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Hey, I am going to be a sophmore in High School this September and I had a question. I always wanted to get into an IVY, I have decent stats as of yet. My sister says that if I can do some research during my high school years, it will look impressive on my application. My question was, What kind of research can a high school student do? Is it individual based or in a group? Is research during High School done at home or in seminars? Can anyone help me? I'd appreciate if anyone could.

Thanks

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 04:39 pm: Edit

To initiate research, just pick a topic you're really interested in and hit the libraries and other institutions that can help you research it (historical societies if you're researching history, laboratories if you're researching science, contact college professors, etcetera). Take down notes and then to put everything you learned together, write a research paper (10-15 pages or however long you choose) or even a book if you can handle it (if you're gonna research for more than a year) as a final product. It's as simple as that! You can start researching today or tomorrow if you want! Don't forget to keep track of your sources! Many people seem to forget that until the end.

Also, it's really your choice to be in a group or not. I personally prefer to work by myself so I get all the credit. Sometimes, partners just leave you to do all the work (that happened to me so I learned my lesson).

Now if you want to enter a competition, be sure to comply with their own requirements. I know a few:

For HISTORY
-The Concord Review (http://www.tcr.org)

-National History Day (http://www.nationalhistoryday.org)

For SCIENCE
-Intel International Science and Engineering Fair [for grades 9-12] (http://www.sciserv.org/isef)

-Intel Science Talent Search [only open to 12th graders] (http://www.intel.com/education/sts/)

BEST OF LUCK!

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Thursday, July 31, 2003 - 04:42 pm: Edit

I forgot to mention that I've been involved with National History Day for the past 4 years and I absolutely love it! I'm a rising sophomore like you, and I plan to continue History Day until senior year.

Send me an AIM...my screenname's GianScolere.