How smart do you have to be to join Intel?

College Confidential Community
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<p>i read a testimonial by a fourth place winner from many years ago and she admitted that she wasn't "that smart" (at least compared to the other finalists) but was only very dedicated to her project. she said that she was surprised she even became a finalist yet she ended up placing 4th, which is amazing. do you think she's just being humble or can you actually NOT be brilliant but still do well in intel competitions?</p>

<p>i ask because i'm not a perfect scorer on the SAT or anything (97th percentile) but i'm interested enough in a science problem to actually develop an experiment and test it. actually, i'm more of a humanities person than a science person but doing a behavioral science project (about an urban problem, for example) could really do much to expand my history research thus far.</p>

<p>next, how are intel students able to be extremely specific in their research? did they start their projects already knowing that they want to research a specific cell or something, or did they become familiar with technical language through internships or advanced programs they've attended before?</p>

<p>finally, can a student submit a project and do well WITHOUT outside help? as in no teacher help, no training, no internships?</p>

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<p>1) most Intel FINALISTS are incredibly smart. Almost all of them have 1600's and have been accepted to a HYPMS. ANYONE can join, but keep in mind that their evaluation also includes looking at your stats.</p>

<p>2) most Intel students have a very specific project plan in the beginning.</p>

<p>3) it would be incredibly hard, but not impossible.</p>

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<p>thanks kinetic, but unless they applied ED, aren't finalists notified of their status BEFORE they get accepted to whatever college they applied to...thus giving time to notify colleges that they made it to finals?</p>

<p>also, wouldn't joining intel be, in and of itself, impressive (of course, not as impressive as actually winning but impressive nonetheless), because it takes a lot of passion and drive (and talent) to actually put together an ambitious project?</p>