Helpful extra letter of recomendation?

sgopal2 · January 2019

A peer reviewed publication is not the same as a professional journal.

In the scientific world, a peer reviewed publication means a lot. In particular this means that the paper was sent to a group of peers. The editor will pick scientists who have done similar type of research in the past, and ask them to review it (usually anonymously). Then after the feedback is received, the editor then makes a decision to accept/reject/revise. The peer in this sense is another scientist, usually an expert in his/her field.

There are also examples of non-peer reviewed scientific work: mainly posters and abstracts from conferences. These are also important, but viewed as less merit worthy vs peer reviewed stuff.

Going thru peer review is like getting your teeth pulled without anesthesia. It is an arduous process and sometimes takes months. Really surprising that a high school student could pull this off. But it seems like the student was one of the secondary authors. The first author is usually a university academic. Even still this is a really impressive accomplishment for a high schooler.

lookingforward · January 2019

@sgopal2 my concern was that, in this context, peer review is other hs students, not an expert, with years behind him or her. There are many online journals where hs kids can get something published, not reviewing at the level of professional to professional. OP didn't clarify.

canoeriver123 · January 2019

Peer reviewed scientific journal with impact factor 3.25. Named second author (co-author) with a professor as corresponding author. Definitely not other kids lol. It was a professional environment.

sgopal2 · January 2019

@lookingforward: In the science world, everyone knows what peer review entails. But if someone as respected as you is confused by it, then it means that other admissions readers might be as well. I agree that the word 'peer' is somewhat confusing in this context.

lookingforward · January 2019

In an application, the journal can be named. Lots of kids on CC focus on "published" and many are hs peer reviewed. So, the confusion.

nrtlax33 · January 2019

Most AOs don't have STEM background. To people who do have STEM background, those "publications" by HS kids are stuff mostly sponsored by their parents/college admissions counselors/etc. Only privileged kids have access to those "research". Even the undergrad research done for medical school applications themselves don't have much values. It is the lab techniques learned and the exposure to the research process which have values. The publication itself usually does not have value. (if it does have value, you don't need to go to college, find a VC and start a company.)

Helpful extra letter of recomendation?

Replies to: Helpful extra letter of recomendation?

Recent Activity