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How to Write About Research in Your College Application

So, you’re a standout student who’s done a research project under the mentorship of an accomplished faculty member, in a field you’re incredibly passionate about. Now what? How do you translate all of this into a stellar college application? In this guide, we’ll go through the different ways to write about research while applying to college.

If you are unsure of how you should approach research in high school in the first place, then check out our guide here .

Does research look good on my college application?

Yes, yes, and yes! If you have a passion in a particular area, doing research in that field is a fantastic way to explore your interests, set the building blocks for a future career, and stand out on college applications. The college selection process becomes more and more competitive each year. Doing a research internship or program shows that you are someone with interests, an initiative to pursue those interests, ambition, and an eagerness to learn. You also show that you’ve been able to work in a professional environment early on, along with other expert researchers. One of the most important pros though is that doing research offers ample opportunities to write about an important experience in your college applications.

Should I include my research experience in my college application?

The first thing you should do in the college application process is to identify your story. Who is the “you” you want to convey to colleges? And where does research fit into that? College applications are about proof. If you claim that you are passionate about marine biology and want to be a marine biologist, then the fact that you did research under a marine biology professor is great evidence of this passion. This is something you’d really want to focus on in building your marine biology story. The first and most important avenue in doing this is through writing about it.

Of course, you want to weigh the importance of your research yourself. You might use all or some of the following avenues to mention your research, depending on what you want your holistic application to look like. How much did research shape you as a person? Do you have a lot to talk about regarding your research experience? If the answer is no, you might not write your common app essay about your experience but highlight it in your activities list and add your report as supplemental material. If you have a lot of other, more significant experiences that demonstrate your interest in art history, then you might focus on those, rather than your research in the field. If your research was a core part of your high school journey, then the common app essay might be a great place for it. It’s up to you to decide, but decide carefully: wherever you showcase it, make sure your research experience has optimal function and added value in the place that it is.

When NOT to include your research experience

Don’t try to force research in where it doesn’t fit. In your interview for example, you want to bring up your research experiences naturally. You want it to fit easily into your story, not force it down your admissions officer’s throat! Talk about the genuine, special moments you experienced; that’s the best and most effective way to make it fit! If there were no genuine, special moments, if you don’t think your research really helped your growth—don’t make it into something it’s not.

If you do choose to include it (most will), here’s where you could include it -

The eight places to include research in your common app

Write about research in your personal statement essay

Almost all schools require a common app or personal statement essay and a couple of other supplemental essays. These essays are important: this is where you explain your story and your passions. You might therefore choose to have your research experience act as the topic for the common app. If you choose to do this, then you’ll really need to focus in on one story from your overall experience. This is not the time to show off all your accomplishments in the lab: leave that to the awards list. This is the time to remember: what was a moment you felt challenged in the field and fought to overcome this challenge? Was there a moment where you realized that this was really what you wanted to do as a career? How was doing research a truly unique and changing experience for you, and can you tie this into what the rest of your application says about you? To be able to tell these stories effectively, you’ll want to keep track of what happened each day of your research program or internship. Write things down and reflect during the process, rather than trying to remember what you felt two summers ago.

That being said, you want to think about the best possible story to tell for your common app, the one that most represents you . If the best story you can tell doesn’t belong to your research experience, then don’t force yourself to write about your research projects. Instead, you might include it in another way. For example, Student A wants to write about how she realized she wanted to be a physicist. The focus of her essay is on her first-ever physics class and how she was blown away by the work of Marie Curie. In the end, she continues the story by mentioning the different ways she has pursued physics since, including her independent research projects in the field, showing the admissions committee that she is truly passionate about this path.

Include research in your supplemental essays

The same logic that followed your common app essay can be applied to the supplemental essays. If you don’t think your research internship should star in the common app, but it is still something you really want to talk about, then the supplemental essays are the place for it. These essays usually have given prompts; make sure you are able to talk about research in a passionate way while following the prompt. Again, it should still be about the important moments you experienced while working under your mentor or with your team. Again, don’t focus on the data, numbers, or achievements quite yet; leave that to your activities and awards list.

When schools ask the question “why us”, including your knowledge of researchers at the school can be a great way to showcase what you know. You can relate back to your own research and then talk about how this research would fit in one professor’s lab at the school.

List your research in your activities list

Your activities are typically going to be listed in order of importance. Your research should probably be in at least the top three: it’s definitely a unique experience to demonstrate your passion and shows you’ve taken that extra step that most students don’t take. You’ll want to describe your experience succinctly while including some standout details: what was the name of your professor? How many people worked on your team? How many people was your paper peer-reviewed by?

Put your publications in the awards section

There is also an awards and honors section in the common app. If you have any recognition related to your research (ex. first place at a research fair, best research paper, chosen to be published in a journal, etc.), this is the place to list them. You are allowed 100 characters to describe each honor—if the award isn’t incredibly well known or needs some context, you’ll want to add a small description. Who is the award given to? How selective was the process?

Showcase your research through supplemental material

Supplemental material is not required by any college, but it is where you provide information that you feel really adds to your college application. If your story centers around your passion in this field and you were able to complete a research paper, create a final presentation, or a final report, this is “proof” that would greatly add to your application and the picture of “who you are.”

However, it’s important to note that if you choose to submit a supplement like a research paper, it needs to be a good one. It’s one thing to say that you’ve done research and were good at it, it’s another thing to actually show this research and have admission officers read through it. You might make sure that your report or paper has been thoroughly proofread by your research advisor, as well as their colleagues.

Having your mentor write about your research through a letter of recommendation

A huge benefit to doing research is that you gain another potential letter of recommendation, this time from an expert in what you claim to be your field of interest. Many students have their mentors submit an additional letter of recommendation for them, attesting to their skills, passion, knowledge, and eagerness to learn. This is incredibly helpful if your mentor is a university faculty member, even more so if they are a faculty member at the university you’re applying to. They can speak on how great you fit into a university environment and how well you work with the advisors and students at that university.

To get a great recommendation, you need to develop a great relationship with your mentor. Make sure you have given your research experience your all and show everything you have to offer. Ask them questions, be curious, be inviting, and be yourself!

Add research experience in your resume

The common app offers optional space for you to include your resume. If you think it would be fitting, this is the perfect place to put your research internship. In the resume, you want to summarize your experience in just a few bullet points, capturing the most important parts: this will be similar to your activities list. You can think about having one or two quantitative and one or two qualitative bullets. For the quantitative: what data did you help find? What computer programs did you master? What was the size of the team you worked in and what did you guys accomplish? For the qualitative: what skills did you build? What parts of the project did you lead? Make sure to also include the dates, the institution or program, and your mentor’s name!

Talk about research in your college interview

Chances are that your college of choice is going to interview you to decide whether or not you’re a good fit. This is a great way to push the narrative that you’re interested in a particular field, and you’ve pursued research opportunities in this field. For example, if they ask you why you’re interested in the college, you might bring up how you worked under one of their professors during a summer internship. You might bring up that you stumbled upon one of their department’s research reports while you were doing your own research on the topic and found it incredibly fascinating! The interview is a great place to get more detailed and show how interested you really are.

Tips for including research in your college application

Ask your mentor to go over what you write

The research mentor you worked under has a lot of experience in writing about research. If you had a great experience working for them, then they’d be more than happy to look it over and check for accuracy, mention moments in the lab you forgot to talk about, or other data you could include. They know how to best frame research experiences on your resume, what statistics are most impressive, etc. If you didn’t have a research mentor while conducting your research, the mentors at Lumiere are always happy to help!

Keep a balance of quantitative and qualitative descriptions

The essays are a great place to get qualitative: what was the story? How did you feel? What was a moment where you learned? The resume and awards list is a great place to get quantitative. If your program was very prestigious, include the acceptance rate! If your paper was very highly reviewed, include the rating! In your application, you want both elements you can tell stories about and elements you can back up with numbers and evidence for your research to seem well-rounded. You want to show that it was a) a great learning experience and b) a legitimate, accomplished one.

Let’s address one final question: do you need to publish your research to talk about it in your application?

The answer is: certainly not. Very few high school students get their research published, although Lumiere does provide a guide on selective high school research publications . The point of research in high school is to gain skills, expertise, mentors, and stories you can talk about, while showing colleges what a motivated, passionate student you are. This means the most important thing is not publication, but the ability to showcase your research well in your application.

If you’re looking for a competitive mentored research program in subjects like data science, machine learning, political theory, biology, and chemistry, consider applying to Horizon’s Research Seminars and Labs ! 

This is a selective virtual research program that lets you engage in advanced research and develop a research paper on a subject of your choosing. Horizon has worked with 1000+ high school students so far and offers 600+ research specializations for you to choose from. 

You can find the application link here

Another option for getting research experience

There are many ways to get research experience. If you are passionate about research and want to do advanced research, you could also consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program , a selective online high school program for students that I founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 2100 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.

Amelia is a current junior at Harvard College studying art history with a minor in economics. She’s enthusiastic about music, movies, and writing, and is excited to help Lumiere’s students as much as she can!

The Power of Research Projects in College Admissions

Janos Perczel , former Harvard research fellow and co-founder of Polygence , discusses how research projects and working with mentors can help students stand out to universities, and the role IECs can play in this effort.

How research shaped my academic path

I was fortunate to have a physics teacher in high school, who took an early interest in mentoring and nurturing me as a researcher. We dove deep into the strange world of relativity and quantum mechanics and read original texts from Einstein and Heisenberg about space-time manifolds and Schrödinger’s cat. Under my mentor’s guidance, I wrote early research papers that allowed me to explore these topics in depth and hone my abilities as a researcher. These early experiences set me up for success as a researcher in college and led me to pursue research in quantum physics during my doctorate at MIT and while a research fellow at Harvard. 

Research is a critical product of higher education

The DNA, the radar, game theory and the Google search algorithm were all discovered at top research institutions, such asCambridge, MIT, Princeton and Stanford. Research at these top universities (so-called R1s) is a collaborative effort between professors, graduate students and undergraduates. This is why these schools look for students who are capable of doing high-quality independent academic work when evaluating prospective applicants. It is important to note that even at predominantly undergraduate institutions (PUIs) students engage in serious research, because such an open-ended activity cultivates creativity, persistence, and team spirit in students.

Research helps students stand out

According to the U.S. News and World Report , “High school students who have an impressive personal project they are working on independently often impress colleges, because their commitment to a successful solo endeavor conveys initiative, self-discipline and originality”. 

The reason for this is simple. High school grades are often terrible predictors of future success (Sir John Gurdon, Nobel Prize winner in Medicine ranked last out of 250 in his year group at biology). Similarly, test scores, AP exams and summer camps with a set curriculum give students little opportunity to showcase their academic creativity and intellectual rigor. This makes it difficult for colleges to identify the most promising students, especially if they have a non-traditional background. 

In contrast, a research project is by definition a unique and highly personal achievement that allows students to showcase their intellectual abilities at their best. This is why colleges encourage students to distinguish themselves through independent projects. For instance, MIT even has a creative portfolio section for all students to upload a significant research project as part of their application. Independent projects are gaining even more importance as college admissions are shifting away from standardized test scores (e.g. the University of California recently decided to phase out SAT/ACT scores completely).

How to find a research mentor

Few high school students ever get the chance to connect with a mentor at a deep level and get the attention and guidance needed to pursue an impactful research project. One potential remedy is to encourage students to reach out to researchers through their personal networks or via cold emails. However, often even the most experienced educational consultants are unsure how to help their students do this. While best practices vary depending on the field, general advice can be summarized as follows:

• Identify someone with the right expertise Surprisingly often students reach out to a researcher whose research area is only tangentially related to what the student wants to pursue. The more relevant the student’s proposed project to the researcher’s field, the less effort it will be to provide mentorship, making a positive response more likely.
• Show demonstrated interest Many students claim interest in advanced fields like AI, astrophysics or WWII history, but few students make the effort to explore these fields in depth despite the wealth of available resources online, such as edX, Khan Academy and even Wikipedia. Researchers do not have the bandwidth or interest to teach students the absolute basics and will likely only engage with students, who would genuinely benefit from guidance with advanced topics.
• Articulate what help is needed Researchers often have very busy schedules and fear taking on additional responsibilities that involve a lot of handholding. If a student clearly states what kind of help she wants to receive (e.g. identifying relevant papers to read, understanding a particularly challenging concept or getting feedback on a journal submission draft) the researcher can better estimate how much time commitment the mentorship will involve.

It is important to note that students can do a research project even without a mentor. It just takes resilience and focus to push through the inevitable tough patches without getting discouraged. Educational consultants can play a key role in ensuring that students stay motivated throughout the process. By definition a research question has not been answered before and a student cannot be sure whether they will succeed in finding the result they are looking for. Research is also a relatively slow process (the relevant time scale is months), which is often daunting to students who are used to quick feedback loops, such as getting an A in a test they sat last week. 

How to showcase a project

Students working on a project by themselves also need additional support and encouragement to find the right avenue to showcase their work. Educational consultants can assist students by making them aware of high school journals (e.g. the Journal of Youths in Science or the Concord Review ), science competitions (like the Regeneron ISEF Competition ) and other creative outlets (like Spotify ) for showcasing their work. Each journal, competition and publishing platform has its own formatting requirements for submissions and it is important that educational consultants instruct students to follow the submission guidelines closely to ensure successful publication.

A research academy for high schoolers: Polygence

Some students may find it helpful to find a research mentor through the online research academy, Polygence , which I co-founded with Jin Chow , a comparative literature scholar from Stanford University. Students at Polygence work with an academic mentor one-on-one for 3-6 months to develop an in-depth research project. Mentors guide them from idea to execution and presentation. Polygence students have done projects ranging from using AI to detect gender bias in the media and modelling the spread of infectious diseases , to studying privacy law violations by tech companies and exploring 20th century fashion history. Upon project completion, students publish papers in high school journals, create podcasts and present at leading scholarly conferences.

In Conclusion

Regardless of whether a student finds a research mentor through a cold email, personal connections, Polygence , or with the support of their education consultant, the key to success is for students to find joy in what they are doing and to keep going despite inevitable challenges. Thus educational consultants can set up their students for success by encouraging them to pursue a topic that they find genuinely interesting and by keeping them going through constant encouragement and feedback.

Janos recently joined the CollegePlannerPro team for a live webinar to discuss this topic at length. 

Watch the full recorded webinar below:  

How to write a rockstar blog post, the recipe for success for the independent educational consultant.

