<p>that is fine… i asked maite and she said it didnt matter what font/margins you use, since they scan it in anyway and can zoom in when reading.</p>
<p>What other programs are you all applying to??
And states let’s create a list 
NJ right here</p>
<p>Urgent advice needed here: As a natural habit, I stapled my essay questions (3 pages), and mailed everything in. However, I just read that we’re not supposed to staple anything. Oh No! </p>
<p>I have put a lot of efforts into my application. Will this automatically disqualify me for consideration? Their office is now closed for the day, so I cannot call to verify. Dear God, I hope that couldn’t be the case at all after hours and hours of hard work. Anyone has any insight? Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Just mailed mine. Thank God that is over. So many sleepless nights. </p>
<p>What font did ya’ll use? I used some random font - it was the only one that allowed me to fit everything. </p>
<p>^Can’t tell if trolling. I really doubt this is going to be a factor in your decision.</p>
<p>In no way is the above poster ■■■■■■■■; read the following, quoted directly from the website:</p>
<p>“Please do not staple or fold the pages of the application. Applicants must follow the instructions to ensure the completion of each part of the application. Applicants who do not conform to the requirements will not be considered.”</p>
<p>The not was underlined and bold also.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cee.org/events/rsi-2013-application[/url]”>http://www.cee.org/events/rsi-2013-application</a></p>
<p>Here are some previous posts by people had panic attacks about stapling their applications: <a href=“rsi staple site:talk.collegeconfidential.com[/url] - Google Search”>rsi staple site:talk.collegeconfidential.com - Google Search;
<p>One of them says they sent an email two weeks after they mailed in their application about stapling it. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.</p>
<p>They only don’t want stapling because when you application comes into the office, they scan everything into the computer and I guess it is a hassle to remove the staples…?</p>
<p>I did the same thing as @lisalee8 and stapled my 3-page essay. I’m not sure what the point of emailing Maite would be. My guess would be we should just leave it be… Any ideas, though? Maybe @LuoSciOly has some?</p>
<p>Also, I got an email shortly after my submission from Maite because I had forgotten a form. I then scanned it and sent it to her. Would she have even bothered to ask for the form if my application had been “disqualified” due to stapling?</p>
<p>-Another worrier :)</p>
<p>So they have started looking at applications then ?</p>
<p>FYI - I called and it’s not the end of the world. Still, much better to follow their instruction if possible at all… for the reason @WeIsCool suggested (my guess as well). It’s always better to be safe than sorry… </p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s help & input. Good luck to us all.</p>
<p>Does anyone know if we have to submit our list of achievements for part 2 online and how to do this?</p>
<p>Everyone take a deep breath! Don’t worry, the people at CEE are kind and reasonable people. It would be silly of them to disqualify your application based on something as inconsequential as a mistaken staple. I don’t think anyone could do Ms. Ballestero’s job better than she does. Your applications are in good hands.</p>
<p>Maite seems nice based on the thread here. Do they treat more than 3 recommendations negatively?</p>
<p>^^YES. Don’t send in more than 3, she told me that was a big no-no.</p>
<p>@cottoncndy, you can’t submit it online. Just mail it if you haven’t already - if not, well, the application deadline is today…</p>
<p>^Really? ****. What was the specific wording she used?</p>
<p>I just saw the mentor of more than four weeks stipulation and adhered to that.</p>
<p>I wonder if any former RSI participants can help to shed some light: </p>
<p>1) when you receive your acceptance letter, do they already tell you what group and/or mentor they will assign you to? If not, when will you find out (ie, before or after you start the program?) If before, roughly when (April, May, or literally just right before the program?) </p>
<p>2) Are you given any choice(s) for research groups / mentor, or it’s just assigned to you?</p>
<p>3) Do you have any chance to interact with MIT professors, or only graduate students?</p>
<p>4) Do most of you finish your research in time and wrote / present paper at the end of the program?</p>
<p>Thanks for taking your time to share your insight.</p>
<p>@megalomaniac7, I called to ask if a mentor’s recommendation was required if we had done research. I didn’t get to talk much with my professor (like 2 conversations over the course of 6 weeks, if that) and the graduate student I had worked with had graduated. LOL. So I called up to explain my situation and she told me that it was okay to have 2 teacher recommendations. What she specifically told me was that “the mentor’s recommendation would then be treated as supplemental with the 2 teacher recs”. And then she told me not to submit my research abstract or an extra teacher rec. Of course, it is TOTALLY OKAY if you had a mentor and a teacher write you a letter, or 2 teachers and 1 mentor, or 2 teachers and 0 mentors, but she said no more than 3 letters. Hope I made sense.</p>
<p>^^additional question: IF you are accepted and you are told what mentor you are paired with, are you expected to know pretty much what you want to do for your project when you show up? Or do you figure out something after you talk to your mentor? Thanks!</p>
<p>I’ll try to answer your questions. :)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You don’t find out your mentor or research topic right when you’re accepted. Math people (and occasionally a few others) are contacted by their mentors in April/May to begin assigned readings and some preliminary groundwork for the project. However, the majority of people don’t find out their mentor or research topic until the end of the first week of RSI at Meet Your Mentor Night.</p></li>
