Where would you put state, national, and international winners of Odyssey of the Mind competition.
For #9 - Published in a relatively prestigious journal
For a journal from American Chemical Society (ACS), would it be considered a prestigious journal? Can someone shed some light on this, please?
The problem with published research now vs when it was first added to this list several years ago is the rise of pay-to-publish opportunities for high school students.
I can’t answer your question about ACS — and I see it has 60+ journals, so you might want to be specific about which one in the event someone reading can address it. But at this point, I am guessing that AOs are somewhat skeptical about most research/articles published by high school students.
Admissions officers are generalists, so they won’t be able to necessarily judge the veracity of the work. Instead, they want to have a confidence that whatever journal has a rigorous review process, that the reviews are respected/unbiased, the process is selective, was there a respected mentor in involved with the student’s work, etc. If they get a whiff that the student paid for the research opportunity or the publication, the value will be far less than a #9.
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Guessing isn’t very helpful. Many of the paid research opportunities are legit, some operate at prestigious universities.
Do you have a source for this statement (the paid research piece)?
I know at least one exception: Caltech. According to Caltech, an entire application of every admit is reviewed and endorsed by at least one of its faculty members in a field in (or close to) the area the applicant, implicitly or explicitly, expressed interest.
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Even outside of CalTech, if an admission officer thinks that a piece of research sounds highly noteworthy, they may send it off to a faculty member for their review.
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There are many, many warnings out there about paying for both research and publishing opportunities.
Here is one on publishing:
Here is an excerpt:
“ While being published in a reputable academic journal is a great accomplishment, it is not the norm for high school students. It is unusual even for undergraduates to have research published. College admissions officers know this, and being published is not a requirement or even the norm for admission into selective undergraduate institutions. Furthermore, reputable journals go through a long process of peer review which means that it may take 1.5 to 2 years for an article to be published. This means that by the time a student has been published in a journal, it will likely be after college admissions are already complete.
Despite what predatory publishers may try to convince high school students, it is better not to be published at all than to be published in a disreputable journal. At best, predatory publishing is the academic equivalent of a vanity press––just like anyone can self-publish a collection of stories on Amazon, anyone can pay to have articles published in a predatory journal. At worst, students may do damage to their reputation by associating with a fraudulent organization. It is important to approach publishing with caution and make an informed decision.”
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The bottom line is that these opportunities have become a business. Companies have been built around creating research opportunities and publishing opportunities for high school students.
It’s similar in many respects to pay-to-play summer programs at colleges. Many families think that paying $$$ to an elite university will give their kids an edge in admissions. The opposite is often true. There a couple of exceptions that are included in this list above, but for the most part paying $6,000 to go to an Ivy in the summer only proves you are privileged enough to do so. It doesn’t demonstrate creativity, independent thinking, etc. The experiences may have some value to the student, as she sees if she enjoys that field, but it’s not going to have value to an admissions officer. It’s not going to set a student apart.
In the same way, paying to have an organized research activity might be a useful experience to a student in figuring out if she enjoys research, but it’s not nearly as valuable or interesting to admissions as an experience or relationship that happens more organically, whether done independently or through finding someone doing research in the field of interest.
A lot of this is common sense, though. If you can pay for the opportunity, why would it be considered to be prestigious? If you have to pay for someone to let you do it, why would a college find that to be a differentiator? I am not saying there is no value at all, but that kind of experience isn’t a #9 on this list!
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What does the fact that they operate at prestigious universities have to do with it? Again, it’s like the summer program example. You can pay $5,000 and more to study during the summer at any T20 university. It might be a fun and interesting experience for your student. But that doesn’t mean it will be helpful at all in the admissions process, which is the point of this thread and this list.
While getting published in a peer-reviewed journal while in high school is not the norm, it does happen. My child was published just that way, as have several of his friends (through the same nationally recognized STEM program).
You are certainly right that it can take 12-18 months to get published, which means that the research must have been completed by end of sophomore year or so in order to matter in time for college admissions.