Research on Your College Applications: How Should You Frame It?

By GP LeBourdais

Fulbright Scholar, and the Head of Strategic Initiatives at Polygence

7 minute read

At the University of Pennsylvania, 1 of every 3 students admitted last year did a research project in high school. That’s a lot! So it’s not surprising that we get lots of questions here at Polygence about how students should frame research projects on their college applications. Where should I mention my research project? How do I describe it? Are colleges looking for research project experience?

At our recent Symposium of Rising Scholars, we got the inside scoop from Purvi Mody, CEO and Head of College Counseling at Insight Education. In our conversation, she explains why research is important and how to feature research projects on college applications. You can watch the presentation here , and we’ve summarized her main points below.

Do your own research through Polygence!

Polygence pairs you with an expert mentor in your area of passion. Together, you work to create a high quality research project that is uniquely your own.

What are the Benefits of Doing Research as a High School Student?

1. feed your curiosity.

In its most basic form, research is a process of asking questions about the world and searching for answers to them. In that sense, it’s a very natural thing! Embrace your curiosity by asking the questions that matter to you. Doing research will then empower you to find the answers.

2. Get Hands-on Experience

Reading about how to do research is great, but there’s nothing better than getting hands-on experience in designing your own experience, collecting and cleaning data, and forming conclusions based on your findings. Each lesson you learn now will contribute to your expertise as you apply to colleges, internships and jobs down the road.

3. Gain Practical Knowledge

Often the lessons we learn in the classroom can seem abstract or esoteric. You might find yourself asking questions like, “When am I actually going to use this trigonometry formula?,” or “How will this episode from American political history ever help me in real life?” While not every tool or fact from your school work or independent research will serve you in the time to come, some may actually become very useful. So it’s in your best interest to learn widely to prepare.

4. Explore college majors and careers

Do you think you know what you want to do with your whole life? In high school we are exposed to a limited range of possibilities, so independent research is a powerful way of learning about the world of options. Having a better sense of what subjects you actually like will help you save valuable time and money at college. Plus, this generation is likely to have 10 different jobs over the course of their careers, so the more experience you have, the more options will be open to you.

5. Connect with a Mentor

There are so many people supporting you throughout your life, from parents to teachers to coaches. Mentors, especially those who have traveled a road you want to follow, can be another great source of guidance and inspiration. Connecting with an expert in a field that interests you is an exceptional opportunity; make sure you ask questions not just about how to do things, but also about how they made the decisions that led them to where they are now.

6. Develop Life-long Skills

Doing research on historical photographs or structuring a clear methodology for your experiments might feel like very specific skills, but many aspects of them will be hugely helpful in other parts of your life, from organizing your personal life to managing a project at work.

7. Unlock a Life of Adventure!

As you follow your curiosities, you may find yourself going down unexpected paths. To speak from my own experience, my love of photography and the outdoors growing up in Maine brought me to high alpine passes in Switzerland on a Fulbright Grant, to the islands of Alaska teaching Stanford students, to a tall ship in the Arctic Circle for my dissertation research. You never know where your research will take you!

Your Project Your Schedule - Your Admissions Edge!

Register to get paired with one of our expert mentors and to get started on exploring your passions today! And give yourself the edge you need to move forward!

How Should You Feature Research Experience on Your Applications?

1. activities list.

Colleges love to see how you’re spending your time beyond formal clubs. Tip: make sure to explain why you chose the research you did, so admissions readers learn more about your personal motivations.

2. Additional Information

If there’s an opportunity to describe your research experience and why you love the topic here, do so! Publishing in a preprint archive like the Research Archive of Rising Scholars or in a peer-reviewed journal are also achievements to share in additional information or on your CV.

3. Personal Statement

A research project could play a small role in your personal statement or could be the main event. Many Polygence students, including those writing IB extended essays , use their research experience to tell a story about themselves: what their passion is, why they’re excited about it, how they approach questions, how they overcome obstacles, and the changes they want to bring about in the world. This is your chance to tell your story!

4. Supplemental College Essays

Many colleges now have unique supplemental essays with questions like “What do you want to study and why do you want to study it here?,” with prompts to explain what led you down this path. This can be a great place to note, “When I did research on this topic, it made me think of majoring in this topic. I know your school has a great program in this field, which is why I’m so excited to study there.”

5. College Admissions Interviews

Demonstrating your ability to talk about complex research—and to explain it clearly to non-specialists—can impress your admissions or alumni interviewers. Especially if your project is unique and memorable, this is a perfect opportunity to make an impression. No one else can talk about your project!

6. Recommendation Letters

As an expert in their own field, your mentor can be a powerful advocate for you in a recommendation letter. Students can also share their research with their teachers at school to demonstrate their independence and creativity, allowing the teacher to give a fuller impression of the work you do both in and out of class.

7. Course Selection

Diving into research can reveal new directions for what you want to study even while you’re still in high school. So, a research project could help you to steer your profile in a certain direction to help tell a story about your interests on your applications, too.

What are colleges looking for?

One increasingly common area that admissions professionals pay attention to is a student’s “non-cognitive factors.” These are also known as “transferable” or “soft skills” that are highly valued not only in the workplace but in collaborative areas of higher education. The following traits are not only what admissions officers are looking for in applications; they also happen to be qualities you develop naturally during a research project.

1. Communication 2. Leadership 3. Curiosity 4. Creativity 5. Organizational Skills 6. Analytical Skills 7. Problem Solving

As you fold your research into your applications, keep these traits in mind. Highlighting them can help you show how you will contribute to the community at the schools you want to attend.

Finally, remember that while research is a powerful tool to help you stand out in the admissions process, it’s not simply a means to an end. The lists above demonstrate how things you learn during the research process will benefit you not just in school but in life. The lessons of research will always be with you no matter where you end up studying. The sky’s the limit!

"At the University of Pennsylvania, 1 of every 3 students admitted last year did a research project in high school."

Want to Learn More?

Join Polygence and do your own research project tailored towards your passions and guided by one of our expert mentors!

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• College essay

How to Write a College Essay | A Complete Guide & Examples

The college essay can make or break your application. It’s your chance to provide personal context, communicate your values and qualities, and set yourself apart from other students.

A standout essay has a few key ingredients:

• A unique, personal topic
• A compelling, well-structured narrative
• A clear, creative writing style
• Evidence of self-reflection and insight

To achieve this, it’s crucial to give yourself enough time for brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

In this comprehensive guide, we walk you through every step in the process of writing a college admissions essay.

Table of contents

Why do you need a standout essay, start organizing early, choose a unique topic, outline your essay, start with a memorable introduction, write like an artist, craft a strong conclusion, revise and receive feedback, frequently asked questions.

While most of your application lists your academic achievements, your college admissions essay is your opportunity to share who you are and why you’d be a good addition to the university.

Your college admissions essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s total weight一and may account for even more with some colleges making the SAT and ACT tests optional. The college admissions essay may be the deciding factor in your application, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurriculars.

What do colleges look for in an essay?

Admissions officers want to understand your background, personality, and values to get a fuller picture of you beyond your test scores and grades. Here’s what colleges look for in an essay :

• Demonstrated values and qualities
• Vulnerability and authenticity
• Self-reflection and insight
• Creative, clear, and concise writing skills

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

It’s a good idea to start organizing your college application timeline in the summer of your junior year to make your application process easier. This will give you ample time for essay brainstorming, writing, revision, and feedback.

While timelines will vary for each student, aim to spend at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing your first draft and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Remember to leave enough time for breaks in between each writing and editing stage.

Create an essay tracker sheet

If you’re applying to multiple schools, you will have to juggle writing several essays for each one. We recommend using an essay tracker spreadsheet to help you visualize and organize the following:

• Deadlines and number of essays needed
• Prompt overlap, allowing you to write one essay for similar prompts

You can build your own essay tracker using our free Google Sheets template.

College essay tracker template

Ideally, you should start brainstorming college essay topics the summer before your senior year. Keep in mind that it’s easier to write a standout essay with a unique topic.

If you want to write about a common essay topic, such as a sports injury or volunteer work overseas, think carefully about how you can make it unique and personal. You’ll need to demonstrate deep insight and write your story in an original way to differentiate it from similar essays.

What makes a good topic?

• Meaningful and personal to you
• Uncommon or has an unusual angle
• Reveals something different from the rest of your application

Brainstorming questions

You should do a comprehensive brainstorm before choosing your topic. Here are a few questions to get started:

• What are your top five values? What lived experiences demonstrate these values?
• What adjectives would your friends and family use to describe you?
• What challenges or failures have you faced and overcome? What lessons did you learn from them?
• What makes you different from your classmates?
• What are some objects that represent your identity, your community, your relationships, your passions, or your goals?
• Whom do you admire most? Why?
• What three people have significantly impacted your life? How did they influence you?

How to identify your topic

Here are two strategies for identifying a topic that demonstrates your values:

• Start with your qualities : First, identify positive qualities about yourself; then, brainstorm stories that demonstrate these qualities.
• Start with a story : Brainstorm a list of memorable life moments; then, identify a value shown in each story.

After choosing your topic, organize your ideas in an essay outline , which will help keep you focused while writing. Unlike a five-paragraph academic essay, there’s no set structure for a college admissions essay. You can take a more creative approach, using storytelling techniques to shape your essay.

Two common approaches are to structure your essay as a series of vignettes or as a single narrative.

Vignettes structure

The vignette, or montage, structure weaves together several stories united by a common theme. Each story should demonstrate one of your values or qualities and conclude with an insight or future outlook.

This structure gives the admissions officer glimpses into your personality, background, and identity, and shows how your qualities appear in different areas of your life.

Topic: Museum with a “five senses” exhibit of my experiences

• Introduction: Tour guide introduces my museum and my “Making Sense of My Heritage” exhibit
• Story: Racial discrimination with my eyes
• Lesson: Using my writing to document truth
• Story: Broadway musical interests
• Lesson: Finding my voice
• Story: Smells from family dinner table
• Lesson: Appreciating home and family
• Story: Washing dishes
• Lesson: Finding moments of peace in busy schedule
• Story: Biking with Ava
• Lesson: Finding pleasure in job well done
• Conclusion: Tour guide concludes tour, invites guest to come back for “fall College Collection,” featuring my search for identity and learning.

Single story structure

The single story, or narrative, structure uses a chronological narrative to show a student’s character development over time. Some narrative essays detail moments in a relatively brief event, while others narrate a longer journey spanning months or years.

Single story essays are effective if you have overcome a significant challenge or want to demonstrate personal development.

Topic: Sports injury helps me learn to be a better student and person

• Situation: Football injury
• Challenge: Friends distant, teachers don’t know how to help, football is gone for me
• Turning point: Starting to like learning in Ms. Brady’s history class; meeting Christina and her friends
• My reactions: Reading poetry; finding shared interest in poetry with Christina; spending more time studying and with people different from me
• Insight: They taught me compassion and opened my eyes to a different lifestyle; even though I still can’t play football, I’m starting a new game

Brainstorm creative insights or story arcs

Regardless of your essay’s structure, try to craft a surprising story arc or original insights, especially if you’re writing about a common topic.

Never exaggerate or fabricate facts about yourself to seem interesting. However, try finding connections in your life that deviate from cliché storylines and lessons.

Admissions officers read thousands of essays each year, and they typically spend only a few minutes reading each one. To get your message across, your introduction , or hook, needs to grab the reader’s attention and compel them to read more..

Avoid starting your introduction with a famous quote, cliché, or reference to the essay itself (“While I sat down to write this essay…”).

While you can sometimes use dialogue or a meaningful quotation from a close family member or friend, make sure it encapsulates your essay’s overall theme.

Find an original, creative way of starting your essay using the following two methods.

Option 1: Start with an intriguing hook

Begin your essay with an unexpected statement to pique the reader’s curiosity and compel them to carefully read your essay. A mysterious introduction disarms the reader’s expectations and introduces questions that can only be answered by reading more.

Option 2: Start with vivid imagery

Illustrate a clear, detailed image to immediately transport your reader into your memory. You can start in the middle of an important scene or describe an object that conveys your essay’s theme.

A college application essay allows you to be creative in your style and tone. As you draft your essay, try to use interesting language to enliven your story and stand out .

Show, don’t tell

“Tell” in writing means to simply state a fact: “I am a basketball player.” “ Show ” in writing means to use details, examples, and vivid imagery to help the reader easily visualize your memory: “My heart races as I set up to shoot一two seconds, one second一and score a three-pointer!”

First, reflect on every detail of a specific image or scene to recall the most memorable aspects.

• What are the most prominent images?
• Are there any particular sounds, smells, or tastes associated with this memory?
• What emotion or physical feeling did you have at that time?

Be vulnerable to create an emotional response

You don’t have to share a huge secret or traumatic story, but you should dig deep to express your honest feelings, thoughts, and experiences to evoke an emotional response. Showing vulnerability demonstrates humility and maturity. However, don’t exaggerate to gain sympathy.

Use appropriate style and tone

Make sure your essay has the right style and tone by following these guidelines:

• Use a conversational yet respectful tone: less formal than academic writing, but more formal than texting your friends.
• Prioritize using “I” statements to highlight your perspective.
• Write within your vocabulary range to maintain an authentic voice.
• Write concisely, and use the active voice to keep a fast pace.
• Follow grammar rules (unless you have valid stylistic reasons for breaking them).

You should end your college essay with a deep insight or creative ending to leave the reader with a strong final impression. Your college admissions essay should avoid the following:

• Summarizing what you already wrote
• Stating your hope of being accepted to the school
• Mentioning character traits that should have been illustrated in the essay, such as “I’m a hard worker”

Here are two strategies to craft a strong conclusion.

Option 1: Full circle, sandwich structure

The full circle, or sandwich, structure concludes the essay with an image, idea, or story mentioned in the introduction. This strategy gives the reader a strong sense of closure.

In the example below, the essay concludes by returning to the “museum” metaphor that the writer opened with.

Option 2: Revealing your insight

You can use the conclusion to show the insight you gained as a result of the experiences you’ve described. Revealing your main message at the end creates suspense and keeps the takeaway at the forefront of your reader’s mind.

Revise your essay before submitting it to check its content, style, and grammar. Get feedback from no more than two or three people.

It’s normal to go through several rounds of revision, but take breaks between each editing stage.

Also check out our college essay examples to see what does and doesn’t work in an essay and the kinds of changes you can make to improve yours.

