Summer Schools (which ones are deemed 'best')

[TheAspiringDoc]

Hi!
So I know I'm a little way of the end of year eleven (I think that's when all the summer schools are held, right?), But I'm wanting to figure out which summer schools are the 'best' for someone who is into both maths and science and is wanting to get into medicine. My criteria would be things such as; which are most relevant to VCE studies; which is the most fun and gives the most rounded experience; which one is the most advanced and will provide the greatest learning experience; and which one is the most financially suitable.
So far I've found:
National Maths Summer School
National Youth Science Forum (daddy, I want a golden goose place in the NYSF)
TSFX Summer School (three negative reviews, one positive)
TSSM Summer School
NEAP Summer School
Harry Messel International Science School
Australian Science Olympiad Summer School
University of Melbourne Student Union Summer School
Access Education Summer School
If anyone has an opinion or any past experiences with any of these (or others, which I may have missed,) I'd love to hear your experiences

[Callum@1373]

just.......dont........go.......to.......tsfx...............

trust me on this...i swear to freaking god please trust me. Ask other people on this forum, they will agree with me i swear.

Let me quote tsfx 'we do not believe in superficial overviews'

That is EXACTLY what they do.

You'll pay like $120 or something to hear some sad looking teacher skim the unit 1/3 study design

What I would recommend, is to go to the cheap places. Why? Because it suggests that the company is more interested in your own VCE success than their profit gain. It's true I swear. Those more professional ones you listed such as australian science olympiad summer school seem a lot more legit than anything else....but tssm i've heard are alright.

tl;dr - don't go to tsfx just no. May as well pick up the textbook, read one word on every page and then  put it down. that's what it's like going to tsfx. and your bum will get bloody sore going there.

[cosine]

Let me also add emphasis on it. Do... not... go... to... tsfx...

They are money orientated. Their notes are exactly the same as what you'll find in the textbooks, and they say their notes is what we pay the money for, that the lectures are just there as a backup. Notes are decent, if you can utilise your textbook well enough the notes are useless. Oh and if you love receiving spam emails about future sessions, sign up to tsfx, because no matter how many times I unsubscribe from their weekly spam, I still receive their emails. 

You can get some really good sessions from other companies, not all are like tsfx. I would recommend TSSM and NEAP over the others!

[keltingmeith]

National Maths Summer School
National Youth Science Forum

AFAIK, both of these require application about 1/3 of the way through year 11, so make sure you're aware of the dates so you don't miss out.

I can't talk about the NMSS (never went, but it seems fairly good), I can more than recommend the NYSF.

It's a fantastic experience that not only makes you realize that there's more to science than what you currently think there is (you might find that after it you don't want to go into med. ), but it creates a great network of friends at the same time.

The NYSF provides very little help in terms of VCE (minus the new network of friends who you can study with), but the actual experience will stay with you for your life, as opposed to the VCE lectures that stay with you for a year. (Not to mention NYSF looks much better on your resume than a TSSM lecture would)

[TheAspiringDoc]

I can't talk about the NMSS (never went, but it seems fairly good), I can more than recommend the NYSF.

It's a fantastic experience that not only makes you realize that there's more to science than what you currently think there is (you might find that after it you don't want to go into med. ), but it creates a great network of friends at the same time.

Never!!!!
On their website they said they take in students hoping to follow a Science/Engineering type career - does that include medicine?

[keltingmeith]

Never!!!!
On their website they said they take in students hoping to follow a Science/Engineering type career - does that include medicine?

Never say never.

They say science/engineering, they actually mean STEM. When I went, about 1/3 of the students participating wanted to do med.

[S33667]

NYSF is relevant towards toward medicine (you get put into streams on the program depending on your interest).   After the program is January they have there nextstep program at different university campuses

For example - a recent day at Monash offered:

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Workshop
Building 13F, Lab G01
The BioEYES program is an innovative, hands-on approach to learning about developmental biology, stem cells, genetics and
regenerative medicine through the use of live zebrafish. Students will learn about the rapid development of zebrafish embryos
and observe the transparent embryos of zebrafish change from a single celled zygote to a larval fish.

[TheAspiringDoc]

Wow! NYSF Looks sooo cool
Is there anything I should start doing now to elevate my chances of being accepted (i.e. community service or submitting science videos into competitions such as the Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize?)
It seems like everyone on AN has been... Only like 100 students are accepted though, right?

[keltingmeith]

NYSF is relevant towards toward medicine (you get put into streams on the program depending on your interest).   After the program is January they have there nextstep program at different university campuses

For example - a recent day at Monash offered:

Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Workshop
Building 13F, Lab G01
The BioEYES program is an innovative, hands-on approach to learning about developmental biology, stem cells, genetics and
regenerative medicine through the use of live zebrafish. Students will learn about the rapid development of zebrafish embryos
and observe the transparent embryos of zebrafish change from a single celled zygote to a larval fish.

Wait, you went to the next step session at Monash? Because I was one of the helpers for that LOL.

Wow! NYSF Looks sooo cool
Is there anything I should start doing now to elevate my chances of being accepted (i.e. community service or submitting science videos into competitions such as the Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize?)
It seems like everyone on AN has been... Only like 100 students are accepted though, right?

Not really. Get good grades (debatable requirement), be able to show that you're interested in STEM and don't be a jerk gives you a pretty good chance of getting in.

