<p>Is it even possible to get into MIT without research experience? Until I joined this board, I never even knew a high school student could do stuff like that! I mean there's a kid on this board that built a freakin' nuclear reactor! I'm not a research scientist, I'm just a high school student!</p>
<p>No, research experience is not required. Admissions officers understand that many students do not have the opportunity to participate in research. For Caltech, however, not having done research makes admission difficult.</p>
<p>You do not need research to get into MIT, though I’d take it if you had the opportunity.</p>
<p>Seriously, if I had been on this board before applying, I wouldn’t have because I had nowhere near all the opportunities the people here seem to have. Fortunately, admissions knows this, and CC isn’t really representative.</p>
<p>This may seem pretty random - I decided to ask this question here because it seems that many who intend to apply or who have applied to top engineering schools were engaged in research during their high school years. I’ve searched in my area (near Seattle, WA) and there seem to be no openly advertised opportunities at local companies and universities. Any advice would be much appreciated : ))</p>
<p>Edit: Oh wow, I just noticed there was a thread highly similar to this one already on the message board…oh well, can’t delete this now ><</p>
<p>I didn’t know it was possible to do research in high school until I got to MIT and met people who had. </p>
<p>Incidentally, a fairly large percentage of people I knew at MIT, and now know at Harvard, who did research in high school are the children of scientists or are otherwise connected. I’m sure this fact doesn’t escape the admissions office.</p>
<p>EDIT: I merged/renamed the two threads on high school research. Hope that works for everybody.</p>
<p>Usually if there aren’t programs set up specifically for high school research internships at the universities/research institutions in your area, you should directly e-mail professors whose research interests you to ask if they are willing to let allow you to work with someone in their lab or group. This is how I went about getting the two summer research projects I did in high school (though the pre-established research program for high schoolers option was also open to me).</p>
<p>I imagine if you are willing to travel that you can look for pre-established programs held in other cities.</p>
<p>Just sticking my head in to join the chorus of MIT students/alums saying, “I didn’t even know you could do research in high school until I got to MIT/read college confidential.”</p>
<p>And for the record, I went to a fancy magnet school. There were definitely other students in my school who did things like that, of which I was (apparently) blissfully unaware.</p>
<p>There won’t be ‘openly advertised’ opportunities for high school students outside of school, considering that there is a larger supply of undergraduate interns willing to do the same task. </p>
<p>Think of an area in which you are interested, work on it (read prerequisites, relevant materials, papers - start from the oldest dated publication you can find, that way the entry angle is more acute) independently over summer, then search the research interests of faculty staff near you, and write a proposal to those who are relevant. You’ll be rejected by the majority of them, but if you really want to do research, there’s nothing stopping you. (There’s enough information out there to build a nuclear reactor without specialized training. Edit: Although one that is efficient and safe is a totally different issue.)</p>
<p>^ Though this is something you CAN (and to some extent, SHOULD) do, it is far from what you HAVE to do. It is unlikely a high schooler has the scientific background to formulate a sound research plan, and for a principal investigator to incorporate your ideas and allow you to develop them right from the get-go is even rarer. No, you’ll be judged solely on initiative – and your resume – and while submitting a proposal is a hell of a lot of initiative, not one of my 30+ high school friends who also participated in research went about procuring their research positions in this way. They either just e-mailed around or applied through specific research placement programs.</p>
<p>And speaking of the latter, this:</p>
<p>
Is untrue. There’s obviously a location dependence, but I know of 7 such well-reputed programs in my area (skewed toward biology, with one each for aeronautics and chemical engineering). Inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers, as it were.</p>
<p>
I do agree with this. I know a few individuals who have even pursued research completely independently, with only minor guidance from a teacher, and been successful with it.</p>
<p>^Thanks for reading my post, I really appreciate it - I get the idea that no one does considering how often I happen to ‘kill’ threads.</p>
<p>Anyway…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>From my experience, you won’t be judged solely on your initiative and resume. Quite the contrary, a high schooler’s resume doesn’t say much, and many professors don’t have the time to adopt every eager high school student out there for the sake of scientific advancement. I also know that a few have strange quirks, like, only accepting paper mail.</p>
<p>One could have plenty of initiative and email Microsoft’s human resource for a position to help rewrite IE’s algorithm for free, say, to speed up execution rates of javascripts, or access rates to DOM elements. It would benefit millions of users if your research is successful: it is nearly as noble as the famed cancer cure. Will I get through solely on the basis of my initiative? Unfortunately, no. (I’d love to try, really!)</p>
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<p>I think you have a point about location dependence. Because my experience is very different from yours - say… 8 out of 10 research projects that I can recall right off my mind started with a solid proposal. The team opposite me at a local science fair managed to hook in an astrophysicist from another country to act as their advisor by proposing a way of finding the age of celestial bodies. The one beside me - from my school - did an ecological research at the nearby beach. I don’t want to talk about my work, but I went through the suggested route twice - and published the results on both occasions. My ex-advisor won the ISEF without supervision, either. You may be a little skeptical, but I’m serious: this is not as difficult as you’d think, especially now that it’s easy to find mentor-candidates, given that their research interests/profiles are accessible online.</p>
<p>Note that what I’m implying is the existence of this solution - not the uniqueness of this solution. I have no qualms that it is more the exception than the rule that more research projects at high school level start off from “advertised opportunities” within school.
