Summer Science Program (SSP) 2011

Pre-College Topics Summer Programs
381

<p>Decision: Rejected</p>

<p>Objective:
ACT: 35 (33/35/34/36/10)
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1
Sophomore Year Course Load: AP World History, Adv. Geo w/ Trig, German II, Adv. Eng II, Humanities, Adv. Chemistry (hardest possible)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): First in the world on a problem of the week, twice.
Subjective:
Essays: Kinda rushed, but I write best when rushed.
Teacher Recommendation: Math was good, science spectacular.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Kentucky
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: $75-99K
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): Appalachian?
Reflection
Strengths: ACT
Weaknesses: Weak high school
Why you think you were rejected: No proven calculus or physics ability</p>

382

<p>Rejected (not even wait-listed :[ )</p>

<p>Sophomore</p>

<p>GPA: 4.0 (UW)
SAT&ACT: Didn’t Take it
SATII: 800 Korean 800 MIIC
AP: 5 AP Stats (Taking AP Calc AB, AP Bio, AP Chem right now)</p>

<p>EC: Didn’t send a resume
Award: 2011 ISEF Finalist (Going in May :DD)</p>

<p>Reason: 1. Sophomore 2. Taking only Calc AB 3. Poor essays 4. Mediocre recommendations</p>

<p>I didn’t take Physics, so I tried to show some physics knowledge in my supplemental info by writing codes that have to do with earth/sun orbit. </p>

<p>I thought ISEF would help a lot but I guess it didn’t do much</p>

383

<p>accepted, but probably turning down the offer for RSI…good luck to all the alternates!</p>

384

<p>Rejected.</p>

<p>Le sigh? Jaja ok to answer the above question…
Female. Hispanic. 5 APs in school. Basically all A’s.
Extracurriculars: research labs, piano, art.
Essays seemed pretty good to me.
Teacher recommendations: both good i think</p>

385

<p>why i think i got rejected: no ap calc, and no proven interest in physics in the essays; so its understandable. oh well :frowning: where else have the other rejectees applied to and been accepted/rejected to?</p>

386

<p>Oh, probably should have mentioned that I’m an Asian male, but I don’t think race/gender play that much of a role in admissions. Teacher recs should have been decent.</p>

387

<p>I’m on the alternate list; does anyone know how many people are on the alternate list? What are the chances of making it into the actual program? I know a lot of people that apply also apply to many other great programs so…</p>

<p>Edit: Oh, and my stats include a 4.6 GPA, 2320 on SATs and really… no math competitions or science competitions or anything like that; I think I just showed a strong interest in science through my essays which I thought were good.</p>

388

<p>@ ichimatsu, glad to hear it! (i’m an “alternate”) have fun at RSI!</p>

<p>I think I’m probably less qualified than a lot of the rejectees…</p>

<p>junior (white female, long island)</p>

<p>relevant classes &stats: precalc h (oy), ap physics b, intro programming. all advanced courses, ~97 gpa (no weighting or rank at my school), </p>

<p>sat- 2310 (r: 780, m: 760 <em>cringe</em>, w: 770), 740 bio & 790 world history satII. missed aime cutoff on the amc12a by a wee bit.</p>

<p>Relevant extracurriculars: science olympiad (in astronomy i have a few medals and a decent finish at NY states last year); i coach the middle school scioly team too; qualified for the DOE National Science Bowl </p>

<p>I took “astronomical imaging” at Smith the summer before tenth grade.
Columbia Science Honors Program : accepted as a freshman, took “Astrophysics,” “Modern Cosmology,” “Intro to Java Programming,” and “Nanotechnology.” </p>

<p>Essays: probably pretty good-- personal essays are my forte and i definitely made my enthusiasm for astronomy very apparent</p>

<p>Recommendations: Math- decent, Science- we share an interested in astronomy, so pretty good? i think he wrote a lot about science bowl
sorry for the awkward formatting</p>

389

<p>I’m an alternate also… I really hope some spots open up for us and congrats to everyone accepted</p>

390

<p>rejected :(…ate a whole box of ice cream</p>

391

<p>did they send the acceptance letter via e-mail also or did it come by mail?</p>

392

<p>They sent it by email around 4:15ish (eastern time) today.</p>

<p>@TheBalticSea - I do Columbia SHP too! Hahaa random but awesome! (:</p>

393

<p>aha! I knew there must be another SHP-er on here! what class are you in?</p>

<p>are you going to ssp?</p>

394

<p>Rejected.</p>

<p>Junior.</p>

<p>GPA 3.97</p>

<p>SAT 2330, Physics 800 MathIIC 800 Bio 790</p>

<p>AP Physics B 5, Stats 5, Bio 5</p>

<p>Currently taking AP Calc and AP Physics Cs.</p>

<p>USABO Semifinalist twice
USAPhO Semifinalist once.
AIME Qualifier thrice.</p>

<p>I guess it was the essay or teacher rec that killed me, although it looks like the vast majority of CC was rejected.</p>

