Many applicants to the most selective university programs share high grades, high test scores, solid recommendations and generous doses of community service and volunteer activities. Yet, if they want to set themselves apart from the pool of exceptional students, a significant research experience in STEM or the social sciences helps.
Universities want applicants with developed research skills. If your research makes its way to specific faculty, they might solicit admissions on your behalf. Harvard encourages applicants to submit research in the upload section of its ‘applicant portal.’ Northwestern and Columbia applications allow uploads of research abstracts. The system is primed to review high school research.
High schools offering International Baccalaureate programs already offer the Extended Essay to showcase research capabilities, and the College Board has an AP Capstone Diploma program combining AP Seminar and AP Research https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/ap-capstone-diploma-program. Yet, many schools have taken high school research well beyond such programs.
Among the top 100 public high schools in the country, most integrate research into their curricula. Thomas Jefferson high school in Alexandria, VA requires all students participate in an engineering or experimental research project. The Bergen County Academies (BCA) at https://bca-admissions.bergen.org/research.html, cooperates with professional labs using the latest scientific equipment. Cutting edge research is being conducted across cellular biology, nanotechnology/chemistry, stem cells, agriscience, optics-photonics and mathematics.
In cellular biology during 2019-2020, BAC produced 2 Regeneron finalists (among the top 40 entrants) and 8 semi-finalists (among the top 300 entrants). Regeneron is the US high school equivalent of the Nobel Prize—that correlation might be a little strong, but not really. Another cellular biology student graduated as a Davidson fellow, while other colleagues were selected to present their research at the national level to the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium and American Association for the Advancement of Science.
So, how to join in the fun? Start reading widely in a field of interest. One quick way to find a reading list is by going to the pertinent department at Oxford University. All candidates must be interviewed, and to prepare for the interview the department posts a reading list (e.g. biochemistry https://www.bioch.ox.ac.uk/recommended-reading-list). The best way to gain a solid sense of the subject is to begin with clearly written introductory books; note the areas that grab your attention and delve deeper. The more you learn, the more interesting your hypotheses will become.
Some budding researchers might require more structure to get the process moving. The Concord Review, whose Emerson award for publication in history is highly coveted, puts on a week-long summer session for gaining familiarity with key databases such as JSTOR or Gale, formulating questions, finding and using primary and secondary sources, taking notes and analyzing evidence, formulating a provisional narrative and testing it with more research, marshaling evidence to support one's position or narrative, puzzling together a narrative structure for one's essay, documenting evidence with University of Chicago-style source citations and writing and rewriting.
Then there are services that will match you with a PhD, post-doctorate or associate professor. Lumiere (https://www.lumiere-education.com/) has worked with over 230 students. A mentor and researcher meet nine times over a 12-week period to hammer out a 20-page paper with end notes and bibliography. Polygence (https://www.polygence.org/program) offers 10 sessions to meet with a mentor, tracking progress and setting a timeline early in the process. Pioneer Academics (https://pioneeracademics.com/academics/#aethics) also couples professors with high achieving high school researchers
Research, of course, is not for everyone, especially at the high school level. Research usually requires 10-12 hours a week to make meaningful headway, a decent thesis, and a reasonable amount of flexibility to not get sidetracked by difficulties. Yet, if you get the fire in the belly and an insatiable curiosity, then have at it. Possibly you’ll become a Concord Review author or a Regeneron finalist. There’s only one way to find out.