<p>Wouldn't this look wierd to colleges? Somebody I know has done this:</p>
<p>Summer after 9th grade: Kidney research with Dr. A
Summer after 10th grade: Cancer research with Dr. B
11th grade - 12th grade: Psychology research with Dr. C</p>
<p>Weird as in how did a person get that experience?</p>
<p>Or weird in why they didn’t do the same research every year?</p>
<p>Wierd as in why didn’t they do the same topic each year.</p>
<p>No, that’s not weird at all. Most people in 9th grade haven’t picked out a particular area that they want to do, and kidney, cancer, and pscyhology are all life sciences. It appears to me that the person is interested in life sciences.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s “weird”, it’s lucky, this student has such opportunity. Do tell your secret. Most kids in 9th and even 10th grade aren’t thinking ahead like that.</p>
<p>Family connections is my guess.</p>
<p>s/he probably has a very proactive parent with good connections at research university ;)</p>
<p>I do know that the person’s parent is very competitve, and yes, proactive about college. I think she has some decent connections as well. But doesn’t it look disconnected? Like the person keeps on giving up?</p>
<p>No. It would look weird if the person was a PhD student and kept changing her research topic.</p>
<p>In 9-12 grade you are expected to try out a whole bunch of things.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses!</p>
<p>BUMP</p>
<p>School districts here have programs set up with the local hosptials to match interested students with opprotunities such as the ones described in the first post. Seems like win-win to me.</p>
<p>“But doesn’t it look disconnected? Like the person keeps on giving up?”</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t. No one would expect a high school or even a college student to keep researching the same topic. Those years are a great time for students to explore a variety of interests. </p>
<p>The student in question is already ahead of the game by having had so many opportunities to do research. As did others, I’m guessing the student had so many opportunities due to family connections, possibly having the good luck of having parents who were university professors who were able to help the student connect with family friends who were doing research.</p>
<p>Nope…doesn’t look weird to me either. However I’d question the depth of the research at the high school level. Still, it’s a great opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a research laboratory. D got hooked up through her high school, sophomore year with a local bio-pharmaceutical co. and did some hands on research that resulted in science fair projects. She and her partner were very closely monitored and mentored through out the 2 1/2 years she was there…I’m certain for liability purposes, if for no other reason. But she learned a lot about the laboratory process and the depth of research necessary to move a drug through development, human trials, FDA approval and marketing…and in this case, two recalls. For her it was a fabulous experience that served her well during her ensuing undergrad and grad school training.</p>
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<p>The degree to which this forum accepts unquestionably such blatant exaggerations/lies is absolutely mind boggling.</p>
<p>I assure you, this is an actual situation. This person, as I mentioned previously, has very involved and connected parents. Please do not accuse people of lying simply because their situation is unique or different from what you are used to.</p>
<p>I know another person who had done research, due to fabulous connections, from the summer after 8th grade to 12th grade.</p>
<p>I agree toblin! (post 14) It’s totally unrealistic that a typical student would have these types of opportunities. This is an example of such blatant use of connections and money and no doubt all for “show” and to get into an ivy!! It’s what most kids can only dream about (as they flip burgers at McDonald’s or crate another box out of inventory at CVS.) It’s a very sad message to think that colleges are looking (expecting?) kids to have this type of experience as they apply to college.</p>
<p>Remember that we don’t know what the person does as part of “cancer research”. We assume it is working in a laboratory using microscopes, creating cultures, staining slides, etc. </p>
<p>But in reality, it could mean all sorts of things. A lot of cancer research is paperwork intensive so it could be as simple or rudimentary as filling out forms and filing paperwork. It may not have anything to do with laboratory work at all.</p>
<p>I don’t think colleges necessarily weight it more heavily than other experience. If they did, nobody from some rural states (Alaska, North Dakota) would get into Ivy league schools and only those from cities would get in. I think colleges look to see what experiences the individual student has had and what they have taken advantage of.</p>
<p>To get back to the original question, I think it’s fine to explore in high school, as others here have said. My daughter did an environmental science project for the county science fair in 10th grade, a physics project for the fair in 11th grade, and a computer science project in 12th grade. She explained it on her MIT application in one or two sentences, saying she switched topics because she wanted to learn more about these different fields. She’s now a junior physics major at MIT, so clearly – it was seen as a plus.</p>
<p>BUMP 10 char</p>
<p>“It’s totally unrealistic that a typical student would have these types of opportunities. This is an example of such blatant use of connections and money and no doubt all for “show” and to get into an ivy!! It’s what most kids can only dream about (as they flip burgers at McDonald’s or crate another box out of inventory at CVS.) It’s a very sad message to think that colleges are looking (expecting?) kids to have this type of experience as they apply to college.”</p>
<p>Quite a number of students begin their research experiences early in high school, and it’s not that uncommon… but I also think most tend to stay with the same general topic once their begin their actual research.</p>