more qualified applicants than the number of spots they have. Just because you were rejected does not necessarily mean you did something “wrong.”</p>
<p>Also, I recognize this does sort of sound like bs, and I’ve gotten this same explanation from colleges. However, I can vouch for the fact that pretty much everyone who gets into RSI deserves to be there, and there are deserving people that are rejected as well. Unfortunately, it really is a scenario where there are a limited number of spots, and CEE can’t accept everyone they would like to.</p>
<p>@iamalgebra: I don’t know. My school had one in and one wait-listed among all the people who applied (at least 4)</p>
<p>@WaitingforGodot: your name is basically the bestest ever, in my opinion. Also, I’d agree with what you said about the overabundance of qualified applicantsl. The kids I know who were rejected are in no way inferior to me, and their resumes have just as many interesting achievements. Mine just happened to be the particular achievements they wanted, or my essays were just a tad more interesting, or my rec letters a smidgen more specific, or my fields better fit what was wanted, or just about any tiny factor. A lot of the time, there isn’t this one thing that makes the ones who got in better; it’s just, this time, the admission dice were kind.</p>
<p>what’s the likelihood of an alternate actually getting to go?</p>
<p>tsubomi just letting you know that i totally predicted your acceptance way back in like november :)</p>
<p>congrats to the accepted!</p>
<p>purplepotato: I’m not sure about the actual numbers, but I believe most people accept the offer to go to RSI. There are, however, some people that reject the offer, usually in the hopes of making an Olympiad (I know one guy that turned down RSI in hopes of going to MOP). I don’t think the chances are that great of going if you’re an alternate, but it’s definitely possible; that said, trying to set up other potential summer activities probably wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially if you don’t need to commit right away.</p>
<p>Accepted from California!!! I’m so excited for this summer…</p>
<p>in answering a couple of questions,
I had a 218 on my PSAT, below the recommended.
I also emailed them later, adding a score of 800 that I got on the SAT II Math from the January test.</p>
<p>I haven’t won any olympiads (besides Science Olympiad) or Intel projects. I guess i’ll reiterate- my essays seemed to make a difference. I edited those, going through several drafts, spending a lot of time with those.</p>
<p>STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT.</p>
<p>CONGRATULATIONS AYBOSE!!</p>
<p>join the Facebook group!! can’t wait to meet you and everyone else this summer! :]</p>
<p>@Enigma</p>
<p>“I know they were not entitled to give one to every state, but I still feel like I got shafted. I honestly think I had everything they wanted… I had a RIDICULOUS amount of research experience… ISEF 4th place! and publishing soon! and as well i won the governors award for my state which meant best project of the state! it was all on there. and did they not appreciate all my comp sci experience? my test scores and rank were good too, i just dont understand what it was that got me rejected.”</p>
<p>isef 1st is even better</p>
<p>…anyway, you are obviously very well qualified, but once it starts coming down to the top 200 kids, they all have lots of research experience and start their own companies and are published, so at that point, it becomes much harder for them to choose and becomes almost arbitrary, so getting into the top 50ish (accepted plus alternates) is much harder and I doubt you got shafted
you are obviously excellent, but let’s not forget that there are many fields which someone can be excellent in</p>
<p>sorry if I sound like a jerk or something; I just mean that excellence is relative; and even if you are the best, sometimes it is hard to judge</p>
<p>congrats to everyone who got in! It will be so much fun!</p>
<p>For anyone who might think that high standardized test scores/GPA = acceptance, my stats:</p>
<p>4/4 800 SAT IIs
3/3 5-point APs
~96 GPA on a 100 point scale with a full slate of AP courses
Proficiency of at least intermediate level in most of the languages listed, plus some</p>
<p>Promptly rejected from NJ, so the weight of standardized testing is either very light or nonexistent as I did also have substantial research and recs from Ph. Ds to back the rest of my application up. I can’t speak for how much competitions, technical knowledge, and personal research weigh in (since I can’t conclude how much they matter from the fact that I was not accepted). But the bottom line from what I can see is this: outstanding work where you were recognized by another reputable organization for your research is most likely something CEE wanted, while “x-place” ranks in large competitions like the USAMO, PUMaC, or HMMT probably do not count for much. </p>
<p>If I were to pick flaws from my applications, I would almost immediately point to the essays. I wrote them in the style of a bland narrative, and thus they turned out to be unengaging, standard (<em>shudders</em>), and most importantly they did not get the point across in a memorable manner. If your application essays are not memorable, it is very easy for CEE application reviewers to skim over your potentially outstanding record.</p>
<p>From the data I have thus far, this is the weight that I would assign to your application portions, in regards to their influence on the final decision:</p>
<p>Essays: 40% presentation (demonstration of interest and skill), 40% content (solid evidence backing up the claims, id est past research, outstanding recognitions/honors/awards)
Recommendations: 10%
Applicant demographic: 5%
Everything else: 5%</p>
<p>So by simply creating brilliant compositions you already outperform people who just outline their academic achievements with lifeless lists that have no reading value whatsoever. So… future RSI applicants, take note: Write your essays well!</p>
<p>EDIT> No I’m not retconning my anticipation index formula, since I’m lazy. LOL. </p>
<p>(rsiftw, please stop taunting us with your username xD)</p>
<p>EDIT2> Also, RSI rejection does not mean the end of the world for you. If you truly excel, somewhere later in life you will end up publishing extraordinary discoveries. It’s not like there is an “attended RSI?” check box appended to every college/grad school application. Not attending RSI does not make you any less of a researcher. Sure, it might shaft you from some schools due to the unfortunate nature of college selection, but it won’t be a terrible handicap in the long run.</p>
<p>Performance in math competitions can be important if you want to do math research, since it’s very rare for someone to have done any math research so early. I’m not sure how important it is if you applied to do research in, say, biology though. I will say that there were quite a few former MOP participants in RSI my year.</p>
<p>Did independent research+good numbers, but essays were an achievements-list. I definitely speak for the importance of essays for RSI.</p>
<p>hmm, well 3 people from my school including me, that I know of, applied. One got in, I’m not sure about the other person, but I didn’t…</p>
<p>I think there was probably some competition amongst the 3 of us in the application process, since having 3 people from the same school is not geographically diverse. Not to mention, its not exactly a large school.</p>
<p>In analyzing my own application, I think my transcript and recs (well, 1 of them) were probably weak points, especially in comparison to the others who applied from my school. I’ve gotten 2 B+s in high school (in non math/science classes) but I know both of them probably have 4.0s…</p>
<p>I originally thought my essay was crappy, but in reading it over I’m proud of it. It sounds polished, and I’ll admit maybe 1 question was a list of achievements, but the majority was honest reflection of what I liked to do and why. This is a huge bummer, but I guess one plus side is that 4 weeks of bio research does not get much done. Hopefully I’ll be able to do something as rewarding, and possibly longer research, this summer instead…</p>
<p>congrats to the acceptees, and to those who weren’t, life moves on. There are plenty of successful and brilliant scientists and mathematicians that didn’t go to RSI, so I’ll reiterate that its not the end of the world (I may be a hypocrite in saying this lol).</p>