Respect the word count

Most schools specify a word count for each essay , and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit.

Remain under the specified word count limit to show you can write concisely and follow directions. However, don’t write too little, which may imply that you are unwilling or unable to write a thoughtful and developed essay.

Check your content, style, and grammar

• First, check big-picture issues of message, flow, and clarity.
• Then, check for style and tone issues.
• Finally, focus on eliminating grammar and punctuation errors.

Get feedback

Get feedback from 2–3 people who know you well, have good writing skills, and are familiar with college essays.

• Teachers and guidance counselors can help you check your content, language, and tone.
• Friends and family can check for authenticity.
• An essay coach or editor has specialized knowledge of college admissions essays and can give objective expert feedback.

The checklist below helps you make sure your essay ticks all the boxes.

College admissions essay checklist

I’ve organized my essay prompts and created an essay writing schedule.

I’ve done a comprehensive brainstorm for essay topics.

I’ve selected a topic that’s meaningful to me and reveals something different from the rest of my application.

I’ve created an outline to guide my structure.

I’ve crafted an introduction containing vivid imagery or an intriguing hook that grabs the reader’s attention.

I’ve written my essay in a way that shows instead of telling.

I’ve shown positive traits and values in my essay.

I’ve demonstrated self-reflection and insight in my essay.

I’ve used appropriate style and tone .

I’ve concluded with an insight or a creative ending.

I’ve revised my essay , checking my overall message, flow, clarity, and grammar.

I’ve respected the word count , remaining within 10% of the upper word limit.

Congratulations!

It looks like your essay ticks all the boxes. A second pair of eyes can help you take it to the next level – Scribbr's essay coaches can help.

Colleges want to be able to differentiate students who seem similar on paper. In the college application essay , they’re looking for a way to understand each applicant’s unique personality and experiences.

Your college essay accounts for about 25% of your application’s weight. It may be the deciding factor in whether you’re accepted, especially for competitive schools where most applicants have exceptional grades, test scores, and extracurricular track records.

A standout college essay has several key ingredients:

• A unique, personally meaningful topic
• A memorable introduction with vivid imagery or an intriguing hook
• Specific stories and language that show instead of telling
• Vulnerability that’s authentic but not aimed at soliciting sympathy
• Clear writing in an appropriate style and tone
• A conclusion that offers deep insight or a creative ending

While timelines will differ depending on the student, plan on spending at least 1–3 weeks brainstorming and writing the first draft of your college admissions essay , and at least 2–4 weeks revising across multiple drafts. Don’t forget to save enough time for breaks between each writing and editing stage.

You should already begin thinking about your essay the summer before your senior year so that you have plenty of time to try out different topics and get feedback on what works.

Most college application portals specify a word count range for your essay, and you should stay within 10% of the upper limit to write a developed and thoughtful essay.

You should aim to stay under the specified word count limit to show you can follow directions and write concisely. However, don’t write too little, as it may seem like you are unwilling or unable to write a detailed and insightful narrative about yourself.

If no word count is specified, we advise keeping your essay between 400 and 600 words.

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College Research

• Pick a Topic
• Ask a Research Question
• Thesis Statement
• Reliable Sources
• Primary & Secondary Sources
• Fact Checking
• MLA Citations This link opens in a new window
• APA Citations This link opens in a new window
• Annotated Bibliography Research Project

Reference and Instruction Librarian

Getting Started

The process of researching and writing your paper can be broken down into the following steps:

• Pick a topic
• Ask a research question
• Find and read research about your topic - evidence, perspectives, interpretations, data, etc.             ► take notes as you read, and use what you learn to find more research             ► evaluate the sources you read carefully
• Write your thesis statement - the answer to your research question.

The following pages in this guide will help you with these steps.

What is a Research Paper?

Writing a research paper can be challenging. So it may be helpful to first understand what a research paper is and what it is not .

A research paper is NOT

• a mix of other people's ideas
• an analysis of other people's writing or work
• a mix of quotes from other sources
• a way for you to prove what you already think is true

A research paper IS

• a way for you to develop your own ideas with evidence
• an opportunity to challenge your own beliefs
• one of the best ways to learn deeply about a topic that interests you

What is Research?

College research might be different from other types of writing you've done before, such as writing your opinion or simply reporting facts. Research can be defined as

• the investigation into and study of
• materials and sources
• in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Watch the video below to better understand the process of research and to avoid common mistakes some students make when writing their research paper.

• Next: Pick a Topic >>
• Last Updated: Aug 2, 2024 4:24 PM
• URL: https://libguides.sowela.edu/college-research

How to Write About Research in College Application or Common App?

Indigo Research Team

If you are a high school student or a parent of a high school student and have already thought about how you can highlight your achievements in the form of a research paper on your college application, this article is for you.

Indeed, conducting research and possibly publishing it in scientific journals is a remarkable achievement for a high school student. Therefore, it is a good idea to mention it to the admissions officers to make you stand out from the crowd. And in fact, there are a lot of places where you can indicate this. Read below where exactly.

Does Research Look Good On College Applications?

Yes, of course. After all, let's be honest, this is often the reason why high school students conduct research (to impress the admission committee with their achievements).

But before we begin, it is worth noting that a significant research experience at highly selective colleges or universities can make a difference, but it won't speak for itself. You will have to help the admissions officer understand how it is part of your story and how it adds an edge to your overall application.

Make an impactful first impression by sharing not only your research findings but your transformative journey. Share how this journey has helped you refine your research skills, interests, and values.

Elaborate on how this research experience added to your growth and shaped up your personality. Talking about positive research contributions, such as advanced problem-solving ability, can help your application rank in the common application honors section as well. 

Where to Indicate Research on your College Application or Common App

One of the most widely used ways to submit a college application is through the Common App (Common Application) online. This is a special online service that allows you to submit your application to more than 1000 colleges at once.

So let's start with a description of how the sections of honors and awards in Common App can help you share information about your research with the chosen colleges.

Sections of the Common App

Mention your research in the activities list.

Colleges love to see how productive you have been in spending your time in addition to formal clubs. Don't worry if you feel I don't have any awards or honors. Your research can cover up for that. 

Make conscious attempts to elaborate on your motivation behind selecting your research project. List them in order of importance. Make sure your research makes it to the top three on the list. It would reflect positively on your unique experience and speak about your passion. 

Briefly describe your experience, but make sure you include important details such as how many people worked with you in the team, how many people peer-reviewed your paper, and the name of your professor. 

Example: Australian Educational Research, U. of Newcastle (Researched contempt. education issues w/ Prof. Gore; Halogen Foundation International Comp Winner.) helped in successful admission at Stanford and Princeton.

Add your Research in the Honors Section

There is a section for honors and awards common app. If your research did very well, you have recognition up your sleeve, such as the best research paper or chosen to be published in a journal , then this is the place to add them.

Completing the Honors section in the Common App is not as easy as it seems. Take a quick look at how to fill the Common App Honors Section to get an expert opinion.

Use the 100-character limit wisely to describe your award. It’s always good to add some context about the award by writing a small description. 

Have a look at this Common App Walkthrough that would steer you in the right direction with respect to functionality. It's better to streamline your profiles according to the Common App format.

Other ways you can indicate your Research besides the Common App functionality

Show your research through supplemental material.

Supplemental material is not mandatory but provides information that can be added to your college application. If you have completed a final report, created a presentation, or done a research project that speaks of who you are and reflects your passion, add it here. 

If you opt to submit a supplement such as a research paper, it needs to be a good one. Saying you did a good research paper and showing how good you were are two different things. Make sure your paper is thoroughly proofread and your research advisor backs up your claim. 

Add Research Experience To Your Resume

The common app has space to include your resume. You can mention your research in your resume if you think it's fitting. Make sure to summarize your research experience in bullet points in your resume. It will be similar to your activities list. 

You can add both qualitative and quantitative bullets. For the qualitative bullets, mention which skills you developed. Which part of the research project you took the lead in? Don’t forget to add the name of the program or institution, dates, and mentor's name.

For the quantitative part, write which data you found. Which computer programs did you learn? How many people were working with you and what did you accomplish?

List your Research in your Personal Statement

This is your chance to narrate your story by quoting scholastic achievement examples . 

Your research project may have a small role in your statement or be the main event to highlight. Your research story should speak of your passion. 

Some students include IB extended essays and use their research experience to tell a story about themselves:

• What excites them?
• What drives their passion?
• How do they approach questions?
• How are challenges overcome?
• What changes do they want to bring to the community as a whole?

Talk About your Research in your College Admissions Interviews

No one besides you can talk about your research projects. Show that you are capable of talking about your complex research project to non-specialists, leaving the interviewers in awe. 

Also, if the interviewer inquires about your interest in this specific university, you can casually bring up how you have worked under one of their professors during the research project or an internship. 

Further, you can subtly mention you have stumbled upon their department's research reports while doing your research, and you found them fascinating.

Have your Mentors Mention your Research in the Recommendation Letters

Recommendation letters from experts serve as a good impression of the work that you have done in class. Your teacher can be a strong advocate who can speak about your creativity and independence during the research project. 

Usually, students have their mentors submit recommendation letters advocating for their skill, passion, knowledge, and yearning to learn. Like a cherry on top, it would be incredible if your mentor is also a faculty member at the university you are applying to. 

This way, they can speak about how you will be a great fit in their university environment. 

Wrapping Up

As much as a research project is important for a college application to stand out in the common app awards section, it's not a guaranteed way for your application to be noticed. 

Also, it does not mean that the student who does not have a college application backed by a research project will not stand out.

Research experience is not just a box you are trying to check on the college application. It's about strengthening your passion, developing new skills, exploring your interests, and sharing something exciting with the community. 

If you’re looking to do some research to enhance your college application, our High School Research Programs can give you a good headstart. At Indigo Research, you can begin your research any time throughout the year, so plan to publish your research accordingly which will help you build on skills and knowledge.

What are honors in Common App?

Honors in Common App include research projects, awards, or recognitions. Listing these would make your application stand out by speaking about your passion. Colleges have an eye for students who bring diverse interests and talents to the institute. 

How many awards can you put on Common App?

You can list five awards. For this you have to write a brief description (100 characters or less) for each reward. You can write the name of the honor, the meaning or purpose behind it, and the year you received it. 

Where is the awards section on the common app?

It's in the education section of the common app. First, it will ask for how many honors you want to list since they are limited to five. So, you may want to list the most important ones and represent your academic achievements to the best.

Do colleges verify your extracurriculars?

Yes, colleges check and verify your extracurriculars through counselors and teachers. They do so to confirm the involvement of the student in extracurricular activities. 

Do colleges ask for proof of extracurriculars?

Some colleges ask for proof of extracurriculars. It will be mentioned in the requirements sections. If a college is not asking for it, you don’t have to provide proof of extracurriculars. Colleges usually ask for proof of top-level accomplishments. For example, if you win an international piano competition you can provide a certificate for that. 

If you are interested in doing research in your high school, consider joining our research program. We will pair you with top professor whose expertise is the same as your interest and we will guide you to leverage your research experience in your college application.

Guidelines for Writing your Research Application Essay

The following are guidelines for writing your  Research Scholarship  application essay. These ideas will help you to think about how to structure your essay and what to include in it. They are not meant to be step-by-step instructions, nor are they given in any particular order of importance. If there is anything unusual about your timeline, project, or circumstances, please talk about this as well. In addition to reviewing these tips, you may wish to attend an  information session  before writing your essay.

Write in your own voice

Write your essay in your own voice.

It is very important that reviewers get a sense of your passion and understanding for your project. Do not cut and paste from papers or other proposals – it will be obvious to reviewers if you do and it will not convey your own understanding of your research. Write clearly and in your own voice describing your project and its relationship to research in your field of study.

Balance your essay

Be sure to talk about the project itself as well as the educational benefits of the research. As you are writing the personal side of the essay it may help in your draft to tell the story of your motivations for getting involved. But in your final essay, pull out only those points that are relevant to your current experience.

Show your enthusiasm and commitment to the work

Your essay should convey an interest and commitment to the research. Awards cover either a six or nine month period – be sure that your essay provides evidence that you will stick with the project for that period of time, and that the project has enough depth to keep you engaged during that period. Reviewers will find your interest or passion in the research compelling, so find a way to convey that in your essay.

For previous applicants/recipients

Acknowledge your prior application/award and cite the major learning goals you will set for yourself with this new application. Reviewers will want to know what you have already accomplished, as well as your plans for the new award period.

Be clear about your role in research

Be specific about your role in your proposed research project.

It is important that reviewers learn how you are contributing to the research, particularly if you have a role in a larger, ongoing project.

Describe how your faculty mentor guides/supports your role in the research process

If your research is of your own design, be sure to include how your faculty mentor helps you to make progress in your work. How does your mentor guide you so that you gain the perspective of the larger project as you contribute your work to it?

Describe the impact of your research

Describe how your research fits into a bigger picture.

Include enough detail to convey your knowledge of the topic and so that reviewers can imagine what you are doing. Reviewers will be from a variety of fields, so it is best to address your essay to an intelligent non-expert. Define field-specific terminology and be sure to give the big picture of your research area. It will also be important to include enough detail that someone in your discipline will have confidence that you understand the field in which you are working well enough to be able to contribute to the project in a meaningful way.

Describe what challenges you currently face, and how this award will help you take the next steps in your education

Be sure to describe your role in the research, and how it may have changed since your prior award. What new challenges do you need to overcome to take your work to a higher level? Will you be taking on additional responsibilities? If you are starting a whole new project and/or working with a new mentor, you may want to address the reason for the change, how the new experience will provide new opportunity for learning, and how your new mentor will contribute to that learning.

Talk about the impact of the research experience on your education

One of the goals of the Mary Gates Endowment is to invest in scholarships that help students to achieve their educational goals. Your essay should describe how the research will help you to further your own goals, and how it may help you address any difficulties you face in achieving those goals.

Follow the provided instructions on formatting, citations, etc.

Adhere to general formatting guidelines provided for the application.

Essays should be a maximum of four pages . Do not exceed the maximum page count or your application may not be considered.  Essays should be double-spaced, in 12-point font or equivalent size with standard margins. You may include one additional page for references, images, or figures, if applicable; this one additional page of supplementary material is not included in the page limit.

Properly cite the figures, graphs, and/or images that you refer to in your essay

If you refer to a figure, graph or image in your essay that is not your own, be sure to credit the source. Essays with figures, graphs or images lacking proper citations will be marked down by reviewers. Information on proper citation format can be found at:

• UW Libraries Citations Guide
• Odegaard Writing Research Center Resources

Please refrain from citing excessive sources not relevant to your project.

