<p>Almost all top-notch universities talk of research paper.Does an Indian stand at a disadvantage if s/he doesn't have one paper??Considering the fact that research is a part of curriculum at us schools,it is quite reasonable to assume that every student out there might b having at least one paper.</p>
<p>@mitbound;</p>
<p>“it is quite reasonable to assume that every student out there might b having at least one paper.”</p>
<p>Hardly. First of all, research is not necessarily a part of the curriculum in all schools (since in the US education is governed by state governments and not the federal government, there’s no such thing as the ‘us curriculum’ per say). Anyhow, research is not that common even among American high schoolers; not everyone has access to research facilities…generally the type of kids who’ve done research are either really motivated and took the effort to gain access to facilities OR they’re kids of professors, so they used university facilities. </p>
<p>Point is, research isn’t as common as you seem to think, and it’s CERTAINLY not expected. Plus, you’re judged in comparison with the Indian pool, not the global pool. They’re not going to punish you for not having the facilities; they just want to see you make the most of the opportunities you DO have.</p>
<p>While research is a plus, not having done it will not keep you out of any university.</p>
<p>Look here dude: Research doesn’t come so easily as you think it may. It is part of very little curriculums in u.s… There used to be a mandate that seniors had to complete a project before they graduated, but that has been removed some years back. Also, I’m pretty sure that colleges would not have looked fondly at someone trying to do research…just to fulfill a requirement. So you see…it’s not about “oh he’s doing this…so should I” gist. Lean towards research when you are given the opportunity and if you really want to. It is common knowledge that Indian unis don’t get ranked high in the world because they have low research activities. Now…do you think that while they have little research for their own grads…they will have enough work left for ppl who have barely passed high school? Again, you are judged by your circumstances. Care about research if you are about to go to grad school…because that’s where they expect you to do the papers. Any type of PUBLISHED paper is worth listing. They are advantageous since many indian students will lack these (but by no means will be penalized). I would like to add to contradict’s reason of why high schoolers here get internships: their parents have connections and/or they’re rich asians (lol).</p>
<p>@goluhaque; I assumed liveulife was talking to the OP :/</p>
<p>Anyhow, if you really spent a lot of time on your research, and it was a big part of your academic experience in high school AND your research is actually significant, talk about it your app in the academic section.</p>
<p>But I doubt that a project paper can be submitted as research…</p>
<p>@goluhaque: When I didn’t refer to any of the commenters, just assume that I was talking straight to the OP lol.
@contradict: It would depend on the type of project paper…but one that was assigned for a class is def not something to consider research. Heck, I’ve done multiple research papers for history and english…but that is not what you term as published research.
There is a competition here (epidimeology related) that enables students to do research on their computer and just use common statistics and math to figure out a certain problem. That can be labeled as research paper if you like. But when I think of published paper, I usually think of professor mentorships. Otherwise, if you don’t have a professor, grab a biology/chem/phys teacher for science mentor and do what you want. If this is the case, you should submit this research for patent to protect your find or submit it in for a science competition. This is what I call published.</p>
<p>@liveulife: agreed. research paper to me implies either a prize winning entry in a national level competition or something published in a journal…I think that’s what colleges expect too :/</p>