<p>How much does isef help with administration? And I really want to go to isef next year, but I was looking at the winning projects last year, and I noticed something. They were all really complicated! Yeah I knew they would be complicated but not as complicated as they were.</p>
<p>So I have some questions:[ol]</p>
<p>[<em>]How did they come up with the topics
[</em>]Where do they get the equipment from?!
[*]Any tips for someone who really wants to do isef?[/ol]</p>
<p>Typically, people who go to ISEF have mentors and do their research with them (hence access to equipment, etc.). Of course some people get there without them, but typically. . …</p>
<p>^But typically lose? :(</p>
<p>^No not necessarily, I know of people who have won without mentors. But many people who go to ISEF have mentors. In any case, if you just want to go because you think it’ll look good. . .that’s not really the right reason for going. You should find something you actually like to do~!</p>
<p>Btw, this thread is not really related to Harvard University.</p>
<p>^Not only because it looks good I remember I had lots of fun doing the middle school version. And yeah I know but the people here are smart lol</p>
<p>ISEF, Intel STS, SIemens… are just a few.
Here is a good website
[Science</a> Fair Project Ideas, Answers, & Tools](<a href=“http://www.sciencebuddies.org/]Science”>http://www.sciencebuddies.org/)
have fun</p>
<p>If there is a research center or university around you, see if they have some sort of intern/ volunteer opportunity. Maybe then you could arrange to do a project in the facilities?</p>
<p>I went last year 
A lot of people have mentors and work at universities or in labs, but you can still do a great project without one. I did most of my project in my basement and used some equipment from a local company. If your project is original and really well done it doesn’t matter where it was completed. You need to qualify through other fairs though, so if you plan on trying to enter this year you should start now.</p>
<p>Generally, Intel STS and Siemens are considered more prestigious because they are judged on a national level. If you are in a remote region of Nebraska, it is very easy to get into ISEF. But in Long Island, one can only dream.</p>
<p>My advice is… go for it if you already have a pretty good project. Otherwise, it’s probably not worth your time to come up with an original topic and enter.</p>
<p>It is hard to qualify for ISEF without a mentor, to be frank. If you were going to do your own research then I would highly recommend applying to Intel STS.</p>
<p>To the extent OP wants to know if participation in ISEF helps with admission at Harvard - my guess is that it doesn’t help all that much. A family friend, who is an interviewer for Harvard, point blank told me… “Harvard doesn’t want researchers at the undergrad level - they want students with the potential and drive to be entrepreneurs, leaders and policy makers.” </p>
<p>Now having said that: I think that ISEF, Siemens and STS can be something that will make your application stand out… if you have the rest of the package (scores, grades, rec’s, etc). Also, if you have turned our project into a business, or have actually won ISEF or Siemen’s then that might make a difference as well. </p>
<p>Finally, as to mentors- it really depends on the project. Some project need mentors- some don’t. Lots of projects do well at ISEF without mentors, fancy equipment, and professional displays. If you love research science and want to challenge yourself to work at a level beyond what your high school affords, then you should do a project.</p>
<p>Hi! I won 1st place in my category at ISEF so I can answer your questions.
<p>My D also won first place in category a few years ago.</p>
<p>I agree with everything ALLSTEM said - including the bit about the judges. </p>
<p>D did her ultimate project (after developing and discarding ideas for about six months) SOLEY in her HS lab (even creating specialized tools as needed) with her HS science teacher as mentor.</p>
<p>She would sit for hours teaching herself the science and language - building a decent foundation (understanding the science behind the project) took a long time; the actual experiments (building the research data) took far less; analyzing the data also took a while. All told from the first steps to a final project took over a year.</p>
<p>Some entry level fairs (e.g., Long Island) have intense competition; others less so. But, once a competitior arrives at ISEF, only those who understand the underlying science can truly defend their work. (This differs from the Seimens and STS challenges. In those, a project is first selected based upon purely paper; in later rounds the person defends their work. The qualifying fairs for ISEF require defending from the first round. I saw many great paper projects at the qualifying rounds; if the person couldn’t defend the paper from real judges (most with terminal degrees in the field), that project didn’t advance.)</p>
<p>A trip to the ISEF finals does improve a college application. How much is in the eye of the beholder. As for concluding that a person is only a researcher because they enter these contests, I disagree. Each participant has a different story - my D was certainly not a unidimensional researcher. </p>