Ask for critical feedback before submitting your application

Ask your faculty research mentor and someone who is not involved with the research to review your essay.

Your mentor will provide you with the best feedback on your essay’s representation of the research you are doing and how it fits into a larger framework. Someone else – a peer, another instructor, or adviser – will be able to tell you if your essay is clear to an intelligent non-expert, and if you have conveyed a sense of enthusiasm and commitment for the work you describe. Be sure to leave yourself enough time to get feedback from these key people before submitting your application.

Schedule an advising appointment with us

If you would like to discuss your application/proposed research project with a Mary Gates team member before submitting, we highly encourage you to schedule an advising appointment with us. For first-time applicants, we recommend that you schedule a ‘First-time Applicant Advising Appointment” or a “General Advising Appointment’. For returning applicants/awardees, you are able to discuss your past applications with an MGE team member by scheduling a ‘Feedback Appointment’ with us.

Attend an application workshop

During each application cycle, we host application workshops that applicants are encouraged to attend. These workshops will give applicants more in-depth advice on how to structure their application essay and what to include. Applicants are asked to bring a draft of their application to the workshop as well, as there is allotted time for peer reviews and for applicants to ask specific questions pertaining to their project/application. RSVP here for our application workshops !

Information for previous applicants

We expect that previous awardees have a deeper than average understanding of their research, are working at a high level, and can clearly articulate previous accomplishments as well as opportunities for new learning and achievements during a second award period.  We also expect a strong connection between the research and a student’s longer-term goals.

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How Research Publications Can Help in College Admissions

• February 3, 2023
• College Admission Guidance , Parents Must Read , Student Admission , Under Graduate

Research publications can be an important factor in getting admitted to higher studies programs, particularly in undergraduate and graduate programs in STEM fields. They demonstrate a student’s ability to conduct independent research and contribute new knowledge to the field. Additionally, they may also show evidence of the student’s ability to communicate their research effectively and in a professional manner.

However, it’s also important to note that publications are not the only factor considered in admissions decisions, and other factors such as grades, test scores, and letters of recommendation may also be taken into account. Additionally, the weight given to research publications may vary depending on the specific institution or program.

Why Should You Consider Research in High School?

Research is a critical component of higher education. The DNA, the radar, game theory, and the Google search algorithm were all discovered at top research institutions, such as Cambridge, MIT, Princeton, and Stanford. Research at these top universities is a collaborative effort between professors, graduate students, and undergraduates. 

Hence, colleges look for students who are capable of doing high-quality independent academic work when evaluating prospective applicants.

High school research demonstrates to admissions officers that you are responsible, driven, and can commit yourself to spending time on one subject matter for an extended period of time. It shows a clear commitment to your intended area of study that many other students at this stage have not experienced.

Related Article: How to Find Research Opportunities while in High School

How Research Publications Can Help You to Stand Out in the Applicant Pool?

According to the  U.S. News and World Report ,  “High school students who have an impressive personal project they are working on independently often impress colleges because their commitment to a successful solo endeavor conveys initiative, self-discipline, and originality”. 

High school grades are not always the best predictors of future success. Similarly, test scores, AP exams, and summer programs with a set curriculum give students little opportunity to showcase their academic creativity and intellectual rigor. This makes it difficult for colleges to identify the most promising students, especially if they have a non-traditional background. 

In contrast, a research project is by definition a unique and highly personal achievement that allows students to showcase their intellectual abilities at their best. This is why colleges encourage students to distinguish themselves through independent projects.

Research Publications Demonstrate Potential, Intellectual Curiosity, and Character

Publications are considered important in the admissions process for higher studies because they demonstrate a candidate’s research abilities and potential. They show that the candidate has conducted original research and has the ability to write and communicate their findings effectively.

When you are applying to a college, you will need to illustrate your intellectual curiosity, your capacity to think innovatively and originally, and your ability to commit to and execute a college-level project. All of these can be achieved simultaneously by completing an original, independent research project.

By participating in and conducting research while in high school, you are exhibiting an interest in a subject and an entrepreneurial personality, which is highly attractive to university admissions officers.

Additionally, publications can also indicate that a candidate has a strong work ethic and is able to complete a research project to a high standard.

How SHRM Biotechnologies Pvt. Ltd. can Help with Research Publications for High School Students?

SHRM Biotechnologies Pvt. Ltd. is a 16 years old Institution that was formed with a vision to bridge the gap between industry and academia. One of our major fortes is the Research and Development wing followed by the Publication into Journals of National and International repute.

To date, many high school students have done their live hands-on dissertation projects in our institution which have been fruitfully placed into various reputed Journals for Publication.

Related Article: Best Summer Research Programs for High School Students

Case Studies

For instance, a student Anuradha Ghosal has worked on a live project entitled “Antibiofilm activity of Phytocompounds against Staphylococcus aureus Biofilm forming Protein – In silico study”. This work was published in a reputed Journal entitled “American Journal of Applied Bio-Technology Research” ( Antibiofilm activity of Phytocompoundsagainst of Staphylococcus a…: Ingenta Connect ).

Another student, Gidugu Bhargavi Lakshmi also underwent a dissertation project entitled “Antibiofilm Activity of Phytocompounds against Biofilm forming Proteins of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa – In silico study” ( Volume2Issue4Paper2.pdf (smartsociety.org) ) and got her paper published in“American Journal of Applied Bio-Technology Research”.

Yet another Student, Aditi Srinivasan underwent two live hands-on projects entitled, “Formulation and evaluation of organic handwash prepared from herbal extracts”, and “Evaluation of the Expression of CD-4 and CD-45 Count among Patients Having Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Both the work was published in reputed International Journals named International Journal of Experimental Research and Review ( Formulation and evaluation of organic handwash prepared from herbal extracts | International Journal of Experimental Research and Review (qtanalytics.in) , and International Journal of Research Publication and Reviews” ( Evaluation of the Expression of CD-4 and CD-45 Count among Patients Having Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (ijrpr.com) ). There are many more students under this category. All of them have been successfully placed in various courses at different Universities of National and International repute.

Need Help with Research Projects and Publications? Send us an email at [email protected] !

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The Newest College Admissions Ploy: Paying to Make Your Teen a “Peer-Reviewed” Author

A group of services, often connected to pricey college counselors, has arisen to help high schoolers carry out and publish research as a credential for their college applications. the research papers — and the publications — can be dubious..

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published. This article was co-published with The Chronicle of Higher Education .

On a family trip to the Jersey Shore in the summer of 2021, Sophia’s go-to meal was the Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. The buns were toasty, the chicken was crispy and the fries didn’t spill from the bag.

Sophia was entering her sophomore year in prep school, but her parents were already thinking ahead to college. They paid to enroll her in an online service called Scholar Launch, whose programs start at $3,500. Scholar Launch, which started in 2019, connects high school students with mentors who work with them on research papers that can be published and enhance their college applications.

Publication “is the objective,” Scholar Launch says on its website. “We have numerous publication partners, all are peer-reviewed journals.”

The prospect appealed to Sophia. “Nowadays, having a publication is kind of a given” for college applicants, she said. “If you don’t have one, you’re going to have to make it up in some other aspect of your application.”

Sophia said she chose marketing as her field because it “sounded interesting.” She attended weekly group sessions with a Scholar Launch mentor, a marketing executive who also taught at an Ivy League business school, before working one-on-one with a teaching assistant. Assigned to analyze a company’s marketing strategy, she selected Chick-fil-A.

Sophia’s paper offered a glowing assessment. She credited Chick-fil-A as “responsible for the popularity of the chicken sandwich,” praised its fare as healthier than fast-food burgers, saluted its “humorous yet honest” slogan (a cow saying, “Eat mor chikin”) and admired its “family-friendly” attitude and “traditional beliefs,” exemplified by closing its restaurants on Sundays. Parts of her paper sounded like a customer endorsement (and she acknowledged to ProPublica that her marketing analysis could’ve been stronger). Neither too dry nor too juicy, the company’s signature sandwich “is the perfect blend to have me wanting more after every bite,” she wrote. “Just from the taste,” Chick-fil-A “is destined for success.”

Her heartfelt tribute to the chicken chain appeared on the website of a new online journal for high school research, the Scholarly Review. The publication touts its “thorough process of review” by “highly accomplished professors and academics,” but it also displays what are known as preprints. They aren’t publications “in the traditional sense” and aren’t vetted by Scholarly Review’s editorial board, according to Roger Worthington, its chair.

That preprint platform is where Sophia’s paper appeared. Now a 17-year-old high school junior, she said she wasn’t aware of the difference between the journal and the preprint platform, and she didn’t think the less prestigious placement would hurt her college chances: “It’s just important that there’s a link out there.”

Sophia is preparing to apply to college at a time when the criteria for gaining entry are in flux. The Supreme Court appears poised to curtail race-conscious affirmative action. Grade inflation makes it harder to pick students based on GPA, since so many have A averages. And the SAT and ACT tests, long criticized for favoring white and wealthy students, have fallen out of fashion at many universities, which have made them optional or dropped them entirely.

As these differentiators recede and the number of applications soars, colleges are grappling with the latest pay-to-play maneuver that gives the rich an edge: published research papers. A new industry is extracting fees from well-heeled families to enable their teenage children to conduct and publish research that colleges may regard as a credential.

At least 20 online research programs for high schoolers have sprung up in the U.S. and abroad in recent years, along with a bevy of journals that publish the work. This growth was aided by the pandemic, which normalized online education and stymied opportunities for in-person research.

“ You’re teaching students to be cynical about research. That’s the really corrosive part. ‘I can hire someone to do it. We can get it done, we can get it published, what’s the big deal?’”

The consequence has been a profusion of published research papers by high school students. According to four months of reporting by ProPublica, online student journals now present work that ranges from serious inquiry by young scholars to dubious papers whose main qualification seems to be that the authors’ parents are willing to pay, directly or indirectly, to have them published. Usually, the projects are closely directed by graduate students or professors who are paid to be mentors. College admissions staff, besieged by applicants proffering links to their studies, verify that a paper was published but are often at a loss to evaluate its quality.

Moreover, ProPublica’s reporting shows that purveyors of online research sometimes engage in questionable practices. Some services portray affiliated publications as independent journals. Others have inflated their academic mentors’ credentials or offered freebies to college admissions consultants who could provide referrals. When asked about these practices by ProPublica, several services responded by reversing course on them.

The business of churning out high school research is a “fast-growing epidemic,” said one longtime Ivy League admissions officer, who requested anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak for his university. “The number of outfits doing that has trebled or quadrupled in the past few years.

“There are very few actual prodigies. There are a lot of precocious kids who are working hard and doing advanced things. A sophomore in high school is not going to be doing high-level neuroscience. And yet, a very high number of kids are including this” in their applications.

The programs serve at least 12,000 students a year worldwide. Most families are paying between $2,500 and $10,000 to improve their odds of getting into U.S. universities that accept as few as 1 in every 25 applicants. Some of the biggest services are located in China, and international students abound even in several U.S.-based programs.

The services pair high schoolers with academic mentors for 10-15 weeks to produce research papers. Online services typically shape the topic, direction and duration of the project, and urge students to complete and publish a paper regardless of how fruitful the exploration has been. “Publication specialists” then help steer the papers into a dizzying array of online journals and preprint platforms. Almost any high school paper can find an outlet. Alongside hardcore science papers are ones with titles like “ The Willingness of Humans to Settle on Mars, and the Factors that Affect it ,” “ Social Media; Blessing Or Curse ” and “ Is Bitcoin A Blessing Or A Curse? ”

“You’re teaching students to be cynical about research,” said Kent Anderson, past president of the Society for Scholarly Publishing and former publishing director of the New England Journal of Medicine. “That’s the really corrosive part. ‘I can hire someone to do it. We can get it done, we can get it published, what’s the big deal?’”

The research services brag about how many of their alumni get into premier U.S. universities. Lumiere Education, for example, has served 1,500 students, half of them international, since its inception in the summer of 2020. In a survey of its alumni, it found that 9.8% who applied to an Ivy League university or to Stanford last year were accepted. That’s considerably higher than the overall acceptance rates at those schools.

Such statistics don’t prove that the students were admitted because of their research. Still, research can influence admissions decisions. At Harvard, “ evidence of substantial scholarship ” can elevate an applicant, according to a university filing in a lawsuit challenging its use of affirmative action in admissions. The University of Pennsylvania’s admissions dean, Whitney Soule, boasted last year that nearly one-third of accepted students “ engaged in academic research ” in high school, including some who “co-authored publications included in leading journals.” A Penn spokesperson declined to identify the journals. Yale , Columbia and Brown , among others, encourage applicants to send research.

One admissions dean acknowledged that conferring an advantage on those who submit published papers benefits affluent applicants. “Research is one of these activities that we’re very aware they’re not offered equitably,” Stuart Schmill of MIT said. Nevertheless, MIT invites applicants to submit research and inquires whether and where it was published.

Admissions officers often lack the time and expertise to evaluate this research. The first reader of each application typically takes 10 minutes or less to go through it, which means noting the existence of the published paper without actually reading it. If the applicant is on the cusp, a second staffer more versed in the subject area may read their file. The first reader “is very young and in almost all cases majored in humanities or social sciences,” said Jon Reider, a former admissions officer at Stanford. “They can’t tell if a paper in the sciences means anything or is new at all.”

As a result, admissions staff may rely on outside opinions. Schmill said that MIT pays more attention to the mentor’s recommendation than the actual research. Academic mentors, even when paid, “do a pretty good job being honest and objective,” he said. The longtime Ivy League admissions officer was more skeptical, likening the mentors to expert witnesses in a trial.

Brown admissions dean Logan Powell described faculty as “invaluable partners” in reviewing research. But many professors would rather not be bothered. “Our faculty don’t want to spend all their time reading research projects from 17- and 18-year-olds,” the veteran Ivy League admissions officer said.

“ Our faculty don’t want to spend all their time reading research projects from 17- and 18-year-olds.”

Also complicating the admissions office’s ability to assess the papers is staffers’ unfamiliarity with the byzantine world of online publications favored by the research services. Several have confusingly similar names: the Journal of Student Research, the Journal of Research High School, the International Journal of High School Research. Selective outlets like the Journal of Student Research and the Scholarly Review also post preprints, making it hard to determine what, if any, standards a manuscript was held to.

