u/NearbyEconomics219

title, but i will not be retaking the SAT and want to know if its still worth it to apply. i have a 1460, which i know is below average for some of the t25s, but im unhappy with my current institution for a variety of reasons. I'm wondering if studying would even be worth for a 1500+ for schools like Vandy, duke, cornell, usc, emory, etc in those caliber of schools.

I am an incoming freshman going for smeal and I was wondering about the amount of freshman and upperclassmen within holmes or north in general. Does anyone have any experiences in holmes hall? Thanks!

For context, I am a hs senior who is going to transfer next year. I have zero research experience and I think this is a good starting point but Im not sure if it's worth the price of $600.

• June: R Programming Academy and bibliometric methodology training guided by Caltech CS Careers and Dr. Freddy Jacome, MD from Harvard Medical School. 
• July: Research group rotations (e.g. neurodegenerative disease, neurotechnology) mentored by ThinkNeuro project managers and Dr. Toby Barrack, MD, MBA from Stanford School of Medicine. 
• August: virtual Summer Research Symposium featuring authorship on a research poster, abstract, and oral defense with guidance from Professor Shriya Srinivasan, PhD from Harvard Engineering and a keynote from Senior Associate Dean Dr. Kari Franson, PharmD, PhD from USC School of Pharmacy.

This is the outline of what I am doing, and I was wondering:

• Did you feel like you gained real research or coding skills, or was it more superficial?
• Was the mentorship/networking genuinely useful (e.g. strong references, ongoing projects)?
• Do you think it’s worth the cost, or better to self-learn + find research opportunities independently?

I’d really appreciate any honest opinions, good or bad before I make a decision.

Title. I am asking specifically for Smeal at UP