The way to make it into ISEF is to fall in love with your research and to spend lots of time playing around with it. I know the OP is already in college, but for anyone who will look at this in the future please don’t pressure yourself too much. You can work from a university or at home although for some projects you don’t have a choice (mostly soft sciences). I have worked out of my basement with only small grants from my parents and previous years’ prize money to fund my research, yet I have made it each year, won two awards, and am a semifinalist with distinctions in the STS (so far). I would have to disagree with jjj708 on using intelliprep1.com because in my personal opinion that is like cheating. That being said, using it might greatly help you if you are looking for a top place at ISEF since how you present your research matters perhaps more than what your research is at ISEF. Again, you don’t have to use it to do well. I did not use it and I have done just fine. Plus, you get the satisfaction of knowing you hauled yourself up the mountain on your own two feet alone. This is just my personal opinion, and I understand that of others will vary from my own. Best of luck to future finalists and young researchers.