tasp essays

TASS FAQ for Applicants

When is the application due.

The application for the 2024 TASS programs will be in early January, 2024. See the TASS Timeline for details.

What are the dates for the summer program?

TASS 2024 will be held from June 23, 2024 through August 3, 2024.

Who is eligible to apply?

All current high school sophomores and juniors (tenth and eleventh grades) are eligible to apply for the program. You do not need to be a United States citizen or attend a US high school to apply. If you do not attend an American high school, you should apply one or two years before you expect to graduate from high school. Similarly, if you are home-schooled, you should apply one or two years before your expected graduation. We are happy to advise you on whether you are eligible to apply, especially if your academic calendar is substantially different from that of the United States, if you are in an unconventional academic program, or if other unusual circumstances cause you to be unsure of your eligibility. Please contact tass-queries@tellurideassociation.org for clarification.

Do I need to be nominated by my teacher?

No! We welcome applications from all students who meet our eligibility requirements, whether they have been nominated or not. Nominations are a way for us to reach students who might not have heard about Telluride Association. But your teachers might not have heard about us either! Nominated students receive a digital copy of our brochure and application form, but they are exactly the same as the digital versions here on our website. We don’t give any weight during our application review process to students who have been nominated.

How do I submit my essays online?

If you are submitting your application online, please be aware that you will need to copy and paste your essays into text boxes. Please insert an extra blank line between paragraphs and be aware that any special characters or formatting will not be preserved. We recommend that you write and proofread your essays in a word processor before you submit your application. Please make sure to save your application between pages and between sessions.

Can international students apply?

Yes! Almost every year there are a few international participants in TASS. Unfortunately, Telluride is not in a position to assist with facilitating visas.

Is it possible to apply to both TASS-CBS and TASS-AOS?

In a given year, you may only apply to one of these two programs (TASS-CBS or TASS-AOS). If you attend one program in your sophomore year, you may not apply to that same program the following year, but you are still eligible for the other. For example, you could participate in TASS-AOS your sophomore year, and then apply to TASS-CBS your junior year if you wanted. We encourage applicants to think seriously about the differences between the two programs and apply only if genuinely interested in that program’s focus.

What are Telluride's plans for addressing COVID?

Telluride is committed to fostering a safe environment and following COVID-19 health and safety protocols in accordance with guidance from the CDC and our host institutions. In summer 2023, we required all participants to be up-to-date on their COVID vaccinations and conducted regular COVID testing during the programs. Exceptions are available for medical and religious accommodations. Due to the evolving nature of this pandemic, it is not possible for us to fully predict what measures will need to be in place in summer 2024. We are continuing to monitor the situation and will announce requirements and protocols closer to the program’s start.

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Telluride Association Summer Program: Summer Program for Juniors

• summer experience
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Are you a highly motivated, intellectually curious high school junior? Apply to the Telluride Association Summer Program!

Telluride Association Summer Program

Telluride Association Summer Program (TASP) is a free six-week summer education experience for high school juniors who are looking for an intellectual challenge. TASP works with institutional partners to offer seminars that will test each students thinking and provide an environment where motivated students can engage and learn from one and other.

Accepted students, TASPers, will attend a seminar, in which they are placed in based on their submitted application materials, led by university scholars and participate in many other educational activities in and outside the classroom.

TASP looks for students from different education backgrounds who demonstrate intellectual curiosity. While a strong academic background is recommended, the TASP does not look to test of the seminar’s subject matter but rather focuses on how students engage with the subject at hand in the classroom, and with other highly motivated students. No grade or college credit is offered through the program.

Eligibility & Selection Criteria

All current high school juniors (11th grade)

Application is open to U.S. citizens and international students

Applicants do not need to attend high school in the U.S.

Every year, TASP accepts approximately 70 students. Students cannot choose which seminar to participate in. While applicants are given the opportunity to rank their preferences, they are placed based on the student’s submitted application materials.

