How to demonstrate a consistent interest in science

jmgradon
Wed, 08 Aug 2012 13:49:49 +0000

Working as a research intern in a university science lab during your high school summer vacations is a great way to demonstrate a passion for science as well as a wonderful experience in its own right. Our S, who is an entering frosh at Caltech, is now in his third summer interning in a chemistry lab at Georgetown University. He even ended up getting listed as a co-author on a paper based on the lab’s current research that recently appeared in the prestigious Angewandte Chemie journal. He got the position originally by sending an email expressing interest in doing an internship to every chemistry professor in the department. Three responded and each of them ended up offering him a position following an interview. The fact that he went to TJ and got a strong recommendation from his AP Chem teacher certainly helped. Whether true or not we ended up with the impression that many chemistry professors might welcome gifted interested high school students into their labs. Why, after all, should Georgetown be unique? Our sense is that the internship played an important role in S getting into Caltech. And he enjoyed it so much he is doing it again this summer.