Also, they accept ~400 people a year, so just a bit more than what you think.

[S33667]

Wait, you went to the next step session at Monash? Because I was one of the helpers for that LOL.

Nope I missed it sadly - short story:  flying back from France, missed the connecting flight at Dubai, ended up delayed in Kuala Lumpur!  I did go to Melbourne Uni the next day.

Here's some feedback for you from my NYSF friends .... apparently "we" are all going to Monash because their nextstep day was awesome and Melbourne not so much.

So thanks for being a part of deciding where I'm going to be doing my future studies EulerFan lol (even though I haven't sussed it out myself)

[S33667]

Wow! NYSF Looks sooo cool
Is there anything I should start doing now to elevate my chances of being accepted (i.e. community service or submitting science videos into competitions such as the Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize?)
It seems like everyone on AN has been... Only like 100 students are accepted though, right?

I think the best thing about NYSF is that you meet so many like minded science geeks.  In fact I'm surprised how close we've all become and we all still catch up socially.

TheAspiringDoc if you're 15 check out ysa.org.au/melbourne/ - I only joined after NYSF but some people were members before they got selected for NYSF.   If you're interested to coming to one of the social days; feel free to message me I know how daunting it can be rocking up not knowing anyone - I'll hold your hand 

[mahler004]

nth recommendation for NYSF. It's not really a 'summer school' though - more of a science camp. I'd still really strongly recommend it though. The "Next Steps" program (can't remember what they called them in my day) is very useful for figuring out where you want to go next, and to maintain the connections/friendships you made at the actual camp (although I didn't actually attend the program for Melbourne Uni, which I ended up attending). There's also a chance to go overseas for some programs as well - although these are pretty competitive (you can go as an NYSF delegate to New Zealand, I think, or go to later camps in Year 12 - in the US/Germany.)

But yeah, it's still a few years away but keep the application deadlines in mind - I was fortunate enough to have a teacher that was involved locally with the NYSF (so she pushed us all to apply,) but at some schools if there's not a teacher like that it can fly by. It's at a pretty random time iirc.

Not really. Get good grades (debatable requirement), be able to show that you're interested in STEM and don't be a jerk gives you a pretty good chance of getting in.

Also, they accept ~400 people a year, so just a bit more than what you think.

Without going into doxxable details, I was involved in selection for the NYSF from my rotary district the year after I went. We generally looked for personable people who were interested in STEM. Good grades didn't hurt (poor grades would set you back) but were at most a secondary consideration. That said, selection is largely at the rotary district level, so it will change across the country. My rotary district had a few unusual things about it (about 50% city/country, so we had to adjust for that).

[thushan]

Hi!
So I know I'm a little way of the end of year eleven (I think that's when all the summer schools are held, right?), But I'm wanting to figure out which summer schools are the 'best' for someone who is into both maths and science and is wanting to get into medicine. My criteria would be things such as; which are most relevant to VCE studies; which is the most fun and gives the most rounded experience; which one is the most advanced and will provide the greatest learning experience; and which one is the most financially suitable.
So far I've found:
National Maths Summer School
National Youth Science Forum
TSFX Summer School(Following negative reviews)
TSSM Summer School
NEAP Summer School
Harry Messel International Science School
Australian Science Olympiad Summer School
University of Melbourne Student Union Summer School
Access Education Summer School
If anyone has an opinion or any past experiences with any of these (or others, which I may have missed,) I'd love to hear your experiences

They have different purposes:
- TSFX
- TSSM
- Access Education

These are just a series of head-start lectures on VCE subjects. Also, I disagree with what was said about TSFX; I  have been to their Biology and Physics lectures and both have been quite excellent. However, TSFX is quite pricey.

There's also the ATARNotes HeadStart lectures (which are currently free).

- ASO Summer School
- Harry Messel International Science School
- Australian Science Olympiad Summer School
- NYSF
- NMSS

These are all residential summer schools if you want to extend your knowledge of science beyond the VCE level; the ASO summer school is specifically to get you into one of the Australian Science Olympiad teams. These schools are NOT VCE-focused.

- Melbourne Uni Summer School

This is basically a residential summer school run by university students that take you through a head-start through VCE subjects over a number of classes.

[S33667]

Wow! NYSF Looks sooo cool
Is there anything I should start doing now to elevate my chances of being accepted (i.e. community service or submitting science videos into competitions such as the Sleek Geeks Science Eureka Prize?)
It seems like everyone on AN has been... Only like 100 students are accepted though, right?

In regards to trying to increase your chances of being accepted, there's not particularly much you need to do. From my experience, highlighting that you're a respectable individual interested in STEM is enough.

Please, don't be one of the people, more commonly referred to as 'resumé fillers', that joins/participates in a plethora of activities for the sole purpose of achieving something/being accepted for something. Only participate in those sorts of things if you're honestly interested in them/have a legitimate interest in them.

Like I said, just compose yourself well and you'll be fine 

[Orb]

Please, don't be one of the people, more commonly referred to as 'resumé fillers', that joins/participates in a plethora of activities for the sole purpose of achieving something/being accepted for something. Only participate in those sorts of things if you're honestly interested in them/have a legitimate interest in them.

Alas that has been me in the past.. sometimes

It's really a poor habit :3