For those that do innovative research after sophomore year, they can get noticed in other ways. A recommendation letter from a recognized expert in the field certainly carries weight, as does winning a national science contest.
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My original post wasn’t intended to say that getting published in a reputable journal or doing valuable research in high school can’t happen. I am certain that there are kids doing incredible work at early ages, and getting recognized for it. My daughter is fortunate enough to be part of a scholarship cohort that includes a Regeneron winner. The work that young person had completed by the time she was 17 far exceeded what people twice her age have done.
My intention was to point out that research and publishing opportunities for high school students have become big business. These pay-to-play experiences generally will not carry the significance for admissions parents may expect from being #9 on this list, which is “almost a ticket to a prestigious college.”
I do not know much about the importance of research but I think this link is interesting:
Nearly one-third of [UPenn’s Class of 2026] admitted students engaged in academic research during their time in high school, many earning national and international accolades for research that is already pushing the boundaries of academic discovery. Admitted students worked alongside leading faculty and researchers in their fields of interest, co-authored publications included in leading journals, and displayed their ingenuity in making connections across complex and varied disciplines. Our faculty and fellow students across Penn’s schools and research centers are ready to welcome this latest generation of dynamic scholars who will continue to create new knowledge to benefit the world.
Could just be me but 1/3 seems more than expected if research is so abnormal… and this is for UPenn, start factoring out athletes, legacy students that didn’t do research, etc. and that number could even be close to 1/2 for the “rest” of the spots. Obviously there could be correlation here for sure
Wow. One third is far more than I would have expected.
The link also states:
We are proud to report that they collectively represent the most diverse group of admitted students in Penn’s history in terms of racial and ethnic background, socioeconomic diversity (including those who are eligible for Pell grants), and those who are the first generation in their family to attend a four-year college or university. This group also includes the highest proportion of students from Philadelphia that we’ve admitted in any year.
Even setting aside the play-to-pay type of research programs mentioned above, I just don’t think that many low and moderate income students are likely able to conduct original research. I suspect that most high schoolers who are conducting research are coming from full pay or close to full pay families. Between the lack of mentoring at most high schools, lack of awareness of the free opportunities that do exist, and the need to have afterschool and summer jobs, I just don’t think universities could or should expect their typical applicant to have a heavy research background --at least not those interested in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. I can imagine that there are somewhat more opportunities in STEM to kids from all socioeconomic backgrounds, but even for STEM, I bet wealthier students are more likely to have done original research.
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At least one correlation is that about 54% of Penn students are full pay (2021-22 cds), and affluent students are more likely to engage in research activities, whether paid or unpaid, in high school.
IMO, by Penn communicating in their admissions blog that 1/3 of the admits had some type of a HS research experience means that Penn values that experience.
https://ira.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/UPenn-Common-Data-Set-2021-22-Rev-07.2022.pdf
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I agree with all of what Pioneer wrote about publishing, adding that Pioneer Research is one of the legit paid research services that I was talking about. They cost $6k+
My read is that nearly 1/3 (?27-30%) did some type of research, “many”(which does not imply a majority) earned nat’l recognition, etc etc. So, they value those with some type of research experience, and they like to highlight some of the amazing students, which is different than only admitting kids who have been published in prestigious journals or won top awards. More than half the more academically-competitve seniors interested in STEM have done some type of research at my kids’ HS; it seems fairly common these days.
Since we’re talking about Penn, hopefully what is discussed in the following article is not as common as being a published high school researcher.
The irony (and my own hypocrisy in using it 
) didn’t escape me!
I have published through ACS and its relatively well known in the professional world
Despite what others have said, it is pretty difficult to get published with ACS- as most students and projects are from grad students or professionals
Be proud…It is a great accomplishment !! Probably a 7-9 depending on the work and how many people worked on the project, definitely a 9 if you were the principle author. If you just worked on it then maybe a 7 or 7.5
I don’t think that anyone commented on ACS specifically, only high school publishing generally.