Some also hide ties to research services. Scholarly Review doesn’t tell readers that it’s founded and funded by Scholar Launch. The lack of transparency was “not a conscious decision,” Scholar Launch co-founder Joel Butterly said. “Our intent is to keep it as separate as possible from Scholar Launch.”

The companies are intertwined in at least two respects. Worthington, who chairs the Scholarly Review’s editorial board, also works as a mentor for Scholar Launch and InGenius Prep, a college admissions counseling service co-founded by Butterly. Three of the seven articles in the Scholarly Review’s inaugural issue were written by students who Worthington advised, possibly enhancing their college prospects.

“Editors selecting papers they were involved in is a no-no,” said Anderson, the former New England Journal of Medicine publishing director.

Worthington told ProPublica that he had recused himself from discussing those manuscripts. Then Scholar Launch changed its policy. “For future issues,” Worthington said in a subsequent email, “the company will disclose mentoring arrangements in advance to make doubly sure that nobody will be reviewing work by a former student.” Worthington also said, after ProPublica raised questions, that Scholarly Review would make it “more obvious” that the editorial board is “not responsible” for articles on its preprint platform. (During ProPublica’s reporting process, Sophia’s Chick-fil-A paper was removed from the site.) The platform, which is managed by Scholar Launch and InGenius Prep, has been given a separate section on the Scholarly Review website, and further changes are likely, he said.

Online research services are an offshoot of the booming college-admissions-advising industry. They draw many of their students from the same affluent population that hires private counselors. Many families that are already paying thousands or tens of thousands of dollars for advice on essay writing and extracurricular activities pay thousands more for research help. Scholar Launch charges $3,500 for “junior” research programs and between $4,500 and $8,800 for advanced research , according to its website.

Polygence, one of the largest online high school research programs in the U.S., cultivates college counselors. The service, which was founded in 2019 and worked with more than 2,000 students last year, has developed relationships with counselors whose clients receive a discount for using Polygence.

Polygence proclaimed April to be Independent Educational Consultants Appreciation Month. It planned to raffle off prizes including “an all-expenses paid roundtrip to a college campus tour of your choice” — it suggested the University of Hawaii — and “2 free pro bono Polygence research projects.”

Such perks appear to brush up against ethics codes of two college counseling associations, which prohibit members from accepting substantial compensation for student referrals. Asked about these rules, Polygence co-founder Jin Chow said the event celebrates all counselors, “regardless of whether or not they have partnered with us or sent us students.” Polygence then dropped the tour prize and added two more free research projects.

Then there’s the question of credentials. Lumiere Education’s website has routinely identified mentors as Ph.D.s even when they don’t have a doctorate and described itself as “founded by Oxford and Harvard PhDs,” even though its founders, Dhruva Bhat and Stephen Turban, are pursuing doctorates. It’s “shorthand,” Turban said. “We’re not trying to deceive anyone.” After ProPublica questioned the practice, Lumiere changed mentors’ credentials on its website from “PhD” to “PhD student.”

Paid “mentors,” who are frequently doctoral students, play key roles in the process of generating papers by high schoolers. The job is “one of the most lucrative side hustles for graduate students,” as one Columbia Ph.D. candidate in political science put it. Another Ph.D. candidate, who mentored for two services, said that one paid her $200 an hour, and the other paid $150 — far more than the $25 an hour she earned as a teaching assistant in an Ivy League graduate course.

“ [The first reader of a college application] is very young and in almost all cases majored in humanities or social sciences. They can’t tell if a paper in the sciences means anything or is new at all.”

In some instances, the mentors seem to function as something more than advisers. Since high schoolers generally don’t arrive with a research topic, the mentor helps them choose it, and then may pitch in with writing, editing and scientific analysis.

A former consultant at Athena Education, a service in India, recalled that a client thanked her for his admission to a world-famous university. Admissions interviewers had praised his paper, which she had heavily revised. The university “was tricked,” the consultant said, adding that other students who were academically stronger went to second-tier universities.

The Cornell Undergraduate Economic Review, which accepts about 10% of submissions, published its first-ever paper by a high school student in 2021. Its editor-in-chief was impressed that the author, a Lumiere client in the Boston area, had used advanced econometrics to demonstrate that a reduced federal income tax subsidy for electric vehicles had caused sales to plummet.

But another editor, Andres Aradillas Fernandez, said he wondered whether the high-level work “was not at least partially” attributable to the mentor, a Ph.D. candidate in economics at an Ivy League university. He also felt uneasy that access to services like Lumiere is largely based on wealth. After Aradillas Fernandez became editor-in-chief last year and Lumiere clients submitted weaker papers, he notified Lumiere that the journal would no longer publish high school research.

The Boston-area Lumiere client declined comment. Turban, Lumiere’s co-founder, said the paper was “100 percent” the student’s work. The mentor said he showed the high schooler which mathematical formulas to use, but the student was “very motivated” and did the calculations himself. “I have to spoon feed him a bit on what to read and sometimes how to do it,” the mentor said.

The oldest online research mentorship program for high schoolers, Pioneer Academics, founded in 2012, has maintained relatively rigorous standards. It accepted 37% of its 4,765 applicants last year, and 13% of its students received full scholarships based on need. Pioneer “never promises academic journal publication,” according to its website.

“ In our experience, we have noticed that [the Journal of Student Research] nearly never gives edits, and students always just advance straight to being accepted.”

“The push for publication leads young scholars astray,” Pioneer co-founder Matthew Jaskol said. “The message is that looking like a champion is more important than training to be a great athlete.”

Oberlin College gives credits to students for passing Pioneer courses. The college’s annual reviews have found that research done for Pioneer “far exceeded” what would be expected to earn credit, said Michael Parkin, an associate dean of arts and sciences at Oberlin and a former Pioneer mentor, who oversees the collaboration. Pioneer pays Oberlin a small fee for each nonscholarship student given credit.

At Pioneer and other services, the most fulfilling projects are often impelled by the student’s curiosity, and gaining an edge in college admissions is a byproduct rather than the raison d’etre. Alaa Aboelkhair, the daughter of a government worker in Egypt, was fascinated as a child by how the stars constantly change their position in the sky. Googling in 2021, before her senior year of high school, she came across Lumiere, which gave her a scholarship. “The fact that we only know 5% of the universe drove me to study more,” she said. “That is my passion.”

At the suggestion of her Lumiere mentor, Christian Ferko, Alaa examined whether hypothetical particles known as axions could be detected by converting them into light. Lumiere was paying Ferko for weekly sessions, but he talked with Alaa several times a week. He emailed some textbooks to her and she found other sources on her own, working late into the night to finish her paper.

Since she chose not to submit her ACT score, the paper and Ferko’s recommendation were vital to her college applications. In March 2022, a Princeton admissions officer called Ferko to ask about Alaa. Ferko compared her to a first-year graduate student and said she showed the potential to make new discoveries. “My impression is this is something colleges do when they’re right on the fence of whether to admit the student,” Ferko said. “I did my best to advocate for her, without overstating.”

Princeton admitted only 3.3% of international applicants to the class of 2026, including Alaa. She said she received a full scholarship. (“Optional submissions are one factor among many in our holistic review process,” Princeton spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss said.)

A short walk from India’s first Trump Tower, in an upscale neighborhood known for luxury homes and gourmet restaurants, is the Mumbai office of Athena Education, a startup that promises to help students “join the ranks of Ivy League admits.” An attendant in a white uniform waits at a standing desk to greet visitors in a lounge lined with paintings and featuring a coffee bar and a glass facade with a stunning view of the downtown skyline. “We all strive to get things done while sipping Italian coffee brewed in-house,” a recent Athena ad read.

Co-founded in 2014 by two Princeton graduates, Athena has served more than 2,000 students. At least 80 clients have been admitted to elite universities, and 87% have gotten into top-50 U.S. colleges , according to its website. One client said that Athena charges more than a million rupees, or $12,200 a year, six times India’s annual per capita income. Athena declined comment for this story.

Around 2020, Athena expanded its research program and started emphasizing publication. Athena and similar services in South Korea and China cater to international students whose odds of getting accepted at a U.S. college are even longer than those American students face. MIT, for instance, accepted 1.4% of international applicants last year, compared with 5% of domestic applicants.

A former consultant said Athena told her that its students were the “creme de la creme.” Instead, she estimated, 7 out of 10 needed “hand-holding.”

For publication, Athena students have a readily available option: Questioz, an online outlet founded by an Athena client and run by high schoolers. Former Editor-in-Chief Eesha Garimella said that a mentor at Athena “guides us on the paper editing and publication process.” Garimella said Questioz publishes 75%-80% of submissions.

Athena students also place their work in the Houston-based Journal of Student Research. Founded in 2012 to publish undergraduate and graduate work, in 2017 the journal began running high school papers, which now make up 85% of its articles, co-founders Mir Alikhan and Daharsh Rana wrote in an email.

Last June, a special edition of the journal presented research by 19 Athena students. They tested noise-reduction algorithms and used computer vision to compare the stances of professional and amateur golfers. A survey of Hong Kong residents concluded that people who grew up near the ocean are more likely to value its conservation. Athena’s then-head of research was listed as a co-author on 10 of the projects.

Publication in JSR was “pretty simple,” said former Athena student Anjani Nanda, who surveyed 103 people about their awareness of female genital mutilation and found that they were poorly informed. “I never got any edits or suggested changes from their side.”

As Nanda’s experience suggests, virtual journals dedicated to high school research tend to be less choosy than traditional publications. They reflect a larger shift in academic publishing. Print journals typically accept a small percentage of submissions and depend on subscription revenue. Online publications tend to be free for the reader but charge a fee to the author — incentivizing the publications to boost revenue by accepting many articles.

The Journal of Student Research exemplifies this turnabout. It describes itself as peer-reviewed, the gold standard of traditional academic publishing. It relies on more than 90 reviewers at colleges across the U.S., and the typical review takes 12-24 weeks, according to its website.

“ The push for publication leads young scholars astray. The message is that looking like a champion is more important than training to be a great athlete.”

In reality, it may not be so stringent. Four of eight reviewers whom ProPublica contacted said the journal has never asked them to evaluate a manuscript. (Some academics agreed to review for JSR but forgot over time, Alikhan and Rana said; others specialize in fields where the journal has received few submissions.)

And while authors pay an “article processing charge” of $50 at submission and $200 at acceptance, for an extra $300 they can expedite “fast-track” review in four to five weeks. One Athena client who fast-tracked his manuscript so that it could be published in time for his college application said JSR accepted it without changes. He was admitted to a top-10 U.S. university. “I think it was important,” said the student. “I didn’t have much leadership in school so [I] needed other ways to get better extracurriculars.”

In “ The Ultimate Guide to the Journal of Student Research ,” a Lumiere “publication strategy associate” described JSR as a “safety” option that accepts 65% of submissions from Lumiere clients. “In our experience, we have noticed that JSR nearly never gives edits, and students always just advance straight to being accepted,” the Lumiere associate wrote.

Alikhan and Rana defended the journal’s standards. They said that many papers, which are submitted with the guidance of top mentors, hardly need editing: “Honestly, it is not the journal’s fault if their advisors working closely with students produce outstanding manuscripts.”

The journals are deluged with submissions. Founded in 2019, the International Journal of High School Research has expanded from four to six issues a year and may add more, said executive producer Fehmi Damkaci. “There is a greater demand than we envisioned,” he said, adding that the journal has become more selective.

As the pandemic closed labs and restricted fieldwork, forcing students to collect data and conduct interviews online, the Journal of Student Research “received an increased volume of submissions,” Alikhan and Rana said. Polygence complained that several students who wanted to cite publications in their college applications hadn’t heard back from JSR for months. The papers were eventually published.

Preprint platforms don’t even bother with peer review. The usual justification for preprints is that they quickly disseminate vital research, such as new information about vaccines or medical treatments. High school projects are rarely so urgent. Still, Polygence started a preprint platform last fall. “The idea is for students to showcase their work and have them be judged by the scientific/peer/college community for their merits,” co-founder Janos Perczel wrote to ProPublica.

The Journal of Student Research hosts preprints by clients of Scholar Launch and two other services. One preprint only listed the author’s first name, Nitya. Leaving out the last name is a small mistake, but one that hints at the frenzy to publish quickly.

Online research programs could end up victimized by their own success. College admissions consultant Jillian Nataupsky estimated that one-third of her clients undertake virtual research. “For students trying to find ways to differentiate themselves in this crazy competitive landscape, this has risen as a really great option,” she said. But “it’s becoming a little more commonplace. I can see it becoming completely over-inundated in the next few years.”

Then the search can begin for the next leg up in college admissions.

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Calculate for all schools

Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, submitting a research paper to colleges.

Hello! I'm a junior who recently finished a research paper on renewable energy as part of a research course at my school. I was wondering if it would be beneficial to submit this research paper along with my college applications to showcase my passion for environmental science? I'm planning to apply to colleges such as MIT and UChicago. Thanks for any advice!

Hello! It's great to hear about your passion for environmental science and the research paper you've completed. Including the research paper along with your college applications can indeed showcase your dedication and expertise in the field, especially since you're planning on applying to highly competitive schools like MIT and UChicago.

In some instances, you may be able to include your research paper or an abstract in the additional information section of your application. It might also be beneficial to have your research course instructor provide a recommendation letter, highlighting the skills you demonstrated during the project and explaining the significance of your research.

Keep in mind that, while showcasing your passion is essential, colleges will be evaluating various aspects of your application. Make sure to maintain balance and showcase your other strengths and extracurriculars too. Good luck with your applications!

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How to Publish Research as a High Schooler

Sarah bellardini.

• Last Updated on August 29, 2024

Table of Contents

If you’re a high school student passionate about a particular subject, undertaking an academic research project is one of the best ways to explore your interests, build critical thinking skills, and showcase your academic abilities beyond the classroom. Getting your research published is an extra step that both validates your work and signals to colleges that you’re ready to take on more advanced projects. 

Publishing as a high schooler might seem daunting, but there are many publications dedicated to rewarding and showcasing outstanding work from young academic researchers. In this blog post, we’ll explore how to publish research as a high schooler and highlight 10 research journals that publish high school students.

What it Means to Publish Research as a High Schooler

Publishing your research means that you have gone through a rigorous, peer-reviewed process that has analyzed, critiqued, and accepted your research. Scientific publications are gatekeepers to the broader world. If a research piece is not published by a journal, it means that it has not yet passed a rigorous, external analysis of the research. 

