<p>Wait a second, I’m confused now. I was under the impression that no one turned down RSI last year (2012), but that at least one person turned down RSI this year (2013), and that he will be doing research at Stanford (but not SIMR).</p>
<p>Hahahahaha RSI yield myth :-D</p>
<p>What does it take to get in? I have an all A student from a top notch school and top SATs and love for Math who didn’t make it…what does it take? Can someone post their profile?</p>
<p>@redbluegoldgreen: I don’t think that posting stats or awards would paint a true picture of “what it takes” to get in. People with perfect stats are accepted, people with perfect stats are rejected. People with crazy ISEF/Olympiad accomplishments are accepted, people with crazy ISEF/Olympiad accomplishments are rejected. People without any prior research experience are accepted, people without any prior research experience are rejected.</p>
<p>Your essays and recommendations form a crucial part of your application - probably the most important part as long as your objective qualifications are solid. Those more “subjective” components of the application aren’t as easily or accurately conveyed in brief form. I think if you’re looking for “what it takes,” it would be more helpful to read successful applicants’ essays and recommendations than to simply hear their stats or awards. It’s also hard to get a true picture of “what it takes” by hearing the qualifications of just a couple people. The experiences and qualifications of Rickoids are very diverse, so no single acceptee would be representative.</p>
<p>got it, can anyone pm me their essay?</p>
<p>@redbluegoldgreen
You would get more objective and ultimately more useful information from [Semioverachiever:</a> More on those RSI essays](<a href=“http://semioverachiever.blogspot.com/2010/11/more-on-those-rsi-essays.html]Semioverachiever:”>Semioverachiever: More on those RSI essays) , which has probably been mentioned in 10% of these posts. The essays seem to naturally encourage diverse responses to reading a couple in isolation might not convey any full image of the admissions process…</p>
<p>But I can attest to the fact that margins don’t particularly matter. Believe it or not, I ended up going from 6 pages of essays to 3 in a single night, and such silly things seem to matter a lot at 5AM… As long as you have sufficient content, there is some liberty in the choice of expression. In fact, some Word magic with character spacing allowed me to get the app in literally 15 minutes before the overnight truck left (this was an hour before they extended the deadline). Just a thought for last-minute essay editors…</p>
<p>EDIT: Not that I encourage this- the point is that they are about you as a person, and thus should convey your interests/passions accordingly.</p>
<p>I’d like to echo everything that kraxis said. I realize that my previous post may have been misleading - I did not at all mean that you should actually solicit other people’s essays. My point was that the essays and recommendations reflect “what it takes” to get into RSI better than just stats and awards. I also agree with kraxis that little things like formatting aren’t going to make or break your application - I remember stressing out so much about formatting and little things but in hindsight it was a waste of time to worry about that stuff.</p>
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<p>QFT</p>
<p>Whoa, @kraxis, I think you’re in my counselor group!</p>
<p>Haha, he is :D</p>
<p>But I’m not :/</p>
<p>Can you submit the research work you did at RSI for Intel competition? When they announce that RSI students have won Intel do they mean they won for the work they did previously or for the work done during their summer at RSI?</p>
<p>@Opinion559: Yes, you can submit the research work you did at RSI for Intel STS and for Intel ISEF-qualifying science fairs. Some of the successful RSI alumni in these competitions used their RSI projects, but others did not. The winner of Intel STS this year (Sara Volz, RSI '12) did not submit her RSI project to the competition, but the 2nd place winner of Intel STS this year (Jonah Kallenbach, RSI '12) did submit his RSI project to the competition.</p>
<p>@LuoSciOly: Thanks!</p>
<p>I’m an upcoming junior. I only took one ap class so far and I passed it (sophomores are not allowed to take more than one). I haven’t taken the sat yet, but on the psat, I earned a low score. If I retake the psat this year and receive a 220 or higher and get more community service hours, do I have a higher chance? I have really good extracurriculars and leadership roles. I haven’t done any research yet because I’m too young. However, I am very compassionate about science. Would I receive my new psat scores in time so that way I can report them to RSI? </p>
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<p>Essentially, try your hardest and do as many cool things as you can fit in your schedule. Don’t go around joining clubs or ■■■■■■■■■■■■, because the CEE people have pattern recognition for that like you wouldn’t believe. You still have a chance, if you a) live in Wyoming and are the smartest person around or b) your parents are really rich and bribe the CEE officials. Ultimately it’s a raffle because so many people apply and so few get in.</p>
<p>You’re also in the wrong thread. This is for the 2013 RSI, the RSI you will apply to is the 2015 RSI.</p>