<p>I have noticed that Vanderbilt does pretty well with the Goldwater awards. This is a national scholarship competition for students in math, science and engineering and is based very largely on research performed during undergraduate years. Students are nominated and apply halfway through either sophomore or junior year. I know several sophomores have won this scholarship the last couple of years. One was a math major, one chemistry (I think), a couple engineering majors. I think as many as half have been sophomores, rather than juniors. That means they must have started research during freshman year, or at latest, during the summer after freshman year.</p>