Why Publish in High School?

Publishing your research offers several benefits, including:

Recognition and Validation

Having your work published means validation of your work from the academic community.

Skill Development

The publishing process sharpens key academic and professional skills like research, writing, and communication.

College Applications

A published paper can significantly enhance your college applications , setting you apart from other applicants.

Contribution to Knowledge

Your research could contribute valuable insights to your field of interest.

While publishing your research may be lengthy and time-intensive, the process can be simplified to four steps:

1. Select the right journal.

The first step is to research academic journals that accept submissions from high school students. Some journals have dedicated sections for work by high schoolers while others only publish research from contributors under the age of 18. When selecting a journal, pick one (or several) that align with your research topic and pay close attention to details like word requirements and special criteria.

2. Prepare your paper for submission.

Read your chosen journal’s submission guidelines and format your paper accordingly. This often requires organizing your research into sections and preparing an abstract and/or cover letter.

3. Submit your paper.

Most journals accept submissions online. Before submitting your research, double-check that all required materials are included, correctly formatted, free from errors, and uploaded according to that journal’s specific guidelines. 

4. Respond to feedback and revise.

Once your research is peer-reviewed, you should expect to receive feedback. The journal may ask questions, seek additional information, or request revisions to your paper. After making necessary revisions, resubmit your paper according to the instructions. 

10 Research Journals that Publish High School Students 

Below is a list of 10 research journals that publish high school research on a variety of academic subjects:

1. Open Journal of Business and Management (OJBM)

The OJBM is an international journal dedicated to the latest advancement in the study of business and management. The goal is to platform academics all over the world to promote, share, and discuss issues and developments related to business and management. While most of the contributions come from more experienced researchers, OJBM is one of the few journals to accept high school research projects in business and management.

Subjects: Economics and Business 

Estimated Acceptance Rate: 15-20% (for high schoolers) 

2. Columbia Junior Science Research Journal

The Columbia Junior Science Research Journal is a highly prestigious research journal for high school students interested in the natural sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and social sciences. CJSJ originated from the Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal and is run by the same editorial staff. It promotes the development of young researchers versed in technical and communication skills, facets encoded into the DNA of Columbia University.

Subjects: Natural Sciences, Physical Sciences, Social Sciences, and Engineering

Estimated Acceptance Rate: 3% 

3. The Young Researcher

The Young Researcher is a peer-reviewed journal edited by secondary school students working closely with scholars and active researchers at universities and in the community. The journal’s mission is to provide a larger audience for the original academic research of high schoolers, a forum for peer-review, and a community of young researchers. In addition, the journal strives to advance the quality of academic writing in secondary schools. 

Subjects: Social Sciences, Humanities, and Physical Sciences

Estimated Acceptance rate: 65%

4. The Schola

The Schola is a journal of humanities and social sciences essays contributed by high school students all over the world. They accept essays written on topics in philosophy, history, art history, literature, politics, public policy, and sociology. If your essay is selected, The Schola gives you the full academic publishing experience—presenting research findings to a publisher, receiving editorial feedback, and editing the manuscript. Each student has a personalized editorial experience through the process.

Subjects: Humanities 

Acceptance Rate: They do not disclose their acceptance rate, but it’s safe to say this is a rigorous and highly selective journal.

5. The Concord Review

The Concord Review is a quarterly journal publishing history essays and the most prestigious journal in the country for high school students. Its prestige comes from its high level of selectivity, quality of research, and long history of contributors going on to top universities. The quality of writing for the published papers is also very high, with the average length of papers published at 9000 words (the longest was 21,000!). Only eleven students are chosen worldwide for each issue.

Subject: History 

Estimated Acceptance Rate: < 5 %

6. Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI)

The Journal of Emerging Investigators is a peer-reviewed journal for middle and high school students, focusing on the biological and physical sciences. Under the guidance of a teacher or advisor, JEI gives students the opportunity to gain feedback on original research and publish their work in a peer-reviewed journal. JEI accepts work that comes from classroom-based projects, science fair projects, or other forms of mentor-supervised research. While the JEI website heavily promotes STEM research, the journal also accepts research from other disciplines, as long as it is original and hypothesis-driven.

Subject area: STEM, but open non-STEM

Estimated acceptance rate: 70-75%

7. Young Scientist Journal

The Young Science Journal is a product of the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach, a group that works in the field of scientific and technological literacy through unique partnerships between Vanderbilt University scientists, K-12 educators and students, and the local and global science community. Open to students aged 12 to 20, this journal covers science, engineering, and mathematics, offering a platform for young researchers worldwide.

Subjects: STEM

Estimated Acceptance Rate: 10-15%

8. Walt Whitman Journal of Psychology (WWJOP)

The Walt Whitman Journal of Psychology is a nationally recognized psychology journal run by high-school students for high-school students. The WWJOP is published bi-annually and electronically and reaches hundreds of schools and psychology students around the world. It is one of the few journals at this level to offer a subject specialization in the field of psychology. 

Subject: Psychology 

Estimated acceptance rate: 20-30%

9. Journal of Research High School (JRHS)

The Journal of Research High School is an open-access online research journal that aims at publishing academic work prepared exclusively by high school researchers. It is managed by a team of volunteer professional scientists, researchers, teachers, and professors. JRHS serves as a stepping-stone for high school authors to become experienced researchers with improved skills in the early stage of their academic life. The organization also has a platform where students can interact with other peers while at the same time gaining access to their academic works.

Subject: Any academic subject including the Sciences and Humanities 

Estimated Acceptance Rate: 30%

10. Curieux Academic Journal

The Curieux Academic Journal is a youth-led nonprofit founded in 2017 to publish research by high school and middle school students. They currently operate in California but have editors from across the nation. They are open to submissions from any academic subject, including the sciences and humanities, and encourage all forms of academic writing including but not limited to research papers, review articles, and humanity/social science pieces. Curieux works well as a backup publication for students pursuing research in the social sciences and humanities since they publish twelve issues per year and have a relatively higher acceptance rate. 

Subjects: Engineering, Humanities, Natural Science, Mathematics, and Social Science 

Estimated Acceptance Rate: 60-70%

Publishing research as a high school student is more than an academic accomplishment; it’s a formative experience that lays the groundwork for future success. Publishing offers a platform to share your discoveries, build your skills, and contribute to your field of interest in a meaningful way. Students who undertake this challenge learn more about their chosen topic, but also about perseverance, critical feedback, and the satisfaction of contributing knowledge to the world. The path to publication is demanding, but by following this guide and exploring the many publications open to high school students, you’ll discover that the rewards are worth it.

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The 7 Things That Really Look Good on a College Application

College Admissions , College Info

What looks good on a college application? It's the question nearly every high school student will ask at some point while applying to college. But is there a clear answer?

Fortunately, the answer is yes! Read on to learn what colleges look for in applicants, what looks really good on a college application, and what kinds of myths there are about good things to put on a college application.

What Are Colleges Looking for in Applicants?

Everyone applying to college has wondered, "What exactly are colleges looking for in applicants?" In other words, what looks good on a college application?

While all colleges are different, of course, with some valuing certain qualities or skills more or less than other schools, all colleges generally look for smart, studious, ambitious, and passionate students.

Therefore, your college application should emphasize your best, most impressive qualities. For example, if you play the violin and want to study music in college, you'll want to touch on this interest you have in different areas of your application.

A good college application will also showcase your sincere interest in the school. You wouldn't be applying to a college unless you had a reason to want to go there, right? Make sure to explain (especially if you need to write a "Why This College" essay ) exactly how you became interested in the school and why you think it's a good fit for you and your goals.

You don't need to be the next Marie Curie or Stephen Hawking, but you should be open to new opportunities and willing to challenge yourself.

Overall, the basic point of a college application is to make you stand out from other applicants in a positive, memorable, and unique way.

This fact is especially important in light of how many first-year applications colleges receive each year. According to the 2019 report by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) , the number of first-year applications received by US colleges increased by 6% from fall 2017 to fall 2018.

The report found that "the average number of applications for each admission office staff member (excluding administrative staff) for the Fall 2017 admission cycle was 1,035 for public institutions and 461 for private institutions."

These trends indicate that your application will definitely need to leave a lasting impression on the admissions committee if you hope to get into that school.

The degree by which you must stand out from other applicants will depend on how selective a particular school is. In general, the more selective a college is, the more impressive and unique your application will have to be.

Finally, what looks good on an application will vary depending on the college and what the college values. For instance, at colleges that don't place a big emphasis on standardized tests, a high SAT score likely won't be much of a factor in admissions.

This is just a general overview of what colleges look for in applicants. So what looks really good on a college application? Up next, we look at the specific qualities you should strive to include on your application so you can raise your chances of getting accepted.

What Looks Good on a College Application? 7 Key Elements

In addition to key personality traits, such as ambition, passion, genuine interest, and academic curiosity, what looks really good on a college application?

In general, a great application will have most or all of the following elements:

• A high GPA (relative to what admitted students have) and a rigorous curriculum
• Strong test scores (relative to what admitted students have)
• A specific, honest, and well-written personal statement and/or essays
• A unique extracurricular interest or passion (a "spike," as we like to call it)
• Volunteering experience with measurable impact
• Compelling letters of recommendation written on your behalf
• Work experience, particularly jobs related to your academic or professional interests

It's OK if you don't have every single quality listed above, but if you do, your chances of getting accepted to the college of your dreams will go way up!

Now then, let's take a look at each of these qualities in more detail.

#1: Excellent Grades in Challenging Courses

The first important part of the college application is the transcript, which consists of your GPA and the names and types of classes you've taken in high school.

Most people believe a high GPA (the definition of which can vary at different colleges) will make an application stronger. And this is true!

According to NACAC, 75% of colleges ranked grades in high school classes considerably important. In fact, this factor was ranked the most important of any in the report.

What's truly important, though, isn't that you simply have a high GPA overall but rather that you have a GPA that's higher than the average GPA of admitted students at the college you're applying to.

To find a college's average GPA, search "[School Name] PrepScholar admission requirements" on Google and then click our database link to that school. This page will show you what the school's average GPA is, in addition to other admission requirements.

For example, if you want to apply to Notre Dame, you would search for "Notre Dame PrepScholar admission requirements" and click the link to our Notre Dame admission reqs page , which looks like this:

As you can see, Notre Dame's average (weighted) GPA for admitted applicants is 4.06. As a result, if you're applying here, you'll want to have a GPA of at least 4.06, preferably higher so you will be an above-average applicant.

It's not just about getting a high GPA, though; you must also take a range of challenging courses throughout high school if you really wish to impress an admissions committee. According to the NACAC report, 73 percent of colleges rated grades in college prep courses as considerably important. This means you'll want to take not just basic-level classes but also some AP, honors, and/or IB courses, particularly in subjects you are good at and might want to continue to study in college or major in.

The 2019 NACAC report found that a whopping 84% of colleges ranked an applicant's rigor of curriculum moderately or considerably important.

Think about it: though a perfect 4.0 might look great at an initial glance, if you got this high GPA by only taking the easiest classes available and didn't challenge yourself with higher-level coursework, your transcripts aren't likely to impress college admissions officers that much.

Even if you started high school with lower grades, an upward grade trend is a great point to emphasize on your application. This suggests that you're capable of bouncing back from any difficulties you might face and are willing to put in the work necessary for excelling in college.

#2: High Test Scores

Test scores, mainly SAT/ACT scores, are another key part of college applications (unless, of course, you're applying to colleges that don't require test scores ).

On the NACAC report, 83% of colleges believe admission test scores are at least moderately important. This is why it's vital that you try to get as high an SAT/ACT score as you can, ideally one in at least the 75th percentile for your colleges.

The 75th percentile means that 75% of admitted students at a particular school achieved this score or lower. Reaching (or surpassing) this threshold means that you're scoring higher than most other admitted applicants are—and well above that college's average score.

To find the middle 50% (that is, the 25th and 75th percentile SAT/ACT scores) for a school, search on Google for "[School Name] PrepScholar admission requirements." Click the link to our page for the school to see its requirements, including its average SAT/ACT scores.

For example, say you're planning to apply to NYU. Here's what the SAT scores section on NYU's PrepScholar admission reqs page looks like:

Here, we can see the average SAT score for NYU is 1440—that's pretty high, in the 95th percentile nationally !

To really stand out as an applicant, though, you'll want to aim for at least the 75th percentile. For NYU, that's 1510, which corresponds to the 98th percentile, or the top 1% of test takers.

Since you're likely applying to more than just one school, you'll need to set an SAT / ACT goal score , that is, a score high enough to get you into all the colleges you're applying to.

To set a goal score, start by making a chart of all the schools you're applying to. You can make your own chart or download a blank template .

Below is a sample SAT goal score chart:

Next, look up the 25th and 75th percentile SAT scores for each of the schools you're applying to using our PrepScholar admission requirements pages. (Follow the steps above for NYU to learn how to do this.)

Once you've got these scores, write them in your chart as so:

Now, look at all the 75th percentile scores in your chart. The highest score will be your goal score, as this is the one most likely to get you into all the schools you're applying to.

With our example chart, the highest score is 1480, or the 75th percentile score for the University of Illinois and UW Wisconsin. By getting a 1480 or higher, you'll be getting an impressive score not just for these two schools, school but also for Marquette and MSU, thereby raising your chances of getting into all colleges you're applying to.

#3: Sincere, Specific, and Well-Written Essays

The personal statement is an important part of your college application as it's one of the only areas where you can really showcase your personality.

According to the 2019 NACAC survey, 56% of schools consider application essays moderately or considerably important. While some colleges don't require essays , those that do usually place at least moderate importance on them.

So how can you ensure your essay will impress the admissions committee? Generally, colleges are looking for three main qualities in a personal essay:

• Honesty: What you write about should have actually happened to you and should be how you actually feel. Exaggerating details and outright lying are big no-nos here!
• Specificity: Using concrete details to effectively convey your thoughts, views, and experiences will make your essay a lot more memorable, personable, and—most importantly—unique.
• Eloquence: Don't expect to get accepted anywhere if your essay is poorly written and full of grammar and spelling errors. A great personal statement has a sensible organization, tells a compelling story, and is completely free of technical errors.

Below are some steps you can take to guarantee that your essay will have all three qualities.

Step 1: Brainstorm Significant Moments From Your Life

What you write about for your college essay will vary depending on the prompt(s) you're given from your school or the prompt you choose (for example, the Common App and Coalition App allow you to choose from among several prompts for your essay).