<li><p>You are not given a choice. CEE does a great job of matching students to mentors based on the students’ application essays and indicated research fields.</p></li>
<li><p>Completely depends on your mentor and project. If you’re working in the lab of a high-powered or very prominent professor, it’s more likely that you’ll interact primarily with graduate students or postdocs. Other students will work more directly with professors. Personally, I worked most closely day-to-day with a postdoc, but I also met with the professor approximately once a week to discuss my progress, goals, and planned procedures.</p></li>
<li><p>Not everyone finishes everything they want to do (heck, many topics could be worked on for months or years), but pretty much everyone is able to arrive at some conclusion that’s at least marginally satisfying by the end of six weeks. Everyone is able to put together a paper and presentation (it’s a requirement of the program). Naturally, some projects are more suited to completion in six weeks than are others.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>5 (@WeIsCool). As I mentioned above, the majority of people don’t find out their mentor or research topic until the end of the first week of RSI. If your mentor does happen to contact you in advance, it would be up to you and your mentor how much advance preparation you’d need to do.</p>
<p>I hope I answered your questions satisfactorily! If you have any other questions about RSI, feel free to post them here.</p>
<p>@LuoSciOly Thanks very much for taking the time to share these insight with us. Few more questions, if you don’t mind: </p>
<p>1) Once you’re assigned to a research group / mentor, typically how does one come up with the final research topic? Did professor suggest some areas / provide some research papers first, then student researched / defined the project further, or was it completely “open-ended” where the student was expected to come up with the project idea, then bounced the idea further with mentor? </p>
<p>2) Did most students live in a dorm? How was the social life? Throughout the program, did you all have opportunities to interact with other RSI students? </p>
<p>3) When / how did you hear about the acceptance? Through email, call, or mail? How much time did they give you to confirm the attendance (in case one applies to several programs and waiting for result / trying to confirm the mentor / research area assignment.) </p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>A friend of mine from RSI 2012 had a few words of elaboration/clarification about the situation of math people:
</p>
<p>And to answer your new questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Once again, it depends on the mentor. Nobody has a completely “open-ended” situation where they are required to formulate a project from scratch on their own. Still, the degree of guidance or freedom that students are given varies by mentor. Most mentors had a specific area of research that they had carved out for the student to tackle. Often, this constituted a specific piece of a larger research study being conducted by another researcher. In all cases, the mentor gives some sort of guidance as to the procedure a student should follow. Personally, my topic was decided by the professor in advance. I was certainly not able (or expected) to figure out the procedure completely on my own; I received near-daily advice and guidance from the postdoc or the professor I worked under. But after determining the procedure with their advice, I was able to execute the procedure mostly autonomously. I had no prior research experience; other students with prior research experience were presumably able to take more control of determining their procedures.</p></li>
<li><p>All students lived in Simmons Hall at MIT. The social life at RSI was AWESOME. Honestly, I think the social atmosphere was the best part of RSI. It was amazing to be in the company of such accomplished young scientists. We’d stay up until crazy late hours talking, playing cards, cooking, watching movies, or doing sketchy stuff on the MIT campus. There were very few Rickoids who chose to forego the vibrant social interactions and/or sleep instead. We went to the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, camped out overnight on the Boston Esplanade for the 4th of July (which was a BLAST despite getting rained on), took a day trip to the Harbor Islands, and went on lots of impromptu excursions in Boston especially on the weekends. We had midnight ultimate frisbee games and runs almost every night, a “Wacky Olympics” and Photo Scavenger Hunt that were super sketchy and super fun, a Casino Night where we played poker/other card games all evening, and dances (Bro-dance, Toga Formal, etc.) that were amazingly awesome. And this is just scratching the surface. I’d highly recommend reading the [Semioverachiever</a> blog](<a href=“http://semioverachiever.blogspot.com/p/rsi.html]Semioverachiever”>Semioverachiever: RSI), [The</a> Adventures of a Rickoid](<a href=“http://fortheloveofrsi.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]The”>http://fortheloveofrsi.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/), or the [RSI</a> 2012 calendar](<a href=“http://web.mit.edu/rsi/www/]RSI”>RSI 2017) for more comprehensive accounts of the stuff we did at RSI. I felt like I truly fit in at RSI, possibly the first time I’ve felt so comfortable and at home with all my peers. It seemed a lot of Rickoids felt the same way. It’s really difficult to explain how truly awesome the social experience of RSI is until you actually attend - no brief textual description can do it justice.</p></li>
<li><p>RSI 2012 decisions were sent by email on Thursday, March 8th, 2012. We were given until March 15th to respond. Nobody declined the offer of admission to RSI in 2012, and in recent years the number of students who decline the offer has been in the less-than-3 range. I don’t think there’s any reason to decline a spot at RSI. Even many Olympiad training camp selectees choose RSI over the Olympiad training camps, which I think is a great decision on their part. RSI is a truly unforgettable experience.</p></li>
</ol>