My daughter did a 6 week summer program at a university involving research in a subject she enjoys and earning 6 credits. She was mentored by a graduate student and professor and wrote and paper and poster. The professor submitted this to an International conference and it was accepted to be presented there. Is this an award? Is this a boost in her application for top colleges? My husband and I are both business people and don’t have any experience in the scientific realm.
The answer is maybe. It’s great experience, especially if she is tending towards research, but the amount of the “boost” is dependent on a lot of things, including how competitive she is otherwise.
She is 4.0 UW student with a 32 on first try of ACT. She loves research and wants to pursue the field and do research.She is a junior now so we were just wondering how this will next year. She plans to attend and present at conference since it will be held within driving distance.
If your D’s name appears on the presentation, your D can put it under publication list or mention it on her summer activity list stating summer work has been accepted to a conference. It will be a good idea to ask her mentor (professor, not grad student) to write a letter of recommendation. How much boost is very hard to estimate and there are many students work in labs during summer, even during school year.
I don’t believe that this would be considered an “award” unless she has been given some kind of special recognition for that particular paper/poster or a merit-based travel grant to present the paper/poster herself. However, this is definitely something she should include as one of her important activities.
She should be sure to state answers to these questions when she describes this research and the paper/poster:
Is her name included as one of the authors of the paper/poster? If so, where does it appear in that list of names?
How important is this meeting for that field of study? (“international” doesn’t always mean that it is a “top” meeting)
Has the paper/poster been accepted for the main part of the meeting, or for a student section?
Will she be presenting it herself, or will someone else present it?
If she is presenting, did she receive a travel grant from the organization that sponsors the meeting?
Great experience, particularly to actually do the presentation, but I’m not sure it quite gets to the status of ‘a boost’. It’s an item on the app like many others. And, it’s not really an ‘award’ unless it gets “Best Young Presenter” or something like that.
If her name is on the paper/poster I certainly think she can put it under honors/awards. She can check with the mentor she worked with and ask what is appropriate. Agree with asking prof. to write a recommendation (would be an extra one, not an academic teacher) as well. Having a poster accepted into an international conference is significant and would be a positive in terms of her application (especially if that is an area she wants to pursue).
Agree with all previous comments. However, I don’t like the word “poster.” I feel like it cheapens what your D has done. The presentation, paper, lab work, working with professors and graduate students––that all sounds great and like an immersive experience. I would use a different word beside poster. Agree with getting a rec letter and you could even write about this for the Common App essay.
Accepted poster or presentation on a conference is not an award. It should be considered as a publication. Not many high school students have a chance to present their work in an international conference. So it will help but I think recommendation from the mentor will be more valuable.
Lots of scientific works are presented as a poster on the most of conferences. Oral presentation is regarded more valuable but I doubt high school students will have a chance to present their work as a oral presentation on international conference, I never saw it when I went to conferences. Poster is very standard on the field.
Thanks this is very helpful. Her name is listed second as an author after the graduate student that mentored her. As for the other questions we will have to wait for more information since she was just notified as presenter.
Yes, want to clarify there is nothing negative about “poster presentation” in this context. It is very, very standard. As an MD/PhD student I have a section on my CV dedicated to “research posters/presentations.” Each entry is denoted as either a “poster” or “oral presentation.”
Being selected for a poster presentation is not something I would consider an award but I would definitely make sure it appears somewhere on the application (at the very least mention it when you enter the research experience on an activities list). If her name is actually on the poster as one of the authors that’s even better.
I want to highlight happymomof1’s post since I think it is very good:
Looks like I wrote my previous post as you were writing yours. 2nd author on a poster as a high school student is great! Unless the graduate student is unable to attend, I’m sure the poster presentation will be their job primarily, but the beauty of a poster in this case vs. an oral presentation is that your daughter can also stand at the poster to talk about it/answer questions.
Your daughter should ask the graduate student for the full citation to list it on her apps somewhere. It should look something like this:
Smith J, Daughter D, Doe J, Professor T. Super Smart Sounding Title. Poster. Fancy International Conference. City, State (or Country if abroad). Starting Date-Ending Date, 2016.
If she has to mention the poster but doesn’t have the space to give the full title, then yes, she should say she is the 2nd author.
Perfect!! The graduate student has said to absolutely use it and my daughter will get to stand next to her and present along with her. From what we understand, the 3 day conference is highly regarded and well attended so the whole thing is very exciting.
That is terrific!
Indeed that does sound very exciting. Congratulations to your daughter and I hope she enjoys the experience. What year is she? I assume she wants to continue with some sort of research when she’s eventually in college? Tell her to pay attention to what schools everyone who talks/she meets is at. I wouldn’t use it for choosing schools if she isn’t a senior currently, but if she is applying this year, she can certainly mention it if she meets anyone from the schools she’s applying to and if she is interested, ask if their lab (or others in the department) regularly takes undergrads. Additionally if as a freshman she wants to look for research positions she can mention meeting/hearing them speak at this conference in an email to them. These conferences are as much about networking (at all levels) as they are about the science.
She is currently a junior and has begun to look at colleges particularly ones with strong undergraduate research opportunities. Actually right now Brown (is that your user name?) is #1 on her list after a visit but we have many more to go.
“Poster” is a term of art that should be recognized by anyone reading applications. Congratulations to your daughter. It is indeed a big deal to be co-presenting at an international conference. And it shows her commitment to research. I doubt that anyone would criticize her for listing it as an award.
Consider also checking out the College of Wooster. They have one of the best undergraduate mentored-research programs in the country.
Indeed Brown is my alma mater and she is correct that Brown has incredible UG research opportunities. There is no school in the country where it is easier to get involved in research as an undergraduate.
I’d echo one of the above comments about Wooster. As a current student I can confirm we have tons of mentored-research opportunities. In fact, each year US News recognizes colleges with incredible capstone projects and undergraduate research opportunities. Over the past 14 years, Wooster and Princeton are the only two schools to make these lists every year. Here you can get wonderful research opportunities, mentoring, a capstone project, AND a liberal arts education!