Hello,
I’m interning at the National Institutes of Health this summer. It has been a remarkable experience and given me great exposure to the lab. I know that many colleges allow students to submit a research paper as a supplement. With the NIH internship, I was able to create a summer poster and write an accompanying research paper. The research paper is comprehensive in terms of my project–it addresses my central question, hypothesis, methods, etc. and it shows what answers I was able to find during my time here. My work isn’t really finished yet (and it’s not ready to go into an official research manuscript) and I’ll probably be returning next year to finish my work. That being said, I was wondering if I should submit the research paper I created for my time here as a supplementary material to colleges. I’m applying to various ivy leagues and schools like MIT.
What kind of research papers would these schools want to see? Are they looking for a research manuscript that a student has coauthored and that has already been accepted into journals? I feel like thats a lot to expect from a high schooler lol.
Might they be interested in the type of research paper I created–which documents what I did during my time here and what answers/findings I came up with during the eight weeks, but isn’t exactly finished or conclusive or part of an official research manuscript?
I only want to submit my research paper if it will strengthen my application, not if it won’t add anything and definitely not if it will make my application worse. My stats are already fairly decent and I’m hoping that an internship at the NIH, which I elaborate more on in my college essays, will show my passion for research. If the research paper won’t add value, please let me know. Thanks a lot for any help.