<p>As the parent of two Intel semifinalists, I think a distinction needs to be made here. Most kids have a mentor. Mine both worked with profs from local colleges who met with them occasionally, helped them evaluate their findings, and pointed out where they needed to go back to the drawing board. However, the mentors are not supposed to be handing them the hypothesis or topic! This is supposed to be initiated by the student and, in my view, that is the sign of a good mentor. In fact, on the Intel app there are big blanks where the mentor is supposed to make an honest statement of exactly who came up with which ideas, did which work, and when. Btw, both my kids chose to do research that did not involve a lab, because we live too far away from a lab in any area that interested them. </p>
<p>I was so disappointed to read that article. Outrageous.</p>