Hey everyone!
I really wanted to share the process of applying to the Millennium Youth Camp so that future participants can get a better idea of the application and what happens during each stage of the application. So without further ado:
The First Step: The first step of the application is the basic online application. It opens up in the fall and closes in December. I did it in December, but I'd advise not to do it last minute! It had a couple of essay questions asking about your interests and experiences in science. You also had to pick your first and second choice for a group.
There are 10 groups: Urban Planning (my group), Biosciences and Biotechnology, Applied Mathematics, Energy, Climate and Climate Change, Food Science and Technology, ICT (Information and Communication Technology), Material Sciences and Material Technology, Renewable Natural Resources, and Water!
All in all, it wasn't exactly a short application (it did take some time to write out the essays and whatnot) but it wasn't terribly lengthy. The application is in English. After submitting the application, I kinda forgot about the program because I wasn't expecting to get in. They only chose 200 people for the next round (20 people per group). However, I did keep in mind the date of when they would choose the semifinalists.
Second Round: So on February 3rd, while I was in my English class in the morning (huge time difference between America and Finland) I checked my email and got a notification from one of the coordinators. I made it into the Urban Planning Group to the second round! Not going to lie, I was extremely surprised and I basically researched the camp more into detail, trying to get as much info as possible. Also attached to the email was a project that we were assigned to do which they would use to determine the next round of people. My first reaction to seeing the project was a mix of excitement and weariness. The project was interesting - the first part consisted of a person we would nominate for the Millennium Technological Prize and the second part consisted of questions related to Urban Planning. Specifically, create a SWOT analysis of a hypothetical situation they gave us and the second question asked us about the future of Urban Planning and what we predicted for it. I had no idea what SWOT analysis was. After researching it, I couldn't tell if I was supposed to make a table or write an essay. I did both but then just included the table. We had to have sources and they also accepted tables and included images. We had a month to finish and submit the project. I used online references and books from my library to complete it. I was worried my proposal was a bit simplistic but I still gave it a go
Second Round: So on February 3rd, while I was in my English class in the morning (huge time difference between America and Finland) I checked my email and got a notification from one of the coordinators. I made it into the Urban Planning Group to the second round! Not going to lie, I was extremely surprised and I basically researched the camp more into detail, trying to get as much info as possible. Also attached to the email was a project that we were assigned to do which they would use to determine the next round of people. My first reaction to seeing the project was a mix of excitement and weariness. The project was interesting - the first part consisted of a person we would nominate for the Millennium Technological Prize and the second part consisted of questions related to Urban Planning. Specifically, create a SWOT analysis of a hypothetical situation they gave us and the second question asked us about the future of Urban Planning and what we predicted for it. I had no idea what SWOT analysis was. After researching it, I couldn't tell if I was supposed to make a table or write an essay. I did both but then just included the table. We had to have sources and they also accepted tables and included images. We had a month to finish and submit the project. I used online references and books from my library to complete it. I was worried my proposal was a bit simplistic but I still gave it a go
I guess this is the part where I should mention something that occurred during this time. When they released the people who made it to the second round, I was trying to see if any of these people were on any social networking site that I could connect through, since I still was pretty foggy on the whole aspect of this project and still hazy about some details about the Millennium Youth Camp. Plus, it would be fun to know someone who also is in the same place as me. That's when I found one of the other Americans who made it to the second round on LinkedIn. We talked through LinkedIn about our separate projects (different projects for different groups. He was in the ICT group and I was in Urban Planning) and our groups and how we found out about the program.We became fast friends and later Facebook friends. I will credit him as being one of the nicest people ever who was a great friend through this whole process. We talked about MYC, how much we both wanted to get in, how amazing the program itself was, and just about life in general. He is still one of my very good friends today. Even if I didn't get into MYC, I would've been glad to have applied because of MYC we both met. :)
Going back to the proposal, I submitted it on the day of the deadline (I really need to be more punctual). I knew they gave interviews to the top candidates a few days after we submitted our proposal, so I was anxiously waiting to hear back from them. We had to mention if we were available to do interviews during the set dates, and at the time I was selected to be one of the 8 delegates for the UN Commission on the Status of Women and would be attending the NCWIT Ceremony in Southern Virginia, so with both of these two things going on, I said I would most probably not be able to. Due to some last minute problems, I decided to forgo the UN Commission and later emailed them that I would be available since I was afraid that if I said i wasn't available, they wouldn't consider me. I still remember my conversation with the other American (the one who I met through LinkedIn that also got into the second round) and how freaked out I was that I wouldn't get in. We both were anxiously awaiting to see if we would get interview emails and messaged each other constantly if the other received an email.
