Please also check the application FAQs on the state Governor's School website as well as the FAQs on the Governor's School application.

• QUESTION: What are the dates of the program this summer?
• ANSWER: The Governor's School of Engineering and Technology will be held from June 29th - July 19th, 2008 on the Rutgers Busch Campus in Piscataway. Students will remain in residence throughout the program, including on July 4th (which will be treated as a normal instructional day). Parents will be permitted to visit on two of the Sunday afternoons, and will also be invited to students' research presentations as well as a Governor's School Symposium.

• QUESTION: Have I been selected as a {finalist, semifinalist}?
• ANSWER: Please note that this year's Governor's School admission process differs from those of years past. All students who received their high school's nomination and submitted completed applications are considered finalists. There is no such thing as a "semifinalist" this year, and our April decision letters reflect the only round of screening. All applicants will be notified by postal mail and email in April about their status. While your friends from previous years would have received letters from their county superintendent in January or February notifying them of their selection as a seminfinalist, we chose not to screen at the county level this year. As a result, students will not receive "semifinalist" letters. Beginning on January 26th, we will begin notifying students whose applications are missing current test scores or junior year grades via email. As always, choosing scholars this year will be very difficult; we have received well over 300 applications for the 2008 Governor's School of Engineering and Technology.

• QUESTION: What is the cost of the Governor's School of Engineering and Technology?
• ANSWER: There is no cost to students or their families. The entire cost of the experience (~$2,500 for tuition, room, and board for the 3 week program) is sponsored by donations from corporations, foundations, alumni, and individuals. At the start of the program, students present a $65 check as a key deposit, which is returned (uncashed) at the conclusion of the program when keys and swipe cards are returned.

• QUESTION: How will this year's three week program model differ from the four week model?
• ANSWER: While in the past we have run a four week program, we've decided to switch to a three week program for this summer due to limited financial resources. We are taking great pains to ensure that the amount and quality of instruction and research, as well as time set aside for social activities, remains nearly the same in our transition from a four week to a three week model. We will no longer take July 4th as a holiday, we will retool some of the finer points of our daily scheduling, and we will have students select elective classes and research groups prior to the start of the program. Furthermore, we will ask scholars to do some preliminary work for their classes and research project before they arrive for the summer. As a result, we expect that the experience for the students will be equivalent to past years.

• QUESTION: Will I be able to attend religious services during Governor's School?
• ANSWER: Yes. We arrange van trips on Sundays to local services, but can also make special arrangements (possibly with the assistance of the student's parents) for religious services.

• QUESTION: Are there class prerequisites for Governor's School?
• ANSWER: As long as you have taken honors math and science classes in high school, you'll be fine. Some of our elective classes may have further prerequisites, but everyone will be qualified for at least one class in each elective category.

• QUESTION: How much time do we have for sports/recreational activities?
• ANSWER: Not very much. We give a significant amount of work, but it's almost entirely groupwork and generally very interesting and fun. The problems we give require a lot of thinking and very little rote memorization, and our instructors actually require that you work with other students to do it. We try to make our classes as hands-on and interactive as possible. We realize that this is summer, and that you certainly don't want to waste the great weather by sitting in the back of a dark lecture hall listening to someone drone on for hours. While we won't feel bad giving you a lot to do, we would feel bad if your projects, classes, and assignments were boring. By the same token, we do enjoy getting everyone out of the classroom to play soccer/frisbee/volleyball/etc, but this is a supplementary activity and definitely won't be available every day.

• QUESTION: On the application, are the essays important?
• ANSWER: Yes, very. Since the vast majority of our applicants have very high test scores and outstanding grades, we spend a lot of time reading applicants' essays. Spend some quality time on them!

• QUESTION: On the front of the application, we are asked to choose "three engineering disciplines." What are engineering disciplines? Does this mean elective classes?
• ANSWER: Engineering disciplines can broadly be defined as areas of engineering. Biomedical Engineering is a discipline. Computer Engineering is an engineering discipline. Aerospace Engineering is an engineering discipline. Nuclear Engineering is an engineering discipline, although one which we will unfortunately not cover at Governor's School. Simply choose the three you find most interesting or most want to learn about. To further explore the range of possibilities, try googling "engineering disciplines" or investigating the Rutgers School of Engineering Departments. Seriously, don't lose any sleep over this choice.

• STATEMENT: I have questions about Governor's School.
• ANSWER: Call or email Blase, the Program Coordinator. 732-445-5053x16 or blaseur (.AT.) rci.rutgers.edu, replacing (.AT.) with the @ sign. He's very happy to talk to you about the program and answer any questions you have.