(Edit: I meant, “I have no qualms that proposing your own research plan is more the exception than the rule; that more research projects at high school level start off from “advertised opportunities” within school.”)</p>
<p>I should also rephrase and reiterate the point that I was trying to get across:</p>
<p>“There are few ‘openly advertised’ opportunities for high school students outside of school, considering that there is a larger supply of undergraduate interns willing to do the same task.”</p>
<p>Rather than investing all of one’s time on a search for avenues to earn credit for college admission, it is better to spend at least some time doing what’s sufficiently possible within one’s means.</p>
<p>It’s funny that most think there’s no harm trying to apply to a school with a 7% admission rate with the fruit of 4 years of labor, but falter at the thought of a summer’s worth of labor to propose a research project with, certainly, much higher ‘admission rates’.</p>
<p>I guess there’s no harm in me applying, but with no major awards and no research experience I still feel like a BIG longshot. 
Oh well, I guess a small chance is better than no chance.</p>
<p>@blee2011 - </p>
<p>The vast majority of MIT students had no research experience prior to college. </p>
<p>It’s nice, it’s great, I won’t knock it, but it’s by no means a necessary condition for admission.</p>
<p>I don’t think people feel like they have to do research to get in, since it’s so uncommon, but when people read CC and see plenty of people who have done it, they feel like they should. Like you said, it’s definitely not a disadvantage in the admissions process. All the overachievers on CC want to have done absolutely everything they can, so when they see something like high school research that they may have never actually seen in school, they make sure they don’t have any sort of missed opportunity. I can understand that.</p>
<p>I was looking around on CC and I noticed that quite a few acceptees to MIT, Princeton, etc. have participated in Intel and/or Siemens competitons. Is this normal? Is it a big disadvantage to NOT do them. They sound like fun, but I wouldn’t even know what topic to research, let alone make time to do it. </p>
<p>How many MIT applicants have participated in these? How many are accepted?</p>
<p>It’s not a disadvantage not to have participated in Intel or Siemens. It is certainly an advantage to have participated in these sorts of activities, and to have done well, and the top finishers in these contests are usually very competitive applicants to MIT. </p>
<p>Still, as Chris says above, the majority of MIT admits didn’t participate in research prior to arriving at MIT.</p>
<p>I’ve looked at some of the teachers at my local university (which is a large low key state average act 22 school where I would for sure be more competitive than the average college student) and have found some professors that I would really be interested in doing research with. Now how should I go about contacting them? There is one I REALLY want to do research with so I don’t really want to contact a bunch to start so I can’t really learn from trial and error, but I can from you guys!</p>
<p>If I would email him, what would I say? If he would think about it I’m sure he would agree, but that is what I need to make him do - think about it. Do you think I should attach a resume which has some really good stuff in? I am around the campus all the time also and it isn’t out of the way so an option definitely is going in at their office hours. What is better email or stopping in and dropping off and resume giving a pitch and then saying please think about it. I don’t want to overwhelm any of them, I really want them to think through the advantages of FREE LABOR!!! :)</p>
<p>Also my biggest dilemma is when to contact these people. I want to do research this summer so the issue is I don’t want to be to early and I don’t want to be too late and have the positions lined up. Also, it would be nice to wait till the end of march when I would officially be named valedictorian to possibly put on my resume but putting my rank would be the same thing I suppose. </p>
<p>What do you guys think? Thanks!</p>
<p>Carpe diem</p>
<p>
It’s definitely not too early to begin contacting professors for the summer – I know my lab is looking for summer students right now. </p>
<p>As for an email, keep it fairly simple – explain that you’re a high school student in the area who is interested in getting into research this summer, and that you found their research particularly interesting because x, y, z. You can attach a resume, but make sure to note in the email that you’re attaching one. Offer to meet to discuss the research and the possibility of a summer position. Don’t be surprised if you only get a few responses – professors are notoriously terrible about answering emails.</p>