I didn't even know what "research" entailed in high school. In fact, it wasn't until college that I learned that research was done in all academic disciplines, not just the STEM fields. Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see high school students doing research and reporting it on their college applications.
But is it necessary? With whom do you do it? When? Do you need to be "published"? Where do you report it?
Here is what you need to know:
Research is absolutely not necessary to get into college, even for an elite college with a shockingly low acceptance rate. However, it can be done and it can provide key evidence to support a major choice. For example, a student applying as a neuroscience major (one of the most competitive majors offered!) could conduct neuroscience research in high school as a way to show hands-on experience in the field. Just as much, though, a philosophy major could conduct research in this field as a high school student. Research can be done in every single academic discipline. In fact, doing research in the humanities as a high school student is much more unusual and can make a student stand out even more.
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If a student wants to do research, they should be careful about how they do it and with whom. There are a number of for-profit organizations that offer research opportunities with PhDs and professors for a fee. This is not something you want to spend money on. In fact, elite colleges will look down on a student who chooses to do research this way.
Instead, you should consider other ways to do research. I recommend cold-emailing professors in a highly personalized way. You might have to send out 50 to 100 emails midway through the school year to get one professor to say "yes" for a summer research assistantship.
The other option is to do your own research. Use faculty at your high school as both mentors and conduits in using school resources like labs and other materials. Doing your own research project shows tremendous discipline and ingenuity. Try to home in on the academic discipline. For example, doing research on poetry is too vast. Even British poets would be overwhelming. However, doing research on Elizabeth Barrett Browning's "Sonnet XLII: My Future" allows the student to tackle a manageable research topic while also showing specialization in an academic field—which is highly desirable in higher education.
A less common way to do research would be to do an independent study during the school year. However, you will need to get a faculty member to work with you and approval from your high school to make this happen. Getting an independent study approved takes time, planning, and support from the high school.
There is no rush to do research in high school. I find that high school juniors and rising seniors are better suited to do research as they tend to have clearer academic interests by the time they reach the second half of their high school career. While it is impressive to do research during the school year, most students don't have time to do this until the summer. The summer before senior year is a great time to do research as it nips at the heels of the admissions process and makes your research highly impressionable and timely.
But a lot of students focus on the end goal: getting published. Oof. I was 40 years old when I got my first op-ed published in a major news outlet and 46 when my book was published. Let's get real. There is no pressure to get your research published nor to be a part of a research team's article before you apply to college. It is the time investment, the work, the research, the writing, and the passion that matter in the admissions process.
Recently, I recommended to a highly disciplined student interested in anthropology to start their own ethnography studying a very specific area of the field after not getting a research assistantship with a professor. First, they asked me what an ethnography was. Fair question. Second, I told them to research it. Ha!
So, give your writing a cool and revealing title that clearly aligns with your major choice. Create a schedule and stick to it. Keep meticulous records in case a college asks for verification. You will be surprised at how much you gain from this—not only admission to colleges, but a newfound role as a "researcher."
The best place to list a research experience is on the activities list of an application. It will give you the most room to describe your research, role, time commitment, and personal connection to it. Don't over-exaggerate your role or the hours you have put into it. Just share authentically and it will shine brighter than you ever thought it could.
Some students want to share their research paper with colleges. Before you do that, consider this: The bar is extremely high when it comes to research at a college. What seems like an impressive research paper to a high school student may not meet the standards of certain colleges. You do not need to provide your paper with your application, and most colleges won't read it carefully enough. If you really want the college to see your work, consider submitting an abstract of your paper (which is usually a page and no more) at the most.
Research is a buzz word in college admissions. Every college has research opportunities. Every tenured professor is doing or has done research. But doing research as a high school student requires a deep connection to an academic field and plenty of time to explore it.
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Don't worry about getting published. Don't worry about doing research if you are not ready. There are plenty of other ways to spend your extracurricular time and build up evidence for your major choice. And, if you are like me, doing research was something I started in college, not high school. When you do something for the right reasons and at the right time, you gain much more than an offer of admission. You gain confidence in yourself.
