<p>Hello,</p>
<p>Just a small question. Is this normally practiced? Personally if say I want send a sample of my research to a Prof. in Columbia for them to take a look and perhaps write a short recommendation, would this be allowed? Generally in my country here, this is quite commonly practiced. Students can send samples to college professors to take a look for them and they'll recommend them to the board. Would you advice against this?</p>
<p>Cheers</p>
<p>No…</p>
<p>Why not though. I’ve heard that this was actually done before, that’s why I was wondering. Oh well.</p>
<p>if your work is objectively very good - i mean you should/will get a phd in said subject - then give it a shot. otherwise you might be wasting your time. second, it is always the manner in which you approach the professor. most profs that have never met you can’t really comment on your ability, best to get it from someone that knows you than some random person. </p>
<p>but in general, i think C02 is about right. it is not something i would advise the avg. applicant. folks think something as small as this would change their decision when it probably would not. good recs from people who know you matter more.</p>
<p>even if u do send it i’d be shocked if a professor at columbia took the time to write a rec for some high school kid they’ve never met and know nothing about. if your research is so great then you should be able to get it published or recognized some other way.</p>
<p>Like what admissionsgeek said, if your research is obviously something noteworthy (and an independent project), then perhaps you should send it in and you might be able to get some professor at Columbia to recommend to the admissions committee that they admit you.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if it was not an independent project, it would probably make more sense for someone who oversaw your research to write a letter of recommendation for you about your research. (If it was noteworthy and you made a significant contribution, just not independently, perhaps have the supervisor contact one of Columbia’s professors about your contribution to see if they are interested.)</p>
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<p>To answer your main question about whether this is “normally practiced,” to the best of my knowledge, it’s not. In most cases, a professor wouldn’t really care about applicants and would not be very likely to be willing to review a student’s research and stuff only through digital contact - unless the research was something noteworthy (which you’ll have to determine; in my opinion, noteworthy could be either something groundbreaking, or simply something independent that it wouldn’t be expected that a high school, or even college student, would have done).</p>
<p>One definite place to mention your research (no matter whether it is “noteworthy” or not) would be in an essay (perhaps even a supplemental essay). That’s usually the more common way in the US (plus getting someone who knows about you/the research to write you a letter of rec.). On the other hand, if you do decide to go through with contacting a professor at a college, I recommend that (1) you try to do the contact in person and (2) that you simply ask him or her to recommend you to the admissions committee. Concerning (2), like Shraf said, it’s unlikely and unrealistic for a college professor to write a recommendation for someone they haven’t really worked with/known. On the other hand, a college professor could tell the admissions committee at their school that a kid has done some truly exceptional work and such and that they support your admittance to the school (easier to write than a letter of rec.), which would serve to confirm your own talk about your research/any rec. letters on the research, and give added strength to your application.</p>
<p>Success!!! Wohoooo!!! Thanks so much guys! :)</p>
<p>^How was it a success? </p>
<p>I’m wondering about this for college students. A friend of mine told me that Columbia contacted him because they’re interested in the work/research he’s been doing. And they’re considering him for their masters program. Is this possible? o.O</p>
<p>Ahhh yes that’s for college undergraduates going on to graduate school. I, my friend, am merely a high school student. I had to contact the department myself to send my research by the way. If anyone is interested you can PM me and I can give you some more details.</p>