TO all past ISEF participants..plz give me some advice

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>Hey guys,</p>

<p>I'm been dead-set on doing a science fair this year (senior year) but for the past few months I've haven't had any time(college apps etc)thus, I STILL HAVE NOT STARTED. Is it way too late for me start a good one? Can you all give me some ideas on how you determined your project, how you found a mentor, etc etc? I have a mentor from my local college however, I'm afraid that although she is teaching in a related area...she won't be exactly a expert on the general direction I'm interested in thus I'm still mostly on my own...
Do you guys think a professor from another college that is an expert would be willing to provide me with advice? I'm kind of wary because I feel like they'll probably ignore an email from a stranger.</p>

<p>Thank You</p>

2

<p>Are you a senior? If so its a little later to start a project for ISEF.</p>

<p>Professors are OK with random emails. It sometimes works better to email them a question about their prior research or a research paper of theirs you have read to show that you are serious and interested and worth their time.</p>

3

<p>Too late already??? T_T I contacted our district’s science fair coordinator and she told me that the middle school kids are just starting too(the science fair for our school district rarely has any high school participants…)</p>

<p>But I’ll definitely take your advice for writing to professors about their research papers…and then asking them for their help(?).Thanks!</p>

4

<p>When is the competition you are trying to enter? </p>

<p>I see you already have a mentor, but don’t think she is ideal. Frankly, a project can take 2 - 3 months to do all the experiments, write the paper, etc . . so maybe you should start something with her RIGHT NOW.</p>

5

<p>Yeah… But should I change my project idea to something in her field because for my original idea-I don’t really know where I’d be able to borrow those equip st’d be kind of infeasible???</p>

6

<p>Our school judging is on the last week of February, so I have about 2.5 months.</p>

7

<p>Oh its a school competition -do you have a mentor yet? I still think that for an ISEF competition, you should start already.</p>

8

<p>Yeah, I already have a mentor. To be selected ISEF I only need to advance on to the district competition and be like one of the two people selected. I don’t anticipate to win anything…I just want to go to because I heard it was awesome lol. I did science fair my 8th grade year… got perfect score+awards at school, district and State level …but they only sent high school participants so I’ve been wanting to go to ISEF ever since.</p>