Independent Research vs. Simons Summer Program

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>so last year and this year I've been working at a govt run lab doing research with a mentor. Most of my work involves helping test a drug with the potential to halt/reverse brain damage. We do our testing on mice, and I've become proficient in many advanced lab techniques. I feel like the work we (as a lab) are doing is truly ground-breaking. I did a lot of work on it, along w/ two college students (who'd been working on it longer than me) and I think they'll be publishing it sometime over the summer. My question is, although I won't be able to enter this into intel/whatever (since it wasn't solely my project), how does it look compared to, say, doing a simpler project at Simons and possibly getting semifinalist status? Thanks.</p>

2

<p>PS just to be clear, I didn’t apply or get into simons, I’m just curious how the two stack up.</p>

<p>Also, I may be getting some form of credit on the papers they are publishing (It’ll be at least two papers).</p>

3

<p>Well, since you’ve been working with a mentor for a couple of years, I would say if you continue with that, it would look really impressive. No need to start over with Simons.</p>

4

<p>Well, couldn’t you do both? As in do Simons for the summer, and after coming back, work w/ your mentor again?</p>

5

<p>Or do a small spin-off experiment and use that to apply for Simons and Intel.</p>