Today we had a seminar in school where our counselors talked about the importance of research in high school. Basically, they said that by doing some form of it, either under a local college or in an internship, you dramatically increase your chances of admittance to a top college (the top 20). They then gave us some information on how to get into a research program.
The way she talked about research experience made it sound like it is something so wonderful on an application, it almost guarantees acceptance.
Is she exaggerating the benefit of research or is it really that influential in the college admissions process?
Meaningful research can assist. Nowadays, it’s so commonplace that counselors are holding seminars to arm th kids aiming for top 20 colleges. You’re right to be skeptical about that kinda stuff.
The colleges can sniff this just like they sniff out the resume padding “founders” that have cropped up like dandelions.
Do you WANT to do research? Then scour the journals and see what’s being done in the nearby labs in your area. Then pitch yourself to the lead researchers.
Sounds right. With college apps being as competitive as ever, it’s no surprise that even research opportunities are common place among the more elite applicants.
Ha, so many kids do science research in our high school, but it does NOT a guarantee a path into Top 20 colleges. Having said that, I love the science research program at our school. It has so many unexpected benefits apart from learning through research.
It teaches you great research skills that will serve you well throughout life.
It teaches you how to manage your time.
It teaches you how to approach strangers and ask them to help you. One of the very hardest aspects of science research is getting a mentor. A student must approach people and ask questions and ask for guidance.
Oh boy, does it improve vocabulary!
You might actually discover something. Or nothing. Both are important.
You will learn how to read really boring scholarly papers.
You will get plenty of opportunities to enter competitions and have your work evaluated. Outside opinions are really useful in research. And if you win, what a great thing to add to your college app.
If you stick it out for three years, you will have amazing friendships with like-minded students.
It teaches you public speaking.
There are more benefits and I actually think it should be a mandatory program. My D was never able to get a mentor sadly, but the year she did it was very beneficial. Go for it, you won’t regret it. Just do not expect it to be a path to a Top 20 school.
I completely agree with @Lindagaf. Research can be a life-changing experience for a high school student. Especially if student takes the research and enters a science fair with it. You don’t have to win a science fair to put it on your college app - usually they are set up so that the top 30 percent of projects receive a medal. Will it boost college applications? Probably a bit. But the greatest benefits for science kids are the increase in vocab, public speaking skills, confidence around smart adults, etc - everything that @Lindagaf mentioned. I would strongly recommend finding the time to incorporate research into a student’s schedule - even if it is just a month over a summer. Plus, many research projects in software, robotics and embedded systems are performed right in the students homes, no mentor or lab needed!
The thing is, what sort of research can you actually do as a HS student? I know when I was in HS I certainly did not know enough about any subject to do meaningful research. Even at the lab I work at, its taken a semester and 2 years of biology and chemistry to even begin an actual project
My daughter goes to a inquiry-driven, project-based high school. It is in partnership with the Franklin Institute (FI) in Philadelphia with research one of it’s core principles. All Freshman go to a program at the FI and then for soph and junior year they have an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) and then Senior year they have a capstone project. The FI program prepares them for research and the school has many partners and contacts so many students have an research-based ILP generally in an area the student has interest. Finally the capstone project is like a mini-Senior Thesis to top students. My daughter was fortunate enough to be accepted into a program where she’ll do research on a topic she chooses related to Urban issues with a mentor from a local university. She’ll then be traveling to a conference on Urban Education in Puerto Rico in the Fall to present her work.
It’s a fairly new school - just 10 years old. It’s gotten a lot of attention in the last few years with educators from all over visiting and seeing how well it works.