Interviews (Third Round?): Then finally, on March 7th, I got an interview requesting for a Skype email. He, unfortunately, did not receive anything. I reassured him that he would get something (I hoped). Meanwhile, I was looking at the interview times. I had to convert the time zones to American time zones and all of the options for doing an interview were during school (I already did a Skype interview during school for another international program, and that was....an interesting experience but it taught me to never interview during a school day, which is why I was hesitant to do it during school). The only other option was at 3 am in the morning (my time zone). I didn't mind the time, I was just worried I would sleep through it. During the time, I had many finals and I didn't get to prepare the prior days of the interview date that much. On the day of the interview, I stayed up to do some more work. I took a quick nap at 12 am (at least I tried to. I was too nervous of sleeping through the interview time). Then I woke up at 1 am, got dressed in business casual and reviewed my proposal and some other information related to Urban Planning (I didn't know what they would ask me, so better safe than sorry!). It was around 2ish, so I set up Skype on my computer and waited. It was around 3ish, and I was wondering why they weren't calling me. I looked up the time in Finland and realized the interview was actually at 4 am (it was daylight savings in America, and that just messed everything up). I also received a Skype message from them saying they had technical difficulties and that we would be doing a regular Skype call instead of a video call. At that point, I regretted getting up so early to get dressed and to put on makeup so they wouldn't see my eye bags brought by sleep deprivation. However, I still was glad that I was at least prepared! So at 4 am (American time) , they called me and a woman with a lovely accent asked me a couple of questions about my proposal, about the camp, and a few questions about myself. I was expecting a hugely long interview, where they would interrogate me. The interview lasted 5 minutes....and that was because I kept asking them to repeat questions since I couldn't understand them clearly through the Skype call. I was convinced I did terribly because it was the shortest interview I ever did, and if an interview is short, it usually means it didn't go well. I complained to my LinkedIn friend about it, while we both waited for him to receive some notification. He still hadn't :(
At that point, I was convinced I wouldn't get in and he was convinced he wouldn't get in. You see, only 6 out of 20 people from each group (6 * 10 = 60 finalists) would be chosen. It was competitive.
We both waited for March 17th - the day of the results. I remember getting up very early - around 5 am - to see if they were posted. They hadn't so I checked the Facebook page and it said the results would be coming out shortly. From my experience, usually finalists or winners of programs, awards, and internships are told they got in before the results are published, so I wasn't feeling to great about my chances but a small part of me had a feeling I might get in. Then half an hour later, I went onto their website and hit the refresh button a couple of times before it said that the results list was published. Seeing as I hadn't gotten an email from them yet, I clicked the link on the website with very low hopes. I scrolled down anxiously to the Urban Planning Finalists ....and my name was on there! I was numb for a few minutes. In all honesty, the true excitement didn't kick in till a few weeks after. I looked at the ICT groups finalists and hoped and prayed that I would see my friend's name. His name was not on there. I was scared to tell him about the results. So I ignored it. Everyone who applied got an official email saying to check the results list on the website. He immediately messaged me, congratulating me. I expressed my regret and sorrow of him not getting in. We talked about how much fun it would be to both get into the program. He was definitely smarter than me - he was a university student (a year older than me) at one of the best schools in America as an Engineering major. So although I was happy to get in, I was also sad. We didn't keep in touch much after the results were published, but then he regained contact and now we are still good friends.
If his rejection taught me anything, its that extremely smart people apply for this program and unfortunately do not get in. Getting a rejection from this program doesn't say anything about your potential. Applying for the program itself is already impressive. More than 1400 people applied for this program, and only 60 could get in. So if you don't get in the first time you applied, don't think that you weren't good enough. Everything happens for a reason. My friend is still successful (and was recently elected to his school's government association as president) and he didn't get in. Just because you were rejected, doesn't mean that you won't get in another time. You can apply more than once, if you fit the eligibility criteria! I definitely encourage you to do so! And for people who think they won't get into this program (like me), apply! Apply not only because there could be a chance you could get in, but also so you can meet other intelligent, awesome people who also are applying for the program.
This whole process was an adventure in itself. I made a very good friend, I learned more about Urban Planning, and I learned more about writing scientific proposals! If you have any other questions about the application process, check out the official program site or make a comment on the blog!
-Akila Prayaga
Program website:
My LinkedIn (If you want to message me questions):
PS. Sorry this was so long.
Going back to the proposal, I submitted it on the day of the deadline (I really need to be more punctual). I knew they gave interviews to the top candidates a few days after we submitted our proposal, so I was anxiously waiting to hear back from them. We had to mention if we were available to do interviews during the set dates, and at the time I was selected to be one of the 8 delegates for the UN Commission on the Status of Women and would be attending the NCWIT Ceremony in Southern Virginia, so with both of these two things going on, I said I would most probably not be able to. Due to some last minute problems, I decided to forgo the UN Commission and later emailed them that I would be available since I was afraid that if I said i wasn't available, they wouldn't consider me. I still remember my conversation with the other American (the one who I met through LinkedIn that also got into the second round) and how freaked out I was that I wouldn't get in. We both were anxiously awaiting to see if we would get interview emails and messaged each other constantly if the other received an email.
