<p>@WeIsCool: what’s done is done; no sense worrying about it now. I highly doubt it would be a fatal error, in and of itself. But to all people who haven’t mailed their apps yet, I would recommend re-reading all the directions to make sure you’ve followed every one. Missing a tiny detail won’t kill you, but precisely following directions always reflects well on a student and applicant overall.</p>
<p>Which part of the application does RSI look at first ?</p>
<p>@numbersense Part 1, to be honest. Hopefully they would look at our school’s reputation…</p>
<p>Cool… Then they move on to Part 2 and then the essays and 2 page document. Then recommendations. Is that correct?</p>
<p>Probably. Makes sense, considering that’s the order you put it in the envelope. Unless you are very, very, very picky about it, it won’t make too much of a difference which one they read first (I assume your worries stem from the fear of having your application thrown out immediately for some oddball reason. If that is the case, I hope that they don’t do that).</p>
<p>Good luck, y’all. </p>
<p>By the way, do you guys have back up summer programs? I’m assuming RSI is your top choice, but if that doesn’t work, where else have you guys applied?</p>
<p>Hey, last minute panic question: For the list of major accomplishments, what should I put? I’ve done like two actually impressive things, and then loads of totally not relevant things (for example, taking a pottery class or being in the school play). Do I just put the impressive things? Because the list is going to be very, very short.
Do I include a couple sentences explaining the activity? Or just list them i.e. “pottery class, 2011”?</p>
<p>As you can see, I’m not very on top of things. Blame it on finals.</p>
<p>@Agrasin: I’m applying to TASP and the Oxford Summer School in England.</p>
<p>^Don’t list the pottery class. School play is probably okay if you had at least a semi-major role 
But I would say err on the side of “too little” than too much “fluff”. My list was, double-spaced, a bit over a page, and for most of it I just listed my music awards that are more important-ish… like All-State Orchestra and winning piano competitions. RSI looks for greatness (LOL) so anything involving winning or awards is great. Something which you paid for or something that was just for participating in may make you look like you stuffed your app with fluff - and I am sure that all of us have those things we wanted to put down but decided not to. Like my speed-reading class This is just my opinion, but of course, it’s your call</p>
<p>Oh and I just listed them, then the important ones I talked about in my essays</p>
<p>For the research fields, it says to pick two distinct fields, not two subfields in the same discipline. Is it not ok, for example, if you pick “Molecular and Cellular Biology” and “Biomedicine”?</p>
<p>Do you think we will be penalized if our official transcript is not mailed in on time? My school has a weird system to transcript requests; apparently, it takes 2 weeks for 4 pages to be printed off…I’m frickin’ mad</p>
<p>I’ll be applying to RSI, MITES (URM, well, 1/2 URM), SSP, Clark Scholars, and an internship program at a local hospital that a couple people from my school do every year. Those are probably in order of choice for me (RSI #1, MITES #2, etc.)</p>
<p>For major accomplishments, I’ve done a couple semi-major impressive things (but there are things much more prestigious than what I’ve done.) I just listed how I placed in math competitions. After that, I put some school awards (I know… it’s minor, but I don’t want to have too little! Uggh this is not good.) I also put a science museum I volunteer at, since I couldn’t mention anywhere else (I just mentioned it in #6, very briefly, so I want them to see this too), even though it’s not even an accomplishment.</p>
<p>any alumni willing to read essays? :D</p>
<p>What’s the difference between a certified and uncertified transcript? And does my school need to send it or can I just send the certified with my app?</p>
<p>@TheDoctor10</p>
<p>The school should put the transcript and scores in an envelope and seal it. Then you put that envelope in with all your other application stuff and send it off CEE.</p>
<p>When the school seals the envelope with the transcript in it, that “certifies” that it hasn’t been altered. The “uncertified” copy is just a copy of the transcript that isn’t in a sealed envelope. CEE wants both. </p>
<p>I think that they will probably only look at the uncertified copy and just want the certified copy to make sure you haven’t messed with your transcript.</p>
<p>@nkrish: I doubt it matters, but I would recommend calling or emailing Ms. Maite Ballestero if you want a more definite answer.</p>
<p>@njdevs14: I believe @randomjason has agreed to read essays (see post #183 in this thread). Please be sure to thank him profusely because he is super awesome at life.</p>
<p>@TheDoctor10: certified means it should be in a sealed envelope from your school with a stamp or signature or whatever they use to indicate that it’s official. Uncertified means that it is not in a sealed envelope and/or is not designated as official by the school. It is your choice whether you enclose the sealed transcript envelope with the rest of your application or have the school send it separately. I would recommend enclosing it with the rest of your application, just to prevent it from getting lost/separated/other catastrophes.</p>
<p>Yes, I contacted Maite and she said that you may NOT choose two similar fields. For example, you apparently cannot choose any two fields in biology. It must be biology+chem, biology+math, etc…D:</p>
<p>@IMSA2014: that’s very interesting, thank you for finding out! I’m glad they didn’t penalize me for that last year, then.</p>
<p>@IMSA2014: Is that in the sense of “biology” as a <em>word</em> being repeated, or do we have to make a judgment-i.e. my fields are CS and Applied Math (Info theory), and I’m aware that 90% of CS <em>is</em> applied math… </p>
<p>@ any RSI alum: Quick question about essays: did you write them in a “personable” style? For example, I comment on my own interest/passion, but I usually follow it up with a personal experience - that’s just how it came naturally to me. Looking back, though, all those little anecdotes take up an awful amount of room, and I don’t want to sound too frivolous or ‘cutesy’. I’ll PM an excerpt if it helps illustrate what I’m talking about (@randomjason).</p>
<p>Thanks to all the RSI alumni who’ve stayed behind to help through the Dark Ages!</p>
<p>Ohmygod I’m like freaking out right now - does anyone know if it’s okay for the recommendations if we have one teacher and one research mentor? When I read that part, I interpreted as you should have two recs total, but I’m reading it right now and it seems like it was asking for 2 teachers and 1 optional research mentor…</p>