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Anyone know anything about the Telluride (TASP) summer program? How prestigious is it? How much do colleges like it?

By Burberry (Burberry) on Monday, December 30, 2002 - 06:35 pm: Edit

it's extremely prestigious.
and almost impossible to get into.
have to be a great writer, have won a medal, be a best-selling author, or something.
hmm... 6 long essays, was it?
not worth the time.
the rejection letter is exactly 3 sentences long from what i can remember.
if you apply, don't expect to get in. maybe just do it for experience (writing college essays, etc.) but if you do, more power to you.

By Me on Monday, December 30, 2002 - 06:39 pm: Edit

Has anyone gotten in? LOL, I mean has anyone who is READING this gotten in?

By gr8hello on Tuesday, December 31, 2002 - 02:54 am: Edit

my friend attended the telluride program this past summer at Cornell....um..when she got back home, she wrote an evaluation about her experience and got accepted into the telluride housing program for her freshman year at cornell (fall 2003)...theyre are paying for her room and board...so if u want a guaranteed chance of getting into cornell and um having a chance of gettin free room and board for ur undergrad years at cornell got for it!

By lvc on Thursday, January 02, 2003 - 08:45 pm: Edit

gr8hello: can u tell me how ur friend got in? was ur friend like a published author, medal winner or anything? i got the app today and it seems almost impossible. i dont know if im even gonna go try and find time to do it. basically academic stats dont matter right, cause everyone's almost perfect?

By bumper on Friday, January 03, 2003 - 01:25 am: Edit

bumpppp

By gr8hello on Friday, January 03, 2003 - 03:40 am: Edit

actually, no my friend isnt a published author.....she comes from a normal household where her mom is a teacher and i have no idea what her dad does...um...she has won a lot of awards within our school but not many local awards...i know she HAS NOT won any national or international awards whether it be minor or major awards..i know shes ranked about 2nd in our class of 110 people....which is ok....she had a 1570 sat score....yes basically, academic stats dont matter...they are looking for people with a personality i guess....i know for sure that a couple of people in the TASP program this summer already got into harvard and stanford...

-to show you that the people are looking for applicants with some special talent, um there was this guy who got into the program who they knew had some psylogical problems but they still let him in....

-so yeah i hope that helps...u dont really hafta be a published person or a medal winner to get in...from what my friend told me, not many of them were even published....its just that the essays they wrote came from the heart, therefore it was meaningful..

-welp good luck with ur application...i hope you do try out for this program because its a good opportunity to meet new people from different places and..hahah it looks good on ur college apps

By just wondering on Friday, January 03, 2003 - 12:14 pm: Edit

the telluride programs look pretty english-oriented. for someone who's looking to business or engineering eventually, but still enjoys english and debate, would this be a good idea and would it help in ivy admissions?

By hm? on Friday, January 03, 2003 - 02:02 pm: Edit

whats telluride?

By gr8hello on Friday, January 03, 2003 - 05:52 pm: Edit

just being in the telluride program will boost ur ivy admissions chance so just try out for it...telluride is a summer program at cornell or u of michigan.....and if u get in, everything is free except for airfare

By seattlejr on Friday, January 03, 2003 - 06:34 pm: Edit

I'm a Seattle junior who also got a Telluride application today. Because my high school is lame, I haven't received my PSAT scores yet, but the brochure says they only send applications to top 1% scorers or counselor-recommended kids. I know I wasn't recommended (because I'd never heard of Telluride before today!). Is it true that only National Merit range kids get an invitation? Should I be hopeful that the scores I'll get on Monday will be that high?

By gr8hello on Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 01:26 am: Edit

im not sure about that seattle jr, but um my freind was a national merti semi finalist

By d on Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 05:15 pm: Edit

What is the web site URL?

By gr8hello on Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 07:29 pm: Edit

http://www.telluride.cornell.edu/summer/tasp03.htm

or u can search on google

By Andrew Jensen on Friday, February 07, 2003 - 11:59 pm: Edit

I attended last summer's Tasp at the University of Michigan on "The American Century, Black Transnationalism, and Civil Rights." (I stumbled across this discussion board while trying to find the commemorative website one of the Taspers set up.) It was the most fun, rewarding, and enlightening six weeks of my life thus far.

As far as getting in goes, "extremely difficult" makes it sound unrealistically easy, but "impossible" makes it sound unrealistically hard. They usually get around 600 applications for a limited number of spots (18 per seminar topic; I think there are four seminar topics this year.) Last year the acceptance rate was about 9%, and that on an appliant pool composed almost entirely of kids who scored in the top 1% nationally on the PSAT. However, according to an email I got from on of my factota ("those who do everything" in Latin, the college kids who live with the Taspers and keep things organized) they got 900 applications this year. Good luck to everyone reading this who applied.

If you get in you'll meet the most fun, fascinating, and amazing people you've encounterd in your life thus far. And of course sticking that incomparably rare letter of recommendation from one of your Tasp professors into your Yale application envelope gives you a splendid, glowing feeling of unfair advantage inside your desperate 17-year-old heart.

By Eric S. on Tuesday, February 11, 2003 - 08:58 pm: Edit

I, too, attended TASP this past summer, but in the Cornell Branch. I must say, it is definitely worth any time that is spent writing the essays. It is one of the best experiences I've ever had. It's not only for English/literature people either. I'm not really a literature person. I'm more into science, but I still liked the program. It's true that many of the students are into the arts, but maybe one-third to one-half are also interested in things like engineering, math, science, medicine, or business.

