Question about finding research opportunities

(This was originally posted in the Rice forum but someone suggested I might get better help here)

This might be a silly question, but when people say they do reasesrch, what exactly are they doing and how? My daughter is one of the very top engineering academy students at her school and number 1 in her class overall, will most likely be a National Merit Finalist (has the score with wiggle room and meets all the qualifications to move from NMSF to NMF) next year, partcpates in Technology Student Association and has qualified for Nationals every year but hasn’t placed there. She has not heard of any research opportunities nor does she know of any classmates doing any. She is an elite swimmer and the time commitment of her training, 9 practices a week averaging 2.5 hours each plus meets and travel meets, means she forfeits some opportunities like robotics team and summer programs at universities. So, I’m not sure how research fits in but first I need to understand what kids are doing, who they are doing it for/through, and how they got the opportunity.

Rice is far and away her number one choice. On our visit she had a realization that she had been so hyper focused on getting her swim times where they needed to be to get recruited that she hadn’t paid enough attention to the fact that students with high stats like hers were still rejected in large numbers! She worries her swimming commitment might keep her from the extras that make or break an application

I haven’t heard of a single college - Rice included - that requires an applicant to do research to be admitted. For schools like Rice, it’s more about the entire picture of what the student spent time on, what drives her, how well she conveys who she is and how she’ll contribute and fit at college.

It wouldn’t necessarily be impressive to just find some research, any research so she can check a box. If there’s something she’s interested in finding or doing and she can research that, then great. In our area, there aren’t many opportunities for minors to be involved in research, but my son did some fairly complicated projects on his own. One of the projects resulted in him getting a fantastic job and the project(s), recommendation from his employer and description of what he did were part of his application and I think were a major reason he was accepted to a tippy top school.

The swimming is great but risky. If she does get the qualifying times and can be recruited, that’s a fantastic in. But I know of at least two local seniors here who had been counting on making their times in meets this last fall - and then the meets were canceled by the hurricane and a series of other things. So they’d spent all that time on swimming but then didn’t have the times they needed to be recruited, nor were their applications particularly strong since they’d spent all their time swimming. Horrible for them. You’re smart to consider how she can have other interests and appealing things on her app in case the sport doesn’t pan out for whatever reason.

I loved Rice - that was my favorite of all the tours we went on. Wasn’t a fit for my son, but I would have happily gone there. Good luck.

At many HS in the northeast, research is actually a class–a 3 year class with formal reviews and gates along the way. It is on the student to find the mentor, get up to speed in the field, perform the research, write the papers, create the posters, and compete in organized competitions with other students who are also performing research projects. The teacher from the school is more like a coach/manager who checks in on an employee (“So, what progress have you made this week?”) than a traditional classroom teacher lecturing to a group of students. The project competitions are overwhelmingly dominated by premeds doing something in the life sciences, which means that physics and engineering projects stand out. My D did physics research through an organized program fitting this description and supported by her HS. It turned out to be a fabulous experience for her. But, looking back on it now, if the school had not provided the modest structure that they did, it would not have been feasible for her to have done it all on her own.

Ok, well that is interesting. What we have for Engineering Academy students is Senior Capstones, though they allow a few juniors to apply and my daughter is a junior in the program so she will have two years in her capstone. It’s not so much research as design. I wonder if this “counts” for anything.

A lot depends on packaging and presentation in the app itself. I also think there has to be some element of recognition of the achievement or it may not count for much more than signalling an interest in engineering. Best advice i can give is to like your likelys as the level of competition among the tippy-tops is easily underestimated.

Suppose Rice does not happen; have several good alternatives in your plan.