<p><a href="http://www.glcomm.com/dupont/%5B/url%5D">http://www.glcomm.com/dupont/</a></p>
<p>I am definitely going to write an essay for this competition. But one problem arises - perhaps the hardest of all - where do I exactly start? I need to find a topic. But what is the best way to find a highly specific topic? Do I read an issue of Scientific American, find an interesting topic discussed there, and research it? Or do I skim through the pages of a college-level textbook and suddenly come across an idea?</p>
<p>Looking from the contest winners for both 2005 and 2004, (I saved 2004's to disk last year) I can see that some of the topics are highly specific, whereas othrs aren't so specific. 2003's Senior Division winner was on superstring theory as a whole - not especially specific. Is it a good idea to research a topic that's as specific as a Scientific American article?</p>
<p>I'm thinking about doing an essay on a topic on astronomy. Perhaps quasars. Hmm..</p>
<p>Finally, are multiple entries generally unallowed in these competitions?</p>
<p>Is there a more appropriate forum for this thread? There's high school life and pre-college issues, but I'd like the feedback of more technically oriented people - who would be more interested in this type of competition. Besides, one reason why I'm doing this competition is that it'll certainly help me into Caltech.</p>