Getting in is tough, but not impossible, I would say. Basically, academics do count for something, but the essays are the overwhelming factor. There's no need to be published, nationally recognized, or anything like that. We're not geniuses, although many are talented in different ways (music, language, arts). What they're looking for is well-written, intriguing essays that bring out an interesting set of ideas. There's an interview, too. The application process and the interviews are mostly conducted by TASP and Telluride House alumni. There's a sophomore program, too, but I don't know much about it. The website has all of this information.

Since they're actively looking for interesting individuals, it is almost impossible not to enjoy the experience. And, of course, it's free. :-) It's definitely a plus for college, too.

By CBTA member on Saturday, February 15, 2003 - 03:52 pm: Edit

I was a TASPer a few years ago and I now read applications for TASPs and conduct interviews with some of our applicants. TASP was, quite frankly, the best experience of my entire life. (And, yes, as a direct result of it, I now recieve a free room and board scholarship at Cornell University, so it is good for that sort of thing, too.)

I know that applications have already been turned in (since I'm reading them now), but I thought I'd let you know what we look for anyway. A TASPer is not only quite smart, interested and interesting, and a good writer, but is, moreover, intellectually engaged. TASP is as much an intellectual experience as anything, and we want TASPers who think critically because it's fun, who have provocative thoughts, and who are sometimes willing to take intellectual risks (without, however, saying things that are just utterly absurd). This does not mean you have to be a superstar in every way, and it does not mean you have to be bound up ONLY in ideas. Many TASPers are active in their communities, in sports, or in the arts; many have jobs; many come from interesting places or have interesting backgrounds; many HAVE won state, national, or international awards. But that is not what we look for. We just want interesting kids, who will live, read, govern themselves (to some extent), and talk together, and enjoy it immensely. All the other stuff is good if it informs your perspective in such a way that it makes your ideas interesting--but anybody can have interesting ideas.

I hope you did apply, and good luck getting in!

By Amy on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 01:23 am: Edit

I, too, was a TASPer last summer at Cornell. It was an absolutely amazing, wonderful experience. I am proof that you don't have to be a super-genius or anything to get in...above all, I would say that you have to be INTERESTING. Each person at my TASP (there were 32 of us; both Cornell TASPs are combined) was unique and wonderful and engaging.

Is it impossible to get in? When I applied, I honestly had no idea what I was getting into. It looked cool, I decided to try. I figured it was worth the writing experience, as my school is basically a slacker school that requires no skills whatsoever. I wanted to get in very badly, but didn't figure I would. But I did. And it was great. Good luck to you all. If you're meant to be there, you'll get in.

By Gabypa (Gabypa) on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 02:52 pm: Edit

Wow! How many TASPers here! Well, you might even be reading my application! :-) I just wanted to ask something: what about international applications? Do you receive many of these? I am an international applicant, a Peruvian junior currently living in Brazil. I applied and really worked a while with the essays and attempted to show my real me in them. I don't know, however, how TASP admission works for internationals. Could someone please inform me about this? Or does someone know about previous international TASPers?

By Eric on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 08:07 am: Edit

Well, at our TASP, there was someone from Canada, someone from the Phillipines, and someone from Chile. Puerto Rico and Hawaii are far away enough that I consider them more than just "American."

By Gabypa (Gabypa) on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 01:50 pm: Edit

Cool, and do you have any idea of how many intls apply? And when do you think intls will hear bout the results?

By Tanvi on Wednesday, February 19, 2003 - 08:56 pm: Edit

so what have essays been like, thus far? When will be alerted for interviews? Err, i left a big glaring "TRANSITION NECESSARY" on one of my essays. Hope you'll find that as funny as I did? I mean..it could be taken as a subtle joke, in the context of the essay...
It is a little bizarre that so many taspers just incidentally found this thread.....at collegeconfidential, no less.
Do tell us more about the TASP selection process...experiences, etc. Are the essays very painful to read? From some that I have read, I'd probably die a very lonely death if I were to read hundreds of those..
Well, I certainly hope the person evaluating my application didn't fall upon this little message. although that would be gleefully funny.

By Irisdance (Irisdance) on Sunday, October 26, 2003 - 12:59 am: Edit

Hi. I was also a TASPer. I am now at Harvard. The two are not intrinsically related. Please don't be maniacs about this. TASP doesn't want competitive Ivy-obsessed neurotics. They want real people - intellectuals, thinkers, dreamers, unique beings. Enjoy your life. Don't freak about colleges and admissions. BE A PERSON instead of a crazed statistic. Write. Think. Breathe. Write your own essays and speak your own words.

By Teresa (Teresa) on Saturday, November 01, 2003 - 04:00 pm: Edit

My child attended TASP, and I flew to Cornell with him, so I met a number of the TASPers. The thing that they all had in common was an intense love of learning. My son never "studied" in elementary or high school, but he was always teaching himself something he was not being taught in school. He became fascinated by certain subjects, and studied them in depth. The other TASPers were the same way. They were all very bright, but what set them apart from other bright people was their love of learning just for the sake of learning. They really did not impress me as being that interested in test scores, grades, or the prestige of a college. Of course, these things were important to them, but their passion for learning came first. My son is now at Harvard, and so are a number of his friends from TASP. In fact, the friendships he made at TASP are the closest he has ever made. His roommate is a friend from TASP, and he gets keeps in touch with a number of TASPers who are at other colleges. And, yes, it does seem true that many of the TASPers go to Ivy League schools, as well as other very selective schools, such as Stanford and U. of Chicago.