Tips for COSMOS Applicants + My 4 Week Experience
To help all who are applying increase their chances
Background
I went to COSMOS UCSC in summer 2022, and it was a life-changing experience. I got to know a community of passionate future STEM leaders, and their rationality in not only science but life inspired my logical side (I am usually very emotional). The course was EXTREMELY rigorous—COSMOS is summer school, not summer camp—and I learned a lot.
More importantly, the beautiful experience. I am still in touch with three of my COSMOS friends, and we share a summer of special memories that will always be cherished in my heart—images of the vast, picturesque OPERs field under the sun and of the tall pines of Santa Cruz come flooding back whenever I listen to “Summer” by Joe Hisaishi. A wide range of recreational activities take place after the school day—sports, music, art, movies, and more. Cosmos is basically four weeks of college life with friends. You’ll feel independent and learn to live the dorm life, but moreover have the best summer ever!
Here are some things that I did to maximize my application (and I got in). No promises are made, but I think they will be helpful for anyone interested in STEM!
Application Tips
Customize essays for each cluster. Since there is one 250-word essay for each of your top two choices, you want to give specific reasons why you are interested in each subject + your dreams to change the world with it in the future. Ex: for Smart & Sustainable Power, I wrote about my passion to bring the whole world the basic human right of electricity. For Microbiology and Toxicology, I wrote about how much I am distressed by the fact that economic imperialism causes inhumane conditions for workers in developing countries and how the carcinogens released makes them sick. Since the program is state-funded and held at UC colleges, it is exceptionally well-priced compared to other programs of its type, and its goal is to develop future STEM leaders for California.
Get a good letter of recommendation from your science/math teacher. This is really important, because if your passion shows in science class, your teacher’s letter will radiate that passion and confirm to the admissions officers that you will be a valuable future contributor in COSMOS. Be sure to ask them before putting their email in, and write them a thank-you card!
You don’t need to have impressive STEM extracurriculars/competitions on our resume (of course they’re great, but don’t freak out if you don’t). My extracurriculars were art, writing, violin, but I wrote about how those activities taught me perseverance, resilience, and creativity. I think admissions officers may be looking for some diversity too because about 95 % of the people I met at COSMOS were STEM people. Don’t lose hope!
You should be passionate and curious about STEM. Passion shows in your writing, but also, if you don’t like STEM you will be miserable at COSMOS. The courses are REALLY REALLY HARD and I struggled tremendously the first week. There was AP physics/calc stuff in my cluster, which didn’t even require a prerequisite, and the professor moved along rapidly. Everyone is highly intelligent and the average unweighted GPA was about 3.95. The acceptance rate was about 20-25 percent.
Tell a story, because stories stand out. For the writing box where they ask something like, “is there anything else we should know about you/tell us about your struggles”, write about a big struggle and how you overcame it, or something unique about you/your family that shapes your identity today. They are looking to create a great student community, not only teach STEM, so show your most resilient/unique parts.
Research thoroughly about all the clusters. Cluster to cluster vary greatly: some are lecture-heavy, some have many field trips, some have lots of labs, some are hands-on and some are abstract. Sustainable Power (cluster 6) was very lecture-heavy. Cluster 7 (microbiology & toxicology) is lab heavy, cluster 8 (marine biology) has many field trips. Make sure you will like the style of it because you will do it rigorously for 4 weeks.
Make sure you fulfill the prerequisite requirement.
Apply for multiple summer programs so that even if you don’t get accepted to one, you can go to another!
Good luck everyone! Spend a good amount of time on the essays and get them checked by parents/teachers/friends/counselors. I will follow up with an article with tips on campus life/class life/social life at COSMOS in April. If you don’t get in, don’t beat yourself up! I’d say there is a luck factor too, so it doesn’t mean you’re not a great future scientist/mathematician if you don’t get in!
Feel free to comment with questions.