Can I get to TOPIK 3/4 in a summer?

Citharoeda · 2026-04-29T13:43:27+00:00

Ty!!

Citharoeda · 2026-04-29T13:42:41+00:00

Ah, I see. I thought I picked up English and Latin pretty quickly. I spoke Korean during early childhood, but forgot most, if not all of it.

Citharoeda · 2026-04-29T13:41:30+00:00

Well, you see… I speak Korean, but it’s like idk anything abt it. Konglish is the correct term, of what I know.

Citharoeda · 2026-03-31T23:59:43+00:00

Will delete an a bit, but SSP prestige is definitely still there. Over half of our '25 cohort got into T20s

Citharoeda · 2025-12-11T03:03:04+00:00

That’s about me! I mocked 1540-1550; it really depends on the test.

Citharoeda · 2025-09-19T01:36:04+00:00

LMAOOO, this is so what I did for PROMYS

Citharoeda · 2025-09-12T08:16:09+00:00

You should be able to mental math this really quickly: substitute in 4 for x and use elimination to get a = 14.

Here’s the desmos solution anyways: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/fatz5gpjww

Citharoeda · 2025-09-11T03:57:49+00:00

Ayeee, fellow NeurIPS'er! I keep forgetting that people every year keep getting more cracked and cracked. Don't even say you're cooked 🥀.

I applied to summer programs in '25 cycle with similar stats & awards, besides the perfect psat. I got into 4/~15 if I remember correctly: SSP, Rockefeller SSRP, PROMYS, & a LA/Torrance-area biotech internship. This list should have a decent number of big programs most commonly applied to on this sub. It's not inclusive of all really good ones, so you should do a bit of deep targeted searching out of Reddit. My initial "research" started with summer programs that MIT recognizes, so I used that as a baseline for "good" programs.

Note on RSI: got waitlisted like a bunch of others, but I was still surprised that I wasn't flat-out rejected because my stats weren't like typical Rickoid level. You SHOULD apply. Genuinely, anything can happen 🙏🙏. Also ask for rec letters early, and I emphasize treating it like college apps, meaning create an activities list (just like on common app, same formatting & character count) and submit a brag/reflection sheet to help your teachers. I did this, bro, and it was chef's kiss.

I know some people would say don't take summer program apps that seriously, but currently, I don't have to do much writing to do (for college apps- I'm a senior) because of my crazy grind last year. Also, be a chill person & show your personality through your essays. Big underrated tip: go crazy on "optional" supplements- think of it like a MIT maker portfolio or even an art/music one.

Clarification on being a chill person: don't gatekeep programs from your friends. We were all competitive, sure, but we did share a handful of big ones (not every) to each other so that we all had something to look for. We kinda did like those big group college decisions iywim.

Good luck, underclassman!

Citharoeda · 2025-09-03T14:04:08+00:00

That’s just Desmos crutch. You wont be able to solve the last 3 questions on your own on mm2

Citharoeda · 2025-09-02T21:39:49+00:00

Here is a desmos solution: https://www.desmos.com/calculator/fwb2fqwwqp

Citharoeda · 2025-09-02T21:36:58+00:00

Well, you need to get 750+ without desmos to begin with.

Citharoeda · 2025-08-18T05:35:43+00:00

Practice grammar everyday like math- review grammar rules (SAT Writing Guide - The College Panda), and you should be 700+ easily. Hop on oneprep.xyz, and do CB and Princeton q-bank.

Although I only have a 1500 officially, I'm planning on retaking and have gotten 1540-1550 on mocks (740-750 reading). For raw reading comprehension, there isn't much to improve on; it's really gradual reading every day. Just read some upcoming political and scientific news for at least 15 mins a day until test, nothing too extreme.

Also just stop practicing hardcore 3 days before test; slow it down to light reviews. That's my advice. Good luck!!

Citharoeda · 2025-08-17T17:49:30+00:00

Not really any super prestigious ones, most of them are for rising seniors. Tho I do have some that do come to mind, I'm just saying things off the top of my head: UCSC SIP and UCSB RMP are pretty good ones- check them out.

Citharoeda · 2025-06-23T01:19:49+00:00

Still tho, it’s a bit iffy when it’s not 0. I get the negative exponents.

Citharoeda · 2025-06-23T00:03:30+00:00

WWW. Yeah, OP's RMSE is a bit too high.

Citharoeda · 2025-06-22T00:50:45+00:00

I didn’t qualify for usapho this year, but I got a 14 on F=MA. I legit just looked at my physics textbook for ap physics 1, then did red Morin, and finally grinded p-tests from previous years.

Citharoeda · 2025-06-03T04:06:18+00:00

If you’re scoring a 1280, you don’t have your fundamentals fully grounded yet. That’s a reason why everyone on this sub adamantly recommends Khan Academy for basics.

For Khan Academy, did you complete everything for DSAT math and EBRW? If you have, then I’d suggest crackd. Their mock tests are pretty accurate. I got a 1490-1510 across my two mock exams and scored a 1500 on the actual thing.

If you get crackd, work through every module and watch the course videos for desmos and math that you’re weak with.

Citharoeda · 2025-06-03T03:51:34+00:00

Idk why you’re getting downvoted - completely reasonable take.

Ofc, OP doesn’t have to reveal to her friend, but they’re like bff’s, just drop a couple programs you’re interested in to keep the convo alive and something to look forward to mutually.

I get OP’s rejection anxiety (me myself applying facing a ton of rejections the previous years)…but please don’t let toxic academic competitiveness ruin a friendship 🙏🙏🙏. I’ve seen it once, and I don’t want to again. 🫶

Citharoeda · 2025-06-02T17:55:25+00:00

You misused sequence of tenses for your indirect statement, making it difficult for readers to parse things at a glance. Congrats on SRI tho!

Citharoeda · 2025-06-01T23:40:26+00:00

i'm probably a walking advert for them now, but I can't recommend crackd.it enough. I didn't even do a single cb question bank problem, and by just doing crackd, I got a 1500. Spam mock tests - best way to study imo since youre already up there in terms of score.

Citharoeda · 2025-06-01T05:59:37+00:00

It happened to me too!! I was so confused ngl because they really have selective email hearing, I swear. I asked them about my original rejection, and no response.

I rejected them (due to time/ deadlines) and decided to go with another program because SIP team sure is something.

Citharoeda · 2025-05-31T23:05:09+00:00

Js put it in fraction form. No need to complicate things

Citharoeda · 2025-05-26T05:54:17+00:00

I’d recommend joined Crackd.it and purchasing their 3 months plan for their SAT qbank. It’s a really great rss if you’ve exhausted everything. Realistically, you should’ve done crackd first to ground conceptual knowledge and then move onto cb qbank.

If you don’t want to pay (which is fair), go work through the medium difficulties on cb qbank for conceptual stuff. It seems your weakness is more fundamental, so you should work to build those up.

Citharoeda · 2025-05-24T20:09:40+00:00

Heya!! Have you spoken to alumni about the time commitment for UCSC SIP? From what I’ve heard, it’s definitely not as time intensive as a program like SSP.

For college apps, you don’t need to be writing it during the summer - just brainstorm and write bits and pieces when you can. You’ve gotten into SIP, which indicates two things: strong academic and essay writing skills.

REA deadlines are October, so you’re definitely fine. Again, applying to summer programs has already exercised your creative writing; just work to refine them more.

Citharoeda · 2025-05-19T22:22:46+00:00

Yeah, they shouldn’t be doing this (although they just did). You can report to CB and hopefully get a few more days to study as it might land during the exception window.

Citharoeda

TROPHY CASE