Telluride Association Summer Program (TASP) 2010

decrescendo
Wed, 18 Aug 2010 20:24:39 +0000

Hey guys. I figured I’d post here rather than make an entirely new thread over the issue so… I have a few questions 'bout TASP. :D

1. Are all the kids absolutely brilliant? I mean, I consider myself to be a reasonably well-read 16-year-old, especially amongst the peers at my HS where out-of-class reading consists of Sports Illustrated, People, and the like. In other words, will I feel left out if I’m not extremely intelligent and in possession of a vast general knowledge of things?

2. I really want to go to the Cornell one. Can any former Cornell TASPer fill me in? What’s the campus like, and the activities? Is there lots to do in Ithaca? Would you have rather gone to a different campus for TASP, such as UT Austin?

3. Do your essays have to be out-of-this-world? I’m very interested in the program because writing essays is my forte- it’s what I do best, and I already have a million ideas brewing in my mind about what to write on for the topics. But do your essays have to be at the level of Harvard acceptance essays to get you in?

4. I don’t really care about the whole college-boost thing; I just found the program fascinating in itself. But as a sidenote… does this have a significant impact for top schools?

5. How’s the workload? Is it manageable for a kid coming from an average public HS? I’m taking 3 AP’s this year and 4 next year.

6. Do you become very close with other TASPers, or are many of them the isolationist type who aren’t really friendly or social?

Sorry for all the questions. Please help if ya can. Thanks. :P