I’ve been doing CS related research for a theoretical physics professor at my state flagship uni for a while now. No one in my area ever does research, however (we just aren’t competitive like the Bay Area—sports are the big thing)—I’ll admit I would have never gotten into it if it weren’t for fora like these.
I don’t have a clear direction with my research and I won’t be publishing a paper, because theoretical physics papers are incredibly hard to publish. I’ve basically just been doing analyses on algorithms, putting my own spins on these algorithms, implementing them from scratch, running simulations on the uni supercomputers, and learning a lot of things in the process (have spent a lot of time studying random number generators, operating linux, etc.) I don’t know how other students my age do research—how do people present their research to college?
Should I basically just make a formal document that outlines my research? I know Yale has a research supplement, and Yale will be my top choice school. I’m not sure other schools have such a place to put in research. Should I just report that I did research on the activities section and be done with?
Well, it’s an activity, so I would probably rank it pretty highly in your activities on the Common app, then I’d put additional info about the research in the Add Info section. If a school allows an additional supplement, submit a briefing. In the case of Yale, you can also put a sentence in Additonal Info mentioning that you have done “CS Research, theoretical physics. See attached supplement.”
Look up how to present a research briefing. I think brief is the key word, no more than a page I think. They aren’t going to spend a lot of time looking at it, but the info about what you did should be concise and easy to understand.
Talk to your professor about what sort of output would make sense for you to create…and if there is any place (conference, science fair, competition, ??) to display/submit it? Also talk to your CS or Physics teachers and ask the same questions.
It’s not about publishing or winning something. It’s about the experience, being in the milieu, and being the sort of kid who went after this. That’s your plus.
I can’t tell if you did “learning” sorts of things for a generous prof or are actually contirbuting to his/her own research or projects. Totally agree to put it in Activities, as Lindagaf suggests, then something in Addl Info. It does not need to be an abstract- and an effective summary may be less than half a page, even a good, tight paragraph will do it.
Imo, your wording in paragraph two is a fine start. But you’ll want to add a few words to describe a bit more- eg, analysis on algorithms for what or for what purpose? Running simulations of what? Just a bit to make it clearer. Give it a little color, let the reader see the context, not just the tasks.
@lookingforward He basically gave me a question to solve that he doesn’t know the answer to himself, but has a good sense of how one would approach it to solve the problem—I’ve been working on it with him for quite a while now.
I really am not looking at publishing or winning something. It’s also hard to find any sort of competitions in my area.
Explain just how you explain it here as stated a tight paragraph will do. Sounds like a great opportunity and yes, this professor would be a great reference and might be able to explain more.
And see if the GC or a teacher LoR will mention this and that it’s rare in your school.
We’re all saying this research is valid and important to include on your app.
this is amazing achievement congrats. the reality is it doesnt matter how you frame it as long as it comes out in your app the quality of work you did.
