<p>I’m actually pretty scared about my essays. They look nice and all, but I saw in a previous thread (maybe last years?) that they had like 1700 words total. Anyone willing to tell me how many they have for their essays?</p>
<p>Also like the list of achievements bothers me cuz i dont really have any competition achievements</p>
<p>@researchin: for what it’s worth, my essays were around 2700 words total. 1700 seems a bit on the low end but is certainly within reason. People I talked to had essays that ranged from around 2000 to 3000 words. Honestly, though, content is far more important than length. Also, last year, they specified size 10 font and three pages, as opposed to size 12 font and three pages this year, so the essays will likely be somewhat shorter this year than in previous years.</p>
<p>Hey, so I have 3 questions (and maybe more later) about how to do the app:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>My school doesn’t put our SAT scores on our official transcript, but I put my scores on my app. So do I tell Collegeboard to send them separately or just include a photocopy of my score report?</p></li>
<li><p>My teacher recommendations and transcript are in separate sealed envelopes. When the directions say “send separately” does that mean I just put the envelopes in with all the other forms or actually post each thing to rsi?</p></li>
<li><p>My essay questions are really brief. Like when the question asks about important problems I see in a field, I just gave a two sentence direct response. But from what I’ve heard, most people have at least more than one page for their essays. Any suggestions on how to make my essays longer? Am I supposed to justify/explain my answers?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I know these questions seem rather trivial, but this is my first time doing any sort of major app and I’m really nervous and don’t really know what to do! Any help will be much appreciated!</p>
<p>@penguinlover2016:
<ol>
<li><p>Where do the directions say “send separately”? Anyway, last year, I mailed all of my envelopes (transcript envelope + 2 recommendation envelopes) in a larger envelope with the rest of my application. In fact, at the bottom of the [Part</a> 4/5 PDF](<a href=“http://www.cee.org/sites/default/files/rsi_2013_application_part_4_5.pdf]Part”>http://www.cee.org/sites/default/files/rsi_2013_application_part_4_5.pdf), it states “All parts of the student application should be enclosed in one envelope.”</p></li>
<li><p>Your responses definitely don’t have to be really long, but two sentences (especially for the first essay) is probably too short. For example, my response to the first essay was over 900 words. Though this length is not necessary, I think it would be prudent to include some sort of explanation of why you think the field is interesting or how you might envision solving some of the problems.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you LuoSciOly!</p>
<p>I also have another question: is there any way I can include my AP exam scores in my app or would that be considered “supplying unrequested application materials”?</p>
<p>@penguinlover2016: yes, I included a copy of my AP score report with the rest of my score reports.</p>
<p>@kaleidoscoper: have you tried checking another option? Sometimes these digital forms make you select one of the choices given and don’t allow you to opt out completely.</p>
<p>I self-studied for the AP Computer Science exam, although it doesn’t show on my transcript. Is there a way I can include my score on the application?</p>
<p>Also, can we send grades from first semester of junior year?</p>
<p>Hey all! Current high school senior here. I applied to RSI last year and I want to help you keep things in perspective.</p>
<p>I applied last year with excellent test scores, grades, recs, and awards from science fairs. I didn’t get in (no surprise, really). You’re applying to one of the most selective programs in the country. Nothing will guarantee that you get in, and a lot of times it’ll come down to demographics (being a female, or being in an underrepresented state, etc). </p>
<p>But that’s OK. I ended up attending Michigan State’s High School Honors Science Program this year, which is almost exactly similar to RSI (but you do have to pay for room and board.) I had an absolutely extraordinary experience. Everyone did incredible research, and we had multiple Siemens semifinalists and one regional finalist. And since I know this is what you’re worrying about right now, my professor wrote me an awesome rec letter which played a large part in my recent acceptance to Yale. HSHSP was no small factor in that acceptance.</p>
<p>So remember that RSI admissions is basically ridiculous, and whether or not you get into RSI I think you’ll end up being pretty successful in college admissions. And look up HSHSP-- if you’re interested in RSI, you really should check it out. It was an absolutely excellent summer.</p>
<p>Good luck to all!</p>
<p>What’s the acceptance rate for RSI?</p>
<p>And are there any other science research summer programs that are on par with RSI?</p>
<p>I think RSI is ~5% accepted, though I may be wrong.</p>
<p>RSI is traditionally the predominate summer research program in terms of prestige. Some other great ones are Stony Brook Simons, Texas Tech Clark Scholars, Stanford SIMR (only for bio though), Summer Science Program, Michigan St HSHSP, and I’m probably missing some.</p>
<p>Actually, MIT has a pretty comprehensive list: [Juniors:</a> MIT and other summer programs | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/juniors_mit_and_other_summer_p]Juniors:”>Juniors: MIT and other summer programs | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>I think RSI’s acceptance rate went down because of the increase in the number of applicants but the lack of increase in their program size. I think it’s more like 3-4%, at least last year it was. And pretty much ALL of the applicants are qualified, if not overqualified.</p>
<p>I have a pretty silly question, but a question nonetheless: For the essay responses, did you guys just leave a space between each essay response or did you put the question number and the essay question itself before each essay? Very silly question, but if I eliminated that, I would have so much more space to write…</p>
<p>So I have decided to apply to RSI.