In general, you'll want to pick a topic that meets the following criteria:

• It really happened and was significant to you: If you're writing about a specific incident, it should be something that actually happened and that had a large impact on how you define yourself, your goals, and/or your interests.
• It's specific and interesting: Don't write about a broad, universal topic that can apply to tons of other applicants as well. Instead, focus on an event, issue, person, or struggle that's unique to you and your life.
• It reveals something important about you: The essay is meant to highlight something you think the admissions committee should know about you, such as a personality trait you have, how you overcame some sort of challenge, or how you became interested in a field of study.
• It has a positive lean: While you don't need to pick a topic that's overly light or cheery, it should still have an ultimately positive lean that reveals something good about you rather than something bad, controversial, or immoral.

Step 2: Write Your Essay

The next step is to actually begin writing your essay. Don't worry too much about grammar and flow at this point; just get down your ideas and start deciding which details and examples might work well in your essay.

As you write, remember to channel your inner voice. This essay should sound like the real you, not an imitation of what you think colleges want to hear. So if you're the sarcastic type, you might want to include a joke or two, for instance. Don't forget that the essay is a way for the admissions committee to learn more about you, so don't shy away from your true self!

On that same note, it's OK to get creative here. The essay isn't an academic essay you'd write for English class—it's a story. Feel free to inject your writing with various literary techniques , such as a non-chronological organization, realistic dialogue, and memorable imagery.

Lastly, make sure you're sufficiently answering the prompt and are abiding by all technical requirements (such as length). You can check a college's essay requirements by referring to its application requirements page or by reading the instructions on the Common App, Coalition App, or Universal College App websites (if submitting your application through one of these platforms).

An essay that's too long might get cut off when you submit it electronically, so be sure it adheres to all the requirements.

Step 3: Edit and Proofread Several Times

Once you have a rough draft of your college essay, it's time to polish it up for submission.

The best way to edit is to put your essay away for a few days. This will give you some distance away from your writing, allowing you to look back at your essay later with a fresher perspective.

As you reread your essay, mark any areas in it that are unclear, awkward, or irrelevant to the main point you're trying to make with it. You should also correct any obvious typos or errors, such as mistakes in grammar, spelling, or punctuation.

Once you've done this process a few times, give your essay to someone to read. Ideally, this will be a person you trust, such as a parent, teacher, counselor, or tutor. Have the person you choose offer clear feedback on your essay and check that you've met all requirements. Edit your essay as needed in accordance with the comments you get.

After you've finished all of this, you should now have a perfect college essay to submit with your application!

#4: A Spike in Your Extracurriculars

Almost every college will want to know what kinds of extracurricular activities you do or have done in your spare time.

Indeed, 49% of colleges surveyed regard students' extracurricular activities moderately or considerably important. Ask yourself: what are your interests outside of school and how do you engage in them?

The trick here is to provide not a list of all the random activities you've done but rather a detailed overview of one to two of your most passionate interests and any big achievements you've made in them.

In other words, you need to figure out what your "spike" is, a concept which PrepScholar co-founder and Harvard alum Allen Cheng describes in his expert guide on how to get into the Ivy League .

To put it simply, a spike is deep accomplishment in and knowledge of a particular field.

As an example, say you plan to major in biology. You'll stand out as an applicant if you have tons of biology- or science-related experiences under your belt. Maybe you're part of your school's biology club, or maybe you volunteered at a local research lab, which taught you the basics of handling lab equipment.

In addition to having a variety of experiences and sufficient background knowledge in the field, you want to highlight any relevant major accomplishments you have. For instance, maybe you won a science fair your sophomore year of high school; most recently, you submitted an award-winning invention idea to a national science contest. All of these accomplishments illustrate your deep accomplishment and knowledge in the field of science!

As you can see, this concept of the spike is the opposite of being well rounded, which most students assume they need to be (read the next section to learn more about this myth).

If you're not sure what your spike is just yet, take some time to try out new activities and explore any interests you have, both in and outside of school. Over time you should start to get a feel for what you're passionate about and what you can see yourself committing to in the future.

#5: Compelling Letters of Recommendation

Most colleges require at least one letter of recommendation from either your high school counselor or a high school teacher (or both).

The 2019 NACAC survey indicates that 54% of colleges consider teacher recommendations at least moderately important, while a higher 55% consider counselor recommendations the same. Therefore, we can say it's pretty important to secure great recommendation letters for your application.

If you're asking for a letter from a teacher , make sure to choose someone whose class you got a high grade in (ideally an A) and who is familiar with your abilities, ambitions, and interests. Typically, you'll need to submit at least one letter from a teacher who taught a core class (so math, English, science, or social studies/history).

It's a good idea to also get a letter from a teacher who works in the field you plan to major in. So if you got an A in AP English and plan to major in English, asking that teacher for a recommendation letter would give a great boost to your application.

While you don't have to be best buddies with the teacher you ask, they should definitely know you well , beyond the classroom, so they can effectively explain to admissions committees what makes you special, that is, what makes you worth admitting.

For example, if you did research with a particular teacher, are part of a club this teacher coaches or leads, or helped out this teacher with a project, this would be a good person to ask to write a letter for you.

Once you've secured a recommendation letter writer, be sure to provide them with any materials or information they might need to help them craft a compelling letter .

#6: Volunteering Experience With Measurable Impact

Colleges love it when an applicant has not simply volunteered but has also made a measurable impact with their volunteering efforts. What does this mean exactly? If you have volunteered somewhere or for an organization, your assistance should have resulted in a noticeable, positive change to the group, community, or area you were aiming to help.

For instance, say you volunteered at a local library. Maybe the library was struggling to get funds to continue operating, and you came up with the idea to hold a 24-hour reading marathon in order to raise money. The fundraiser ended up making more than $5,000, a figure that would be a concrete indicator of the positive impact your service had on the library. With your college application, then, you could specifically mention how your initiative allowed the library to remain open.

Note that you don't need to have assumed a leadership role in order to have made a positive impact through your service. That said, college admissions committees are often very big fans of students who show evidence of their budding leadership skills.

#7: (Relevant) Work Experience

Although you're certainly not required to work a part-time job in high school, having some work experience on your college applications, especially any jobs that are related to what you want to study or do professionally, will help you stand out in a positive way.

Even if your job isn't connected to a long-term academic or career goal you have, any (part-time) work experience you have will be great to put down on your application because it emphasizes your sense of responsibility, maturity, and willingness to work for your goals, key qualities that are usually considered important for success in college.

Also, if you have any room on the application to elaborate on your job, I suggest explaining why you initially took the job and what values or skills it's taught you, such as the importance of responsibility or how to work with certain equipment that you'll likely use again in the future.

4 Myths About What Looks Good on a College Application

What looks really good on a college application? Many students think they know, but the truth is that there are a lot of myths out there about what you should include on your application.

Below, we introduce to you the top four myths about what looks good on college applications.

Myth 1: Being Well Rounded Is Critical for Success

One of the most pervasive myths out there about what looks good on a college application is the idea of being well rounded.

Many students assume they'll need to have tons of extracurricular activities on their applications; this, they believe, will emphasize their array of interests as well as their knowledge of a variety of fields. But all this really tells admissions committees is that you're stretching yourself too thin and (most likely) lack focus on a specific endeavor in your life.

What colleges actually want to see is a spike, that is, a single passion. This allows colleges to get a clearer feel for who you are, what you're interested in, and what your goals are. Having a spike lets you stand out in a truly meaningful way, whereas being well rounded will make you forgettable and seem too similar to other applicants.

Spikes are especially important at highly selective colleges and universities , such as Harvard, Yale, and other Ivy League-level schools . You can read more about how to develop a spike in our guide to getting into the Ivy League . Alternatively, if you're interested in pursuing education at a liberal arts school , check out our article on how to figure out what to go to college for .

Myth 2: Essays Aren't That Important

After Time published a 2014 article on why college application essays don't actually matter all that much , students began to fear that all their hard work on their statements wouldn't mean much in the end, if at all.

But while some colleges don't require personal essays , most colleges do require at least one or two essays—and will place a decent amount of emphasis on it, especially if it is being used as a deciding factor between two otherwise equally qualified applicants.

Even though you should approach the essay seriously, it's still generally rare for an exceptionally well-written essay to make up for tons of low grades and poor test scores. On the flip side, if you have a great application but a badly written essay, that essay alone could get you rejected!

Therefore, make sure that you are following all the steps listed above so you can craft the perfect statement for your application.

Myth 3: An A in an Easy Class Is Better Than a B in a Hard Class

Many students believe it's better to stick to the classes you know you'll get As in, but this piece of advice is misguided when it comes to college applications.

In general, colleges prefer students who challenge themselves by taking an array of difficult classes, such as AP and honors classes. And you don't have to get perfect grades in them. If you get a B in a tough AP class, for example, this will emphasize to the admissions committee that you are willing to take on new challenges and test your limits, traits that are necessary for succeeding in and after college.

On the other hand, getting As in all easy classes, though not totally unimpressive, is not nearly as interesting to colleges, as it suggests you're unwilling to push yourself and further hone your higher-level critical thinking skills.

All of this being said, try to avoid getting very low grades in any classes you take (regular or honors/AP). C and D grades obviously won't look great to an admissions committee, even if you got these grades while challenging yourself in AP classes.

If you can't get at least a B or B+ in a difficult class, it'll probably be better for you to drop it and switch to either the regular version of that class or an entirely different class altogether.

Myth 4: Only Perfect Applicants Get Admitted

Many students assume that if they have one little flaw in their application, such as a below-average test score or slightly low grade in a class, their chances of getting admitted to college will be slim to none.

This just isn't true.

Yes, a very low test score or a very poor transcript may cause you to get rejected from a college, but many colleges use a holistic admission process, meaning they look at and consider each individual applicant as a whole. So even if your application has a not-so-stellar component on it, this doesn't necessarily mean you'll be a reject.

In fact, at particularly selective colleges, such as the Ivy League , you'll often hear of cases in which ostensibly "perfect" applicants got rejected. This is most likely because they didn't have a spike in their applications (i.e., something that made them stand out).

Overall, just try your best to produce the best application you can, and then hope for a good result!

Takeaways: What Looks Good on a College Application

Applying to college is tough, and knowing what to put on your applications to make yourself stand out is even tougher. What looks really good on a college application?

Generally speaking, colleges want to see your passion, intellectual curiosity, willingness to challenge yourself, and academic accomplishments.

More specifically, though, colleges typically prefer applicants who have most or all of the following characteristics:

• Good grades and a challenging course load
• Strong test scores
• Honest, specific, and eloquent essays
• A spike in your extracurricular activities
• Compelling letters of recommendation
• Volunteer experience with clear impact on the groups or places you've helped
• Any relevant or impactful work experience

Finally, as you apply to college and try to think of good things to put on a college application, make sure you're aware of the following truths about the application process:

• It's better to have a spike than to be well rounded
• Essays are important!
• A B in a hard course is more impressive than an A in an easy course
• You can still get into your dream school even if your application isn't perfect

What's Next?

A great college application will get you admitted. Use our college acceptance calculator to get an estimated percentage of your chance of getting into your dream school, based on your SAT or ACT score and GPA.

One thing a great college application can have is a high SAT or ACT score. Get expert tips in our guides on how to get a perfect 36 on the ACT and how to get a perfect 1600 on the SAT .

Need help figuring out which colleges to apply to? Our guide teaches you how to narrow down your college choices so that you're applying to the best schools for you.

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Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

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Educational resources and simple solutions for your research journey

5 Best Apps for Researchers: Apps that Every Researcher Should Know About

Today, one need not physically visit a library and take down notes on sheaves of paper (which are apt to fly about or clutter one’s workspace!). Various online tools and software applications (apps) have made our lives easier, especially the many helpful apps for researchers.

The use of apps to ease workload, manage time, or spark creativity are rapidly becoming de rigueur in all areas of work. In academia too, several apps for researchers are designed to help with daily activities, such as collecting and organizing resources, managing collaborative projects, maintaining daily and longer-term schedules, searching for and reading articles, and staying updated on multidisciplinary topics related to a study domain.

Here, I describe some of the best apps for researchers that can are available for free and can simplify both day-to-day tasks and research-related activities.

• Trello: Streamline individual and collaborative projects

Researchers need to keep track of various activities to optimize their productivity. A useful app for researchers, Trello  is a user-friendly app wherein one can create work boards for different projects and populate them with tasks. The user can assign deadlines and keep updating ongoing progress. Work boards can be shared with all team members, thereby smoothening collaborative working.

Trello offers tools to coordinate tasks among members working remotely or disparately, say, team members on the field and those in the lab. This is a particularly useful app for researchers involved in large projects, working with researchers situated across the globe. With this app you can track team projects and monitor in detail the progress of tasks under way. This can be counted among the best apps for researchers as it enables the visualization of workflows, providing team members with a comprehensive overview of a project from beginning to end. Integration with other applications allows users to access features in Gmail or other apps directly from Trello.

Key features

• Easy to use app for researchers
• Flexible and versatile
• Helps manage collaborative projects
• Evernote: Organize your thoughts and ideas

Are you still relying on Post-its and notepads? Do you jot down sudden ideas on a napkin in a coffee shop or on a scrap of paper while working in the lab? Note-taking apps like  Evernote  can help you make lists and take notes and never lose them. A handy app for researchers, Evernote helps you store all your ideas and thoughts, to-do lists, notes, and research links in one place. You can keep all these bits and bobs organized by creating separate tags and folders for different purposes.

The  Evernote web clipper  is a useful feature for saving articles, web pages, or screen grabs from the internet. You can save a page or highlights to your Evernote notebook along with any notes you want to make about that page. It allows you to sync your notes to all your devices, enabling you to organize your notes across multiple platforms. Further, this is one of the best apps for researchers because its multimedia features let you annotate images, embed files and pictures in your notes, and even record audio and video notes.

• Maintains notes, articles, and other content in one place
• Facilitates content clipping from the web
• Auto-sync across devices with this app for researchers
• R Discovery: Search Less, Read More

Researchers spend a large part of their time wading through a sea of literature, sifting out the relevant from the irrelevant.  R Discovery  is a free literature discovery app and is a great platform that lets you identify the most relevant academic research papers from top journals and publishers. This reading app for research papers covers all major disciplines in the arts and sciences.