395

<p>I was accepted!</p>

<p>Stats:
GPA: 4.0 (unweighted)
SAT: 2400
SATIIs: Math2 - 800, Chem - 770
AP Tests: 5 on AP Chem (taking AP Calc BC, AP Physics, and AP Environmental Science this year)
Extra-Curriculars: science fair and research at the local university. I also wrote about a lot of my other not science-related extra curriculars (piano, community service, etc.) I sent 2 research abstracts and my resume in my supplement.
Recommendation Letters: sent three - two were good, one was outstanding
Essays: pretty passionate about research and science in general</p>

<p>To be honest, I’m not exactly sure why I was accepted, but I’m really happy I was :)</p>

396

<p>Decision: Waitlist</p>

<p>Objective:
SAT: 2380 (Math:800 CR:790 Writing:790)
SAT Subject: 800 Math II
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
Courses: 4 AP’s this year (Chem, USH, CS, Language and Comp)
Took AP Calculus BC as a freshman (5 on AP test), Multivariable Calculus and Linear Algebra as a Sophomore, Differential Equations and Modern Algebra this year (junior)
Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): Scored a 25 on USAJMO, which is probably top 50-ish in the country. Gold level in USACO (programming).</p>

<p>Subjective:
Essays: I thought they were good, but I don’t have a lot of experience writing them, may have been slightly rushed.
Teacher Recommendation: I believe they are both spectacular. I did get math rec from my freshman teacher, although I explained that since I’ve been taking 1 semester college and online classes since then, no other math teacher knows me as well.</p>

<p>Other
State (if domestic applicant): CA
School Type: Public
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Gender: Male</p>

<p>ECs:
Science Bowl 2 years in a row, studied astronomy for our team, and we placed 3rd and 2nd at regionals. Vice President of Math Club. Active in other science contests, like Science Olympiad, and science fair (CS project on artificial neural networks) although I didn’t include my abstract (probably a mistake)
National level fencer.</p>

<p>Reflection
Strengths: Extremely high math level
Weaknesses: Possibly weak EC’s (no community service to speak of)? And my essays may have not been the best. No physics experience.</p>

<p>Why you think you were waitlisted: I was actually extremely surprised that I didn’t get in. I don’t have any physics experience, but my math level is extremely high (I’ve basically finished all the math classes offered at community colleges, and I’m only a junior)
I’m pretty sad, as SSP seems to match me perfectly (Math and astronomy are my two passions, although I guess they don’t value CS all that much). I didn’t include a full resume, which I’m still kicking myself for. I wrote a lot about my achievements in the essays >.<</p>

<p>I’m still hoping I’ll get in. I was waitlisted at Canada/USA Mathcamp last year, and didn’t get in off the waitlist, so I’m hoping it’s not going to be a repeat of that. I’m preparing my Mathcamp app now, but I’d much rather go to SSP D:</p>

397

<p>@alyssa6
which campus are u going to?</p>

<p>Accepted (Westmont CA)
Junior
GPA: A- average (my school doesn’t have a 4.0 system)
SAT 2380, Phy 780, Chem 780, Math2 800
AP: 5 on CALC BC, 5 on APCHEM
current courseload: AP US His, AP Spanish, Multivariable calculus, AP physics
awards: none… hah never even attempted to make AIME XD
EC’s: orchestra (cello), and a few clubs…
experience: never done research… lol
essays: i spent a very long time on them</p>

<p>i guess i got in cuz i attend a prestigious/rigorous private school and i got good grades in hard courses/ wrote passionate essays</p>

398

<p>My god, you guys are amazing. Your stats are just insanely good; reading the past few pages of this thread is making my head spin. XD APs, SAT scores, everything. I’m sure you’ll all have memorable summers no matter where you choose to go (or stay!).</p>

399

<p>@abercrombie93
I was accepted to the California campus. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to attend though. I really, really, really want to go, but I told my professor I’d be around for the summer to work on my research and a possible publication after I was rejected from RSI. I’m really torn now because I think I’d have more fun and learn a lot at SSP, but I should probably stay here and finish up the research project I’m working on… Are you definitely going?</p>

400

<p>@alyssa</p>

<p>yep definitely going
i wish i could’ve applied to RSI (not that i think i would get in ^^) but i couldn’t because altho i attend school in the US, im dont have US citizenship :(</p>

<p>thus ssp was my first choice, so im def going!
you should go :smiley: but even if you decide to not go, im sure there will be someone else who will gladly take your spot ^^ hope u make a good decision</p>