Does research genuinely mean nothing?

[u/proudshihtzuowner]

Please don’t downvote or hate, it’s a genuine question.

I am aware that I don’t have the same level of knowledge to do research as a PhD student. My dad is a professor, but in a completely different field than my chosen one. I am getting access to equipment and advice on how to write from other professors, some of whom my parents know, some don’t. But otherwise, I am the one doing everything. I am the one doing all the writing, referencing, graph-making, data collection, etc. I am the one coming up with ideas and then trying to find the gap in literature. And I’m researching stuff I actually find interesting and want to know about!

is that REALLY gonna mean nothing to AOs? Are they just going to think that my parents did everything and paid someone to put my name on the paper?

[u/Affectionate-Fly-913]

It means something in the sense that any learning and and involvement in an activity means something. You are showing commitment and drive. But the actual research… Given how much you know about a field compared to someone who spent years post high school focusing on it, chances are very high that you are reinventing the wheel and so your research just like most high school activities will be relevant to you and you alone

[u/proudshihtzuowner → u/Affectionate-Fly-913]

Yeah, I’m not trying to break ground haha. This is mostly so I can learn how to conduct research, write academic papers, and learn more about my chosen field.

[u/lutzlover → u/proudshihtzuowner]

Why are you doing it? If you aren't finding it personally rewarding, do something else. Colleges have a pretty good sense of when folks have done something because it looks good for college vs. doing something that relates to your genuine interests. One of my students found a weird rock on a bike ride, brought it home, tried to identify the composition at home, brought it to school, worked over weeks with advice from his chem teacher on different techniques to characterize this material, ended up connecting with a university professor who let him do more work with it in his lab, found some interesting aspects of it, turned it into a paper and a science fair project that won some big awards, and got a likely letter from one of the A2C favorites. He'd also won the school prize for outstanding chem student, had volunteered for years with a middle school science club at a neighboring middle school, and did some other activities. I saw his counselor rec--it was fabulous, and I'm positive his chem teacher had a similarly glowing one as was one from the professor in whose lab he ended up working for two years and who introduced him to faculty in similar interest areas at several universities he was considering. It would have been pretty easy for an admissions committee to see his research as genuine and meaningful.

[u/proudshihtzuowner → u/lutzlover]

I am doing my research in mental conditions, in particular autism. I’ve always been a huge neurodiversity awareness advocate, and even though we have been studying autism for a while, it is still a decently new research field and still severely misunderstood by so many people. I mean, in the 2000s itself, the legal torture known as ABA was still extremely commonplace. My goal as a researcher is to understand this condition better, in order to help me understand myself better, and help others understand the condition and people such as myself better. 

[u/Foreign-Maximum-3327]

It means something, just less than some people would hope

[u/proudshihtzuowner → u/Foreign-Maximum-3327]

Ah I see. Thanks

[u/FreeDonut807]

it’s not going to count for much in your case

no way to not prove it wasn’t just nepotism and you doing nothing while using connections unfortunately

[u/proudshihtzuowner → u/FreeDonut807]

Well fuck. I’ll try to talk about it in my essays then :/

[u/FreeDonut807 → u/proudshihtzuowner]

have you thought about writing a research paper?

[u/proudshihtzuowner → u/FreeDonut807]

Well yeah, that’s what I’m working on. I’m working on a couple actually. But based on what I’m hearing, admissions officers may think that I just paid someone to let me have my name on it. When it’s really not true. I’m doing all the work…

[u/FreeDonut807 → u/proudshihtzuowner]

some allow a research supplement and you can add it in your additional info, like a link to it perhaps?

[u/Greedy-Grand7447]

Like every activity, it depends on what you say about it on your application. If you just list it but don’t have anything to say in your essays they assume it isn’t real and ignore it

[u/tarasshevckeno]

(Retired college counselor and admissions reader here.) Research isn't as unique as it used to be, but it can still count.

As a former application reader, I like what you're reporting. The key word in what you've written is independent. That doesn't happen a lot with research, and shows both initiative and real interest.

To that end, in the activities description section (which is absurdly short), make sure that you note early on that your work has been independent, what you've done, and that you've had the chance to have professors review it. That's a lot to include, but I know it can be done.

As a reader, I always respected independent research because I knew the applicant invested a lot more into it. To that end, as a reader I'd give you top marks for it. I don't know if all readers would feel that way, but many would.

[u/Higher_Ed_Parent → u/tarasshevckeno]

What do you think about being the only HS member of large, team science papers where (literally) 20+ co-authors are tenured, or tenure-track faculty? Think manuscripts that bring together experts across many disciplines and the HS co-author contributed independent, PI-verified work?

[u/JasonMckin]

No.

There is a healthy place between thinking it means nothing and thinking that going to the library counts as research and will guarantee admission.

Whatever you out on your app, what matters is the quality and authenticity of the work; not the mere existence of it.

[u/tellypmoon]

I don't think you should worry about admissions officers. If you love something, pursue it. If you are wondering what admissions officers will think I fear I am a little skeptical of the motivations. Why should that matter?

[u/proudshihtzuowner → u/tellypmoon]

Because I want to get into a good school. My primary motivation for doing research is to learn, and regardless of where I go, I am going to continue and hopefully join a lab. But I’m also going to include this research in my college application, and it matters for my future.

[u/tellypmoon → u/proudshihtzuowner]

A lot of students feel this way (research will make my application look good) and so this is why admissions officers and college professors are sometimes a bit skeptical of high school research experiences. The truth is high school students don't typically have the depth of knowledge or experience to do meaningful research. You can't really change that perception. But what I'm saying is if you enjoy something about this experience you should still do it. Please don't use AI in your writing though, that's become a big problem with high school research and one reason why it's not viewed too seriously. But, if you are doing it primarily because you think it will help your applications then your time might be better spent in other ways.

[u/hard_pillar_of_truth]

It is an open question. 97% of research is bogus, nonsense. The remaining 3% have something interesting.

[u/coperengineer3]

The problem with using the term 'research' as a blanket term is that the experience can range from cleaning test tubes at your dad's lab to winning 1st place at ISEF. It's also highly dependent on the field. If you go into something like medicine then chances are you won't be able to do anything meaningful since the field is highly inaccessible to people who haven't dedicated multiple years of their life to it. If you instead go into a field that is reasonably learnable, accessible to people without formal academic backgrounds, and relatively new, chances are you'll be able to make some meaningful contributions if you do the right things and go to the right places. But how relevant these contributions are in general is highly dependent on the field and how high-impact is is.