Interviews (Third Round?): Then finally, on March 7th, I got an interview requesting for a Skype email. He, unfortunately, did not receive anything. I reassured him that he would get something (I hoped). Meanwhile, I was looking at the interview times. I had to convert the time zones to American time zones and all of the options for doing an interview were during school (I already did a Skype interview during school for another international program, and that was....an interesting experience but it taught me to never interview during a school day, which is why I was hesitant to do it during school). The only other option was at 3 am in the morning (my time zone). I didn't mind the time, I was just worried I would sleep through it. During the time, I had many finals and I didn't get to prepare the prior days of the interview date that much. On the day of the interview, I stayed up to do some more work. I took a quick nap at 12 am (at least I tried to. I was too nervous of sleeping through the interview time). Then I woke up at 1 am, got dressed in business casual and reviewed my proposal and some other information related to Urban Planning (I didn't know what they would ask me, so better safe than sorry!). It was around 2ish, so I set up Skype on my computer and waited. It was around 3ish, and I was wondering why they weren't calling me. I looked up the time in Finland and realized the interview was actually at 4 am (it was daylight savings in America, and that just messed everything up). I also received a Skype message from them saying they had technical difficulties and that we would be doing a regular Skype call instead of a video call. At that point, I regretted getting up so early to get dressed and to put on makeup so they wouldn't see my eye bags brought by sleep deprivation. However, I still was glad that I was at least prepared! So at 4 am (American time) , they called me and a woman with a lovely accent asked me a couple of questions about my proposal, about the camp, and a few questions about myself. I was expecting a hugely long interview, where they would interrogate me. The interview lasted 5 minutes....and that was because I kept asking them to repeat questions since I couldn't understand them clearly through the Skype call. I was convinced I did terribly because it was the shortest interview I ever did, and if an interview is short, it usually means it didn't go well. I complained to my LinkedIn friend about it, while we both waited for him to receive some notification. He still hadn't :(
At that point, I was convinced I wouldn't get in and he was convinced he wouldn't get in. You see, only 6 out of 20 people from each group (6 * 10 = 60 finalists) would be chosen. It was competitive.
We both waited for March 17th - the day of the results. I remember getting up very early - around 5 am - to see if they were posted. They hadn't so I checked the Facebook page and it said the results would be coming out shortly. From my experience, usually finalists or winners of programs, awards, and internships are told they got in before the results are published, so I wasn't feeling to great about my chances but a small part of me had a feeling I might get in. Then half an hour later, I went onto their website and hit the refresh button a couple of times before it said that the results list was published. Seeing as I hadn't gotten an email from them yet, I clicked the link on the website with very low hopes. I scrolled down anxiously to the Urban Planning Finalists ....and my name was on there! I was numb for a few minutes. In all honesty, the true excitement didn't kick in till a few weeks after. I looked at the ICT groups finalists and hoped and prayed that I would see my friend's name. His name was not on there. I was scared to tell him about the results. So I ignored it. Everyone who applied got an official email saying to check the results list on the website. He immediately messaged me, congratulating me. I expressed my regret and sorrow of him not getting in. We talked about how much fun it would be to both get into the program. He was definitely smarter than me - he was a university student (a year older than me) at one of the best schools in America as an Engineering major. So although I was happy to get in, I was also sad. We didn't keep in touch much after the results were published, but then he regained contact and now we are still good friends.
If his rejection taught me anything, its that extremely smart people apply for this program and unfortunately do not get in. Getting a rejection from this program doesn't say anything about your potential. Applying for the program itself is already impressive. More than 1400 people applied for this program, and only 60 could get in. So if you don't get in the first time you applied, don't think that you weren't good enough. Everything happens for a reason. My friend is still successful (and was recently elected to his school's government association as president) and he didn't get in. Just because you were rejected, doesn't mean that you won't get in another time. You can apply more than once, if you fit the eligibility criteria! I definitely encourage you to do so! And for people who think they won't get into this program (like me), apply! Apply not only because there could be a chance you could get in, but also so you can meet other intelligent, awesome people who also are applying for the program.
This whole process was an adventure in itself. I made a very good friend, I learned more about Urban Planning, and I learned more about writing scientific proposals! If you have any other questions about the application process, check out the official program site or make a comment on the blog!
-Akila Prayaga
Program website:
My LinkedIn (If you want to message me questions):
PS. Sorry this was so long.