TASP Program Details

The main focus of TASP is the academic seminar you are placed in. For six-weeks, students will attend the simar every weekday morning for 3 hours. Each seminar is led by two faculty members and are discussion-based classes. Students should expect to spend several hours on assigned reading or other preparation for each class to properly participate in the seminar discussions. Additionally, students will be tasked with a number of writing assignments over the six-week program. Students will receive feedback, but will not be graded on their assignments.

Additionally, TASP also enroll students in a public-speaking program and invite guest speakers to give lectures to TASP students. Some past guest speakers include a Nobel laureate physicist, a DNA researcher, and a college president. They come from many different academic disciplines to allow TASP students to explore new fields of study.

Finally, TASP gives students the freedom to pursue their own intellectual pursuits. Students are responsible for organizing their activities outside of the classroom, like community service projects, reading groups, excursions to museums. There will also be time for students to get to know each other and enjoy their summers on a college campus. There will also be college students facilitating the program, giving TASP student a chance to learn more about other things like applying to college, college classes and campus culture.

The 2018 TASP offers 4 different seminars:

1. Cornell I Program

Pleasure and Danger: Bodies in History, Science, Literature, and Philosophy

Cornell University, Ithaca, New York

June 24 – August 4, 2018

2. Cornell II Program

Facing Fictions

3. Maryland Program

Protest Poetics: Art and Performance in Freedom Movements

University of Maryland, College Park

4. Michigan Program  

Just Comics

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Here is the complete overview of the offered seminars for the 2018 TASP.

TASP Application Requirements

Applying to TASP will also be good practice for applying to college. The application requires:

Applicant Information

Academic Information

Essays: Students are required to write 3 essays of 9,000 characters (approximately 1,500 words) or less. Here are the essay prompts for the 2018 application:

Essay 1:  Reflect on the education (formal and informal) you have received: What experiences have you felt fortunate or unfortunate to have? What part of your education (formal or informal) has challenged you the most? If you attended TASS, please reflect on that experience and explain what you in addition you would hope to gain from and contribute to TASP.

Essay 2: At TASP, you will discuss texts and ideas in a college-style seminar. You should feel comfortable thinking deeply about an issue, communicating a well-reasoned stance, and genuinely engaging with others’ positions. To that end, tell us about a time a text (a piece of writing, movie, song lyrics, etc.) influenced your ideas about an issue. What did you think at first, and how did your thinking change? Refer to specific parts of the text to analyze how it affected your ideas

Essay 3: TASP is comprised of small education communities that rely greatly on the maturity of individual members. Tell us about a recent time you did something that upset or hurt a peer in a community you were involved in. How did you respond to this situation? Reflect on your response, and evaluate it. What would you do the same, and what might you do differently? Why?

Short Answer Questions: In addition, students also have to respond to 3 short answer questions, each with a response with no more than 1,500 characters (or 250 words). Here are the prompts:

Question 1:  A brief explanation of why you are interested in each seminar and an order of your preference for attending them. If there is a seminar that you would definitely not attend, explain why. (If you are selected for TASP, we will use your answer to help place you into an appropriate seminar.)

Question 2: A list of your favorite books and other media (such as films, exhibits, newspapers, magazines, lectures, music, works of art, etc.)

Question 3: A list of your most relevant activities, work or volunteer experiences, scholarship programs, honors and awards. For each, include a very brief description of its importance to you.

You also allowed to submit an optional essay up to 1,500 characters (250 words) of any other information you feel would help the committee understand your application. This essay can be used to explain any anomalies in your academic record, or a semester off.

TASP Application Deadline & Timeline

• Application Deadline: Tuesday, January 16, 2018
• Early March: Applicants selected for interview will have to submit a transcript, recommendation letter by a teacher or counselor, and a paper written for class.
• Mid-March to Mid-April: Interviews are conducted
• Late April: Final admissions decisions are made

You can find the application PDF and online form here.

