Please tell me colleges’ AOs can see through this most recent addition to the admissions scam playbook? More and more I’m seeing kids claiming to publish research, when it’s so obviously a pay-to-play situation. Or are they falling for it?
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Few AO’s have just fallen off the turnip truck.
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Scam? Not necessarily and not necessarily pay-to-play. My D did in fact work as part of a research team with a professor at a T5 university which resulted not only in a (peer-reviewed) publication in a professional journal, but also a presentation as a national conference (with all her expenses paid by the professor’s research grant). It was a fantastic experience for her. Not sure what about this could be judged a scam.
She did not pay a dime for any of this. In fact, as mentioned, the prof’s research grant paid all her expenses to attend and participate in the related conference presentation.
So no reason to assume it’s all pay-to-play. Sometimes it is, but not always. Couldn’t tell you how AOs discern which is which or whether they do.
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This trend is well established now and not so new.
Most colleges are not going to be particularly impressed with high school research as a “pay to play” addition to an application. Science research (or humanities research) as a class in school is great because it’s typically three years, is overseen by a teacher, involves student initiative, and usually requires a mentor. Colleges know that students doing SciRe or HumRe are learning great skills over the course of the program. A teacher can provide grades and feedback on the student. It’s well established.
In contrast, very, very few high schoolers are doing truly meaningful high-level research outside of school or during the summer. It can (and does) take years for a real research paper to be written. Significant research involves a lot of skill, peer review, methodology, etc… As an illustration, my kid is a researcher. It’s a full time job, literally. She began working in 2020 and has papers that are still in the process of being published.
To answer your question, I don’t think most AO’s are terribly impressed with most “research” conducted by high schoolers outside of school, but I do think there can be a number of factors at play that might make any research more impactful. There are probably a small number of students out there who really are doing something very meaningful. I definitely do not think students should be rushing to sign up for summer research at the expense of better activities that they might be much more interested in. And I don’t think students need to freak out if they haven’t got research on their application.
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This really isn’t a new trend, we had another thread about it last year here: ProPublica article about pay-to-play “research”
I’ll say a few things as someone whose kid did research at a college lab in HS (not published, not thru a paid provider), as well as someone who has been a college counselor and now reads applications.
Students can gain skills and benefit from doing research in HS, whether they get that gig by contacting profs, networking with friends/neighbors/etc, or paying one of the research providers for it (Polygence, Lumiere, et al). Not all students live close to a university, so if they want to do research it would have to be remote/likely thru one of the paid providers.
When students include research as an activity, they often do not say how they sourced the opportunity…so an app reader would never know it was thru Polygence, for example. Sometimes I check the publication (which requires typing in any website address the student entered in their common app because a hotlink is not a thing in common app), sometimes I don’t.
I don’t see anything per se wrong with paying for a research opportunity. Yes, it favors the relatively affluent like most of the other components of college apps. I like to see what the student reports they got out of the experience and/or what impact the research made. Some students’ are doing meaningful research and that tends to be obvious (for example Regeneron ISEF winners).
One other benefit of the paid research providers is that it’s a way for PhD/post-docs to make some money, which many may not realize. So, pay to play is not all bad, nor is it a red flag on someone’s app. With that said, students certainly don’t need to be doing research in HS. If they have the opportunity, and it’s something they are interested in doing, go for it. If not, it’s not a weakness on their app.
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If a student lists research on their app and it isn’t through SciRe or HumRe at school, do you assume it’s a pay to play program, barring obvious examples such as Regeneron? Would love to hear your insight on if these programs are viewed as impactful, or do you just go by what they got out of it?
I would expect that if a student was doing pretty high level research, as per your example, that would be apparent. If it seems as though the research is via a “pay to play” opportunity, would you equate that with being on par with, for example, a summer program for college credit? Do you, as an application reader, view research more positively than an ordinary teen job or volunteer position? Or is it generally viewed as just another activity?
I have never heard of those!
I’m just one person but for me it’s mostly what they got out of it. It is obvious when it’s truly impactful research because the student may have awards that go along with it and/or a college prof LoR that gives more details.
I would say (generally) the same as any other EC. In our reader training we are taught to recognize our biases. Paid work is valued as much as other ECs. Leadership in paid work, like shift leader, is highly valued. We definitely look at the length and time of EC commitments too.
The number one surprising thing for me in my first year of reading apps was how many ECs the students don’t put in their 10 common app Activities! I learned about many ECs via teacher and counselor LoRs!! 
Yes, equivalent for the bulk of the summer programs (and both a typical EC). The highly rejective summer programs do carry more weight (and some of those do have a research component, that for some students can even go into the school year).
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S23 did field research (different from lab research) for two different universities. It was part of an independent study class and could border on “pay to play” as it was a private school with very good opportunities. He did not list it as an EC but it was mentioned in his recommendations. He has a link to it on his LinkedIn and resume. I don’t think he would have included it had it not led to additional professors reaching out to him to “recruit” him to their programs when his research was formally presented.
When he did mention it on applications, it was to highlight the skills he demonstrated which are skills that are needed to be successful in his major. I think OAs did notice as it wasn’t the typical biotech research and most kids entering his major are going in blind as to what they will face in the field. I think it was a factor in getting accepted to honors programs.
I would think an AO would view research as valuable in that you might have acquired some basic skills and possibly learned something about yourself. I would also think that they take the scientific impact of your research with a grain of salt.
Just like most ECs or awards on resumes, it’s fairly easy to tell if it was done out of passion for the activity or as a resume filler.
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My kids had a similar experience.
My daughter spent three summers working in the lab of a top-5 medical school. But she joined in the middle of a 5-year study, so no paper, but she had much to write about in her college applications. And she ended up with an apparently good recommendation letter from the professor as well.
My son did research for 3 years (including during the school year). He wrote a number of papers, and one was published in a peer-reviewed journal in time for admissions. Another won a major science prize.
My total involvement in those programs was helping my daughter write a cover letter, and driving each of them to their research programs until they got their license. There was no “pay-to-play” involved.
ETA: @Lindagaf, neither of these were remotely related to any school classes.
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Interesting! Good insight.
Maybe I’m misunderstanding your comment? Or maybe these courses are more common in my area? Science Research and Humanities research are offered at high schools typically as a three year course. Students create and execute a research project under the guidance of a teacher. These programs are called SciRe or HumRe for short.
Good to hear about the