PSAT: CR 80, M 76, W 68
ACT: M 36, Sci 36, R 33, W 33
AP: AB Calc 5, Chem 5, Lang+Comp 4
SATII: Math2 800, Chem 730, BioM 760</p>
<p>My scores don’t discount me, so I am going to try. My question is: I am trying to decide on research topics to put down. I am looking mathematics, applied mathematics, chemistry, physics, and computer science. How do I decide sub-fields? </p>
<p>Also, I looked at some research topics form the past (<a href=“http://math.mit.edu/news/summer/2012RSIAbstracts.pdf[/url]”>http://math.mit.edu/news/summer/2012RSIAbstracts.pdf</a>), and it was kind of intimidating. RSI Alumni, how did you decide your research topic? Did you actually know about this crazy stuff beforehand, or were you able to learn it during the program?</p>
<p>Thanks,
That1RandomGuy</p>
<p>@litotes: thank you for the post. I think it’s important for everyone to have backups and to realize that you can have an awesome summer research experience without going to RSI. Also, say hi to Michael Yu for me!</p>
<p>@WeIsCool: beyond the specific directions they give (size 12 font, 3 paragraphs or less per question, 3 pages or less total) formatting does not matter. I saw a few Rickoids’ essays, and I can tell you that formatting varied widely.</p>
<p>@that1randomguy: don’t be intimidated by some of the crazy-intense abstracts you might see floating out there! Just choose something you’re interested in. For my essays I literally just opened up the latest issue of Scientific American, picked out a couple articles that looked interesting, read up a little on Wikipedia, and picked my subtopics and constructed the first essay based on that. If you end up getting accepted to RSI, upon doing your literature review you’ll realize that some seemingly incomprehensible topics are doable after all.</p>
<p>What exactly do we need to include for the “1-2 page list of awards or accomplishments.” Would internships or leadership fall under this “list.” </p>
<p>Also, for the “extra curricular activities related to science” I went in depth about my ~3 years of research experience. The whole answer to the question is about 1.5 pages long; is that reasonable?</p>
<p>Lastly, is the structure of the first question supposed to be about the “interesting question?” Do we have to go in depth with the research question?</p>
<p>Sorry for the anxiety…</p>
<p>@Babolat1:</p>
<p>I’m sorry I can’t answer your first question definitively, since the 1-2 page list was not part of the application last year. From what I can tell, though, including internships and leadership on the list would be perfectly reasonable. </p>
<p>For your second question, a 1.5 page response seems reasonable if you really have that much to talk about. However, I would caution you because the total page limit is 3, so I question whether you’d have enough room to fully answer the rest of the questions.</p>
<p>I remember being confused by the wording of the first essay question as well last year. But in hindsight, I think it gives you leeway to talk about anything relating to your interests in the field/subfield and the interesting question(s) you perceive. I would recommend showing them that you love the field/subfield and that you know something about the field/subfield. Other people might interpret this question differently; I don’t know.</p>
<p>Good luck! I remember being super anxious last year and obsessing over the little details, so I can empathize completely with your state of mind. But really, the anxiety doesn’t help, so just take a deep breath and relax! :)</p>
<p>@LuoSciOly: was ur question 3 essay substantially longer than the others/how long was it?</p>
<p>If we self-study things, can we still mark it on the form? How do we show them that we
are actually taking those classes? Also, my school doesn’t update transcripts with fall semester classes until the 9th of January, so should I just send a report card from last 6 weeks or something to prove I am in whatever class?</p>
<p>For my two research fields, I initially picked Physics and Astronomy/Astrophysics. Then, I realized that I am not allowed to pick two fields of the same discipline, so I’m changing Physics to Chemistry. Is a valid subfield of chemistry “Atomic Chemistry”? It feels like it sounds pretty dumb, but I’m interested in how all the elements work, and their various properties (for example, superheavy elements.) As long as I explain what I mean by atomic chemistry, does that sound acceptable?</p>
<p>@researchin: </p>
<p>My first essay was the longest and my third essay was the second-longest. Nobody should feel pressured to do theirs the same way though. There are many successful ways to complete the RSI application essays, and Rickoids’ essays I saw varied wildly in length.</p>
<p>For a subject I self-studied, I wrote “self-study” in the “Date Completed/Expected” field in the coursework section. I asked my school to include a list of my fall semester classes in the envelope with my transcript. You could send an update later, but it is neither required nor expected. I did not update RSI with my fall semester grades.</p>
<p>@run1116: Sounds fine to me.</p>
<p>For all nervous applicants out there, I found the [Semioverachiever</a> blog](<a href=“http://semioverachiever.blogspot.com/p/rsi.html]Semioverachiever”>Semioverachiever: RSI) to be very interesting and inspiring. You might be interested to check it out!</p>