TASP Summer Program Feedback

Many of our College Admits recommend applying to TASP, including those who never applied! It is a well-known, competitive program for rising high school seniors. In fact, some even wrote about that she learned at TASP in her college supplemental essay:

Lia_Columbia, Columbia University ‘19

“TASP, like Columbia, brings together people from vastly different backgrounds. Most of us had never been exposed to the ideas and philosophers we studied. We debated Plato’s view on the value of art late into the night, and discussed the merits of communism in the bathroom in the morning. We built a common repertoire of experience through reading the same texts, discussing our responses, and enduring the absence of decent produce. In only six weeks, my fellow TASP participants and I were able to communicate things like “panopticon” and “Proust” to each other without saying a word. I had one of the best summers of my life.”

She was accepted to Columbia University Early Decision to study creative writing. Unlock her Columbia profile to read her full application essays and her TASP experience in her advice section!

It’s not too early to start planning out your summer! Many of these competitive summer programs have early January application deadlines. So don’t miss out on these opportunities and prepare your application over the holidays! Here is a list of other summer programs you should look at.

About The Author

Frances was born in Hong Kong and received her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. She loves super sad drama television, cooking, and reading. Her favorite person on Earth isn’t actually a member of the AdmitSee team - it’s her dog Cooper.

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tasp essays??

<p>so applications are due in three weeks, i feel like my literary and issue essays are pretty strong but i'm still struggling with what i should write about for my personal essay. </p>

<p>i'm trying to avoid the cliche "my parents divorced" essay, trying to avoid the inspirational chris gardener "i can accomplish anything" essay, trying to avoid being overblown, stiff, exaggerated, dry. </p>

<p>all in all, i'm stuck. help please?</p>

<p>Sorry but your the one who knows your issues :-/</p>

<p>But Wait...You could write about that one time you wrestled a gigantic aligator to the ground and then you held its mouth shut and it reminded you of all the times that people pressured you to not voice your opinion and then in sympathy you let go of its mouth and it ate your arm. Then how it was a liberating experience. </p>

<p>Oh wait was that your story... :-P</p>

<p>definite concrete inspiration thank you</p>

<p>hahahahaha Corey, you are so funny! :D</p>

<p>Haha lauren i like how you used italics for "so"</p>

<p>:) ten char</p>

<p>??? Ten Char?</p>

<p>You need at least ten characters to post. (She/he only had :) so she/he had to add ten char) </p>

<p>:)</p>

<p>I agree, we don't know your issues/problems/conflicts. Think of it on your own, sorry!</p>

<p>Woah this is a little Bay triangle posting going on. Saratoga, LynnBrook, Monta Vista. Represent. Wow are we coming from the 3 most competitve schools in area.</p>

<p>HELL YEAH! haha. It's funny to think that we will probably never ever meet each other unless we all get into TASP, and fly all the way to Michigan or whatever, when we could actually meet up on De Anza & Prospect and be there in three minutes. XD.</p>

<p>haha. At that sketchy woodshingled building next to quiznos</p>

<p>hahaha :)</p>

<p>Oh yes that would be quite entertaining. I want to see what some of these people look like.</p>

<p>You guys are sophomores, yes? That's a bummer (me = junior) so we won't do TASP together. Not that I'll get in :(</p>

<p>Me = junior Lobster = sophomore</p>

<p>ooo for serials? </p>

<p>How cool, what TASP seminar do you want to do the most?</p>

<p>hahaha... for me it's a tie between Michigan and UTexas.</p>

<p>Oh...I want to do Cornell II or WashU, I'm thinking.</p>

<p>I'm not very good at writing essays though :( But TASP sounds so cool...and me, not being a permanent resident yet (yeah, it sucks) pretty much can't do anything else...especially because my parents won't spend more than say, $500-600. </p>

<p>:( Yeah that was my short rant of the day. I WANT TO BE A PERMANENT RESIDENT GRRRR</p>

<p>Where are you from?</p>

<p>I'm from Canada. Yep, Canadian citizen. </p>

<p>Sometimes I think my parents are lying to me and we're not even trying to get a green card. I mean, it's been like, five years already.</p>

<p>Cool Tako. definetly was expecting some first generation asian ancestry going on. </p>

<p>Canada thats interesting...Which province you rep???</p>

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