no scientific research project in high school?

Quelloquialism
Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:48:29 +0000

From the [2007 Incoming Class Profile](http://www.admissions.caltech.edu/applying/profile):

Popular Extracurricular Activities

Science/Math Teams: 74%
Community Service: 55%
Music: 42%
Scientific Research: 38%
Athletics: 29%

I don’t know if that’s perfectly accurate–they might only be counting people who submitted a paper or something like that–but that’s what Caltech says, anyway. In short, research isn’t a prerequisite for acceptance. Now, that said, it’s probably a good idea to look around for opportunities and try it out if you possibly can, not because of application-padding or anything like that, but because if you’re the type of person who is aiming to go to schools like Caltech or MIT, the experience you get from the research will likely be valuable to you as a scientist.