<p>But get bad grades in math and science? (e.g. under 700 on the SAT, take calculus senior year or not at all, get B's in science classes or 3's on the exams)</p>
<p>Personally I think research is way overrated by some colleges and a lot of projects can be done with little to no talent or understanding of the material. Of course there are high schoolers who do know a lot about their project, but in a lot of cases all you need to do is know how to program or be good at using pipettes. It really shouldn’t look as impressive as it does.</p>
<p>I’m thinking if your research is legit, you’ll kick some ass at Intel or something. Research qua research means very little without a bona fide.</p>
<p>those kids are probably outliers among the kids that do scientific research in hs. </p>
<p>they’re just another subset of our misguided youth. it’s really hard for me to imagine kids like that though… like do they not care about the research? or do they care deeply but just aren’t intelligent enough to do it well? whatever the case, I wouldn’t feel jealous or anything.</p>
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<p>I agree with this fully, often the highest achieving kids are products of summer programs like RSI, Simons, etc. (It should be noted that I am in fact the product of one of these sorts of programs.) Almost nobody designs their own project and simply follows directions from a mentor; while difficult, this is not really what one thinks of when one says research. With that said, I have heard that getting a pHD is surprisingly a very similar process so perhaps it is not so overrated after all. In any case I know some amazing kids who contributed immensely to their research and truly deserved the praise, while I also know some Intel and Siemens semifinalists that did not deserve their status since they did not do much of their own work. So it’s kind of a crapshoot for colleges to figure out who actually contributed to their own work or not so I think giving the benefit of the doubt and rewarding students for research is probably still a good way to go.</p>
<p>The situation you describe is kind of odd, almost a little extreme. Most people who do research in high school usually have a genuine interest in science, so they would perform well academically, skip math, take advanced science, high scores, etc. I guess what you’re hinting at here is how science research in hs is sometimes unfair because of the competitions that some people win without knowing much. </p>
<p>I have a passion for research (have put in 1300+ hrs over a few years), considering a career in science academia and am a good student, but am by no means always the standout in my science courses. In fact, I haven’t had great luck at the big competitions and stand by watching people who have done just as much or less work than I have fare better in competition. So, hs research is just like anything in life; unfair at times, rewarding for those who truly love it. It’s increasingly common on college apps, so I guess that either implies people are becoming more interested in science or are trying to make their resumes “stand out”.</p>
<p>What does research actually entail? Can I Google a topic and write a report about it and then what? I get published in some journal? IT’S THAT EASY?!</p>