<p>out of curiousity, how much weight would a published paper in a scientific journal bring to the admissions decisions to colleges such as UNC, JHU, or Maryland College Park?</p>
<p>It would mean alot. High school seniors don't usually have published papers by themselves, but sometimes the doctorate in charge of the work will list assistants on the paper. When this is done, it counts as a very strong EC.</p>