<p>Would colleges be impressed if I'm first author on a published scientific paper? I just submitted to The Journal of Physical Chemistry and if I'm lucky it'll be published around the deadline for applications.</p>
<p>How would it seem relative to, say, a siemens semifinalist?</p>
<p>Journal paper should provide you some where between 5 to 10 extra points for your AI depending upon the college and the journal's reputation.
Priceton should provide the maximum points for a theoretical science paper.</p>
<p>What's AI? Is 5 to 10 points a lot?</p>
<p>AI is AcademicIndex. 5 to 10 % is a lot.
The maximum special hooks are 15% of the AI. It can clearly give you a lot of advantage. But the actual % point do depend on the quality of the research and Journal.</p>
<p>Well as someone who does research and who has learned the ins and outs of publishing papers, I have to say that a first author publication in a peer-reviewed journal is AMAZING. If you get published you are accomplishing something that most undergraduate researchers pray for in their 4 years. A publication can not only open the doors to undergrad admission but also help you get into a good lab and even help you in grad school admissions. In my opinion getting published is a billion times better than Siemens which has basically become a battle of the labs where they basically marginalize science by saying one person's research is "better" than another's. But then again I think you would fare well in the competition with a publication because it would be proof that you actually did the work and its good for scholarships (even though I find the whole concept demeaning). </p>
<p>Now I'm assuming you're in a lab? Because sometimes while they will accept your publication it might not be the next issue of the journal, so if the journal does accept your publication and its getting close to deadlines I would consider having your PI write you a letter of recommendation detailing your work and mentioning the publication. </p>
<p>To be a high school junior and submit an actual paper is very impressive, you must be a hard working student and I think even if they don't accept your paper you will fare well in college admissions.</p>