<p>I want to enter the Siemens competition.</p>
<p>I have access to my high school lab everyday after school and can work with my chemistry teacher who received her undergraduate degree from Notre Dame in Biomedical Engineering.</p>
<p>However, I currently have the option to work with a professor at UCI for a week.
Do you think this will be beneficial or a waste of time, since it is only a week? I was thinking that it would be a good way to jump start my project?</p>
<p>Is a good research project doable to complete in a period of 3 months?</p>
<p>How the hell does a high school kid create a good research project??
I'm thinking of reading a lot about it, addressing an issue in the field of interest, and finding ways that I can actually address it. But seriously, how much good can a high school student do??</p>
<p>I feel like an idiot. :(</p>
<p>yeah im also wondering the same thing</p>
<p>Sigh. My Dad is basically saying its a waste of time, that I don’t know ****, that I procrastinate and sleep to much to do something like this, and that I should have started it two years ago.</p>
<p>IE I Suck and shouldn’t try because I won’t accomplish anything in just 3 months.</p>
<p>“But seriously, how much good can a high school student do??”
honestly: very little. science competitions are less a measure of scientific capability as it is the ability to manipulate your “research” and present yourself on a much higher level than you actually are.</p>
<p>^Exactly true…I mentored with a professor at Rutgers and she was very familiar with high school science competitions and such and rather disgusted with them b/c she knew that it was usually the mentor writing/thinking up most of the research and not the kid. She told me straight up that the two entire summers I’d spent there were not nearly enough time to put a good project together. Siemen’s and Intel are really multi-year commitments…you need to start pretty much at the beginning of HS. I ended up sticking with the research and learned a whole lot, but never actually wrote the research report. Whatever you decide to do, please at the very least don’t give up on exploring whichever avenue of science interests you. You can’t possibly regret it and at the very least, assuming you demonstrate a passion for your research, whoever mentors you can provide you with a glowing recommendation. (Oh and definitely do the one week at UCI, it sounds like an awesome experience).</p>
<p>Yeahh. I figured that the projects took a few years. And I was wondering how the hell high school students could actually accomplish the projects they did (the ones that won nationals) I was like **** I don’t even understand the TITLE of their project haha.</p>
<p>But yeah, I know like 1600 get submitted and only 300 get chosen. I’d like to learn something in these 3 months, and put something together to submit, even if I don’t place. I think the experience is more invaluable than anything. : ) Thank you guys for your support!!</p>
<p>Yea, research isn’t that hard. You should do it about whatever you find interesting. If you can look forward to doing your research every time you go to do it, almost or as much excitement as you get out of your regular hobbies and activities, then that is good and that is what will make you succeed. If you do a project you are interested in, then you will put a lot of quality effort into it, and if you do that, judges will see amazing work and passion, which is what will make you do well. Good luck on the project. I also agree with the UCI thing, unless you need more time, otherwise, do the school lab.</p>