<p>odd perfect numbers don’t exist (i read that once i think). how do you write a paper about something that doesn’t exist 0.o?</p>
<p>Odd perfect numbers??? Wait…
@enfield: He could’ve have discussed the possiblity that there might be an existence of an odd perfect number. And say for examples: The New World Order and UFOs. People generally believe they don’t exist yet there is some theories or rumors circulating around these so called “non-existenes”. And I pretty sure I mispell a word so excuse my spelling.</p>
<p>My paper, on public policy (nuclear reactor regulation), is for my government class, but it’s for the most part a science paper.</p>
<p>I…can count on one hand the number of research papers i’ve written.</p>
<ol>
<li>The huge freshman ‘I-Search’ project, which was like 6-8 pages at the end of the year. I’m pretty sure mine was a huge clustermess about the effects of social networking on teens. They prefaced it with a huge, “you’re going to have to do this all the time in high school, so get used to it!”</li>
<li>A brief paper on nuclear medicine which was…a 3 page paper. It didn’t even have to be in paper form and I got a 100 on it like what.</li>
<li>My NHD paper, which didn’t even have to be a paper, which was shorter than the god-awful I-Search. Much more enjoyable to research, too.</li>
</ol>
<p>I don’t really get the emphasis on research papers, then. But I did lol at the thought that people who can’t write 75+ page papers can’t cut it at anything but a state flagship.</p>
<p>As an engineering major, you will be spared many worthy college classes that would enhance your ability to write, research and reason abstractly which – while not a great thing in my view – obviously will be good news to you. However, I can say without any equivocation that in today’s world being able to write well is an absolute prerequisite to real success. Whether you are a scientist, engineer or in another numbers/science orientated profession, you must communicate with your peers, clients, employers, supporters, and if you get good, you may even want to publish – engineers make important breakthroughs all the time, but if you can’t communicate in writing someone else will be cashing in on your ideas. I simply could not enforce enough the importance of being able to write well. And really, its a matter of practice. You dont have to be James Joyce but you need to get to the point where you can write fluidly and coherently without sweating blood everytime you try. And the only way to get there is practice. So write that research paper.</p>
<p>@Pickwick: very nice speech you got there. However you failed to prove the point of research papers. I can write pretty well to be honest but I feel like this research paper is tame because we get to pick our own topics approved by the teacher and it only 10 pages double spaced (in retrospect that is really at least 6 pages). I don’t have much of a choice cause it gonna be worth 80%of a grading period grade sigh. I cannot afford to fail.</p>
<p>Sent from my LG-VM696 using CC</p>
<p>High School is no doubt full of badly conceived assignments so I won’t agree or disagree with you as to yours; I wouldn’t know about your particular assignment. But research papers as a genre cannot be rejected out of hand. The concept of a research paper is presenting facts or points of view, typically in support of an argument. That form of writing (albeit in many different modified forms) is something that comes in handy in life.</p>
<p>I’m lucky–my gov’t teacher has you write a 20 page paper only if you don’t take the AP test. Other teachers in both AP gov’t and regular gov’t have you write a 10 page paper in the semester(s) that you take government. And regular Econ classes have to do a huge research project that is avoided by taking AP.</p>
<p>*As for Electrical Engineering in college and thanks to AP tests the only classes I think I’ll have to write much / do research for is Sophomore English and an upper level GE class.
Masters thesis / Project? Ha. I can opt out of that with an Engineering comprehensive exam if I want to :)</p>