R Discovery offers customized research reading, that is, once you set up your areas of interest, the app for research papers finds the top 3 reads and presents them in the form of a daily feed for you. Powered by AI, it learns your reading interests and finds matching relevant papers. It even provides on-the-go updates on recently published articles through notifications and email alerts making it one of the best apps for researchers. R Discovery offers a weekly roundup of the 5 latest articles and summaries of research articles from trending topics. With this intuitive app for research papers, you need not worry about a crucial article slipping through the cracks when you weren’t looking!

When you feed in key terms, the app “deep-dives” into the topics and offers articles, which you can sort by recency or relevance. It even helps you look for similar papers and bookmark important research papers. Mobile and web integration lets you read your bookmarked articles on the  R Discovery  website. What’s more, to customize your feed, you can even import your reading library from Mendeley and Zotero making this a must have app for researchers.

R Discovery can be considered a literature search and reading app for researchers everywhere that steers you in the right direction during your academic voyage!

• Curates 96+ million research articles, including over 24 million open access articles
• Intuitively provides key highlights, summaries, and roundups of research relevant to one’s field
• Integration with reference managers enables the R Discovery app for researchers to make better recommendations.

• Mendeley: Handle reference lists without getting bogged down

The thought of sorting and drawing up a reference list and formatting the in-text citations and references can make the most seasoned scholars break out into a sweat. However, useful apps for researchers like  Mendeley  take the load off these painstaking tasks and offer much more. Mendeley is a free reference management app that automatically generates bibliographies as you write. You don’t need to manually type references; Mendeley imports and organizes them in a systematic manner. The app for researchers allows you to insert citations and create reference lists in different journal formats rapidly and seamlessly. These features free up lot of time, which can be used to focus on paper or thesis writing.

Mendeley is available in both mobile and desktop formats, and researchers can conveniently read content on the go and even highlight text that they might want to return to. Researchers can export papers from the R Discovery app to Mendeley and Zotero. Once exported, they can find these papers in their libraries on ref managers. They can also connect their Mendeley and Zotero accounts with R Discovery (when they are setting up preferences on R Discovery). This will allow for this smart app for researchers to suggest topics based on the Mendeley or Zotero reading list.

• Helps annotate and organize documents
• Can be used across platforms seamlessly
• Integrates with literature discovery apps for researchers like R Discovery.
• Calm: Prevent burnout and focus on self-care

Researchers work for long hours, juggling multiple research tasks, securing funding, and dealing with stressors like dealing with harsh peer reviewer comments and article rejection. These factors can add up and affect a researcher’s mental well-being and motivation. Some  indicators can point to one’s need to focus on self-care , such as altered sleep patterns. A stressed researcher will constantly feel tired and be less efficient at work.

Calm  is a popular app for researchers looking to help reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep quality, and aid in relaxation and self-improvement. The app provides sessions for guided meditation and breathing and masterclasses for managing stress, enhancing creativity, and much more. The use of such apps can even improve concentration and mindfulness. This is a great app for researchers to use to remain calm in the face of high work pressure, roadblocks in your experiments, and creative blocks when writing papers. A few minutes a day on such an app can help you break negative patterns. After all, a happy researcher is a productive researcher!

• Tracks a user’s basic statistics, e.g., minutes of meditation
• Sends meditation reminders
• Offers masterclasses taught by experts in the field of wellness.

Don’t worry, be “appy”!

Technological innovations like AI are constantly improving apps in terms of functions and user experience. While some apps for researchers help to ease the workload or aid in multitasking, others help in self-improvement and time management to let researchers focus better on core tasks. When possible, one should use some of these best apps for researchers to become savvier and more efficient, getting the most out of their time and effort.

R Discovery is a literature search and research reading platform that accelerates your research discovery journey by keeping you updated on the latest, most relevant scholarly content. With 250M+ research articles sourced from trusted aggregators like CrossRef, Unpaywall, PubMed, PubMed Central, Open Alex and top publishing houses like Springer Nature, JAMA, IOP, Taylor & Francis, NEJM, BMJ, Karger, SAGE, Emerald Publishing and more, R Discovery puts a world of research at your fingertips.  

Try R Discovery Prime FREE for 1 week or upgrade at just US$72 a year to access premium features that let you listen to research on the go, read in your language, collaborate with peers, auto sync with reference managers, and much more. Choose a simpler, smarter way to find and read research – Download the app and start your free 7-day trial today !  

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Critical Writing Seminar: People, Power, and the Environment - How Places are Made - Fall 2024: Researching the White Paper

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Research the White Paper

Researching the white paper:.

The process of researching and composing a white paper shares some similarities with the kind of research and writing one does for a high school or college research paper. What’s important for writers of white papers to grasp, however, is how much this genre differs from a research paper.  First, the author of a white paper already recognizes that there is a problem to be solved, a decision to be made, and the job of the author is to provide readers with substantive information to help them make some kind of decision--which may include a decision to do more research because major gaps remain. 

Thus, a white paper author would not “brainstorm” a topic. Instead, the white paper author would get busy figuring out how the problem is defined by those who are experiencing it as a problem. Typically that research begins in popular culture--social media, surveys, interviews, newspapers. Once the author has a handle on how the problem is being defined and experienced, its history and its impact, what people in the trenches believe might be the best or worst ways of addressing it, the author then will turn to academic scholarship as well as “grey” literature (more about that later).  Unlike a school research paper, the author does not set out to argue for or against a particular position, and then devote the majority of effort to finding sources to support the selected position.  Instead, the author sets out in good faith to do as much fact-finding as possible, and thus research is likely to present multiple, conflicting, and overlapping perspectives. When people research out of a genuine desire to understand and solve a problem, they listen to every source that may offer helpful information. They will thus have to do much more analysis, synthesis, and sorting of that information, which will often not fall neatly into a “pro” or “con” camp:  Solution A may, for example, solve one part of the problem but exacerbate another part of the problem. Solution C may sound like what everyone wants, but what if it’s built on a set of data that have been criticized by another reliable source?  And so it goes. 

For example, if you are trying to write a white paper on the opioid crisis, you may focus on the value of  providing free, sterilized needles--which do indeed reduce disease, and also provide an opportunity for the health care provider distributing them to offer addiction treatment to the user. However, the free needles are sometimes discarded on the ground, posing a danger to others; or they may be shared; or they may encourage more drug usage. All of those things can be true at once; a reader will want to know about all of these considerations in order to make an informed decision. That is the challenging job of the white paper author.     
 The research you do for your white paper will require that you identify a specific problem, seek popular culture sources to help define the problem, its history, its significance and impact for people affected by it.  You will then delve into academic and grey literature to learn about the way scholars and others with professional expertise answer these same questions. In this way, you will create creating a layered, complex portrait that provides readers with a substantive exploration useful for deliberating and decision-making. You will also likely need to find or create images, including tables, figures, illustrations or photographs, and you will document all of your sources. 

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Format attachments.

You'll find several kinds of fields in your grant application forms - check boxes, dates, data entry fields, and attachments. This page provides guidance on attachments: documents that are prepared outside the grant application using whatever editing software you desire (e.g., Microsoft Word), converted to PDF format,  and then added or uploaded to your application. We require PDF format to preserve document formatting and a consistent reading experience for reviewers and staff.

We have very specific attachment formatting requirements. Failure to follow these requirements may lead to application errors upon submission or withdrawal of your application from funding consideration.

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Using Mathematical Models and AI to Improve Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Novel research supported by NCI could lead to more specific predictive disease models

STONY BROOK, NY,  September 23, 2024  – A team of Stony Brook University researchers, led by two scientists in the Department of Biomedical Informatics in the Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) and College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS), are developing a new way to analyze breast cancer imaging that incorporates mathematical modeling and deep learning. The approach will be much more interpretable and robust compared to previous methods. Their goal is to improve disease diagnosis and chart a treatment plan specific to the biomarker imaging and modeling findings.

To better understand breast cancer, researchers center on understanding breast tissue architecture and its changes over time. Breast tissue is composed of mixed cell types such as epithelial and adipose cells. Breast tissue composition directly influences tumor pathogenesis. While high breast density may be a risk factor for breast cancer, breast tissue complexity and changing architecture often makes subtle changes to tissue hard to detect by clinicians on standard imaging.

To tackle these hurdles, co-lead researchers  Chao Chen , PhD, Associate Professor, and  Prateek Prasanna , PhD, Assistant Professor, in the Department of Biomedical Informatics, will develop “TopoQuant,” a suite of informatics tools for breast tissue images. TopoQuant is built on advanced mathematical modeling and machine learning. The team analyzes the structural complexity of breast parenchyma. They expect to use TopoQuant in collaboration with Stony Brook Medicine clinicians to uncover the intricate changes to tissue architecture that occur during cancer pathogenesis, disease progression, and radiation treatment.

The work is supported by a new four-year National Cancer Institute (NCI) $1.2 million grant that runs through August 2028. Both Chen and Prasanna are affiliated with the Stony Brook Cancer Center’s  Imaging, Biomarker and Discovery and Engineering Sciences Research Division .

“This research will offer new insights into how structural changes in breast tissue can influence cancer screening and treatment outcomes,” says Chen. “Topology is the area of mathematics that studies structures. By incorporating topology with deep learning in a seamless fashion, we can develop novel algorithms to capture structural changes in ways that were previously difficult with traditional techniques such as textural radiomics, potentially leading to better predictive models and treatment strategies.”

There are other machine learning-driven tools currently used by cancer imaging researchers, but the Stony Brook investigators say that existing tools do not have the capacity to interpret or explain findings. However, with TopoQuant, clinicians will receive quantitative evidence of changes in breast tissue architecture and how that relates to cancer risk and treatment response.

In published preliminary findings in 2021, the team demonstrated the efficacy of the approach using one of the informatics tools in predicting a patient’s response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. Additionally, the qualitative and quantitative results from that study suggested differential topological behavior of breast tissue characterized by patients who responded favorable to therapy and those who did not.

“Our prediction models will be unique in that they do not rely on traditional post-hoc interpretation but ensure interpretability by design,” explains Prasanna. “The research is intended to not only benefit breast cancer diagnosis and treatment but will also have broader applications in fields like neuroscience. Therefore, we are excited about the cross-disciplinary collaborations this project will foster and the new avenues it will open for medical imaging research.”

Other collaborators from the RSOM include Alexander Stessin, a clinician in the Department of Radiation Oncology; Wei Zhao, a breast cancer screening specialist in the Department of Radiology, and Haibin Ling in the Department of Computer Science within the CEAS.

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The Unraveling of a Protist Genome Could Unlock the Mystery of Marine Viruses

Findings published in Current Biology set stage to better understand the “invisible” ocean ecosystem and its importance. STONY BROOK, NY, October 31, 2023 – Viruses are the most prevalent biological entities in the...

Money Ranks Stony Brook University Hospital #19 on Its Best Hospitals of 2024 List

STONY BROOK, NY, April 4, 2024 – Out of more than 6,000 hospitals in the country, Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) has been ranked number 19 on Money magazine’s prestigious “Best Hospitals of 2024”...

New Deep-Sea Crustacean Discovered in Bahamas

The finding may help scientists better understand the vast biodiversity of the sea Stony Brook, NY, January 18, 2024 – An international team of marine biologists including Oliver Shipley, PhD, of the School of Marine...

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Online dating has unexpected influence on wealth gaps, research paper finds

Researchers found online dating trend has led to people marrying within the same income bracket.

UAW is 'fighting for working people' in America, 'income inequality': Dave Green

United Auto Workers 2B regional director Dave Green says the union's strikes will go on 'as long as we need to.'

From heartstrings to purse strings, online dating has changed the way we think about love and culture, but what if it's also changing the way we think about money?

A recent paper from researchers at the Federal Reserve Banks of Dallas and St. Louis and Haverford College found that online dating may have contributed to an uptick in income inequality in the U.S. over recent decades as an increasing number of people swipe left on potential mates who don't meet their criteria in select areas.

"Since the emergence of dating apps that allow people to look for a partner based on criteria including education, Americans have increasingly been marrying someone more like themselves. That accounts for about half of the rise in income inequality among households between 1980 and 2020," the researchers found, according to a report from Bloomberg .

LOOKING FOR LOVE ON LINKEDIN? DATA POINTS TO NEW TREND

The Tinder logo is being displayed on a smartphone screen in Athens, Greece, on May 30, 2024.  (Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Researchers pulled data from 2008 to 2021 using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to assess changes in the ways men and women selected potential partners in the online dating age.

According to Bloomberg's report, these researchers found that women became more selective in terms of age while men became more selective in terms of education.

"But when the researchers compared that with data on married couples from 1960 and 1980, they found that people in the recent period increasingly went for partners with the same wage and education levels. And while many people married someone of the same ethnicity, people became less and less selective on race over time," the article continued.

THE FUTURE OF LOVE: BUMBLE FOUNDER SAYS AI COULD DATE FOR YOU

Online dating has changed the way the world thinks about relationships and, according to new research, even what household incomes look like. (iStock / iStock)

As people in similar income brackets continue to marry, households are less likely to have one low-income earner and one high-income earner and instead have partners belonging to similar income brackets.

Paulina Restrepo-Echavarría, economic policy advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, wrote more about the research in a blog post earlier this month, explaining that the assessment targeted specific areas such as "to what extent people prefer someone like themselves," "how selective (picky) people are when searching for a potential partner" and "how income inequality has been affected by the degree of selectivity of people," to name a few.

Data indicated that online dating raised the Gini Coefficient – a popular measure used to assess income inequality – by three percentage points, the report found.

DATING APP REQUIRED USERS TO HAVE CREDIT SCORE OF 675 OR ABOVE TO JOIN: ‘FOR PEOPLE WITH GOOD CREDIT’

There are structural issues dating apps are dealing with: Megan Leonhardt

Barron's senior writer Megan Leonhardt reacts to Bumble's earnings taking a tumble on 'Barron's Roundtable.'

"We find that the corresponding changes in mate preferences and increased assortativeness by skill and education over this timeframe account for about half of the increased income inequality among households," the researchers stated in part.

They added in the conclusion, "We find that the increase in income inequality over the past half a century is explained to a large extent by sorting on vertical characteristics, such as income and skill, and their interaction with education."

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AI can help get you more online dating matches

Yourmove.ai founder Dmitri Mirakyan and the ‘most right swiped-man’ on Tinder Stefan-Pierre Tomlin explain the benefits of using AI or human experts to optimize the online dating experience.