Some of the most common projects that I’ve seen have been focused on applied CS/Machine Learning. We had one student, who just got into Caltech, who did a paper comparing different machine learning algorithms and their ability to detect cell nuclei from images. This is a pretty classic type of research paper that a student could do - it requires knowledge of the algorithms, but it doesn’t require that a student propose a novel algorithm (which would be much harder).
I think this experience could be worthwhile! In general, 1-1 guided research projects can be a great way for students to showcase their unique interests. One thing I would say about this is that this is a group program, so 3-8 students, which is going to ultimately result in a less distinct/truly the student’s project. But, if a student likes that opportunity to work with other students, then it could be valuable!
How do colleges view a students independent research that is NOT mentored by a univ professor and is not (yet) published either.
Basically a student has a lot of passion for using ML algorithms to analyze health data; approached many local college professors to mentor her - but no one agreed. Student started working on it with a bit of help from parents/family-friends. Collected data from an independent online authentic source. Now narrowed down the topic to a specific quetion - but still no ‘non-family’ mentor - wondering how univ view this. Student spent a lot of time on it - does not having an independent expert to give a recommendation will not help her much in admissions?
How is independent research on a topic (just reading journals, watching documentaries, and generally increasing one’s knowledge of the topic rather than specifically designing and carrying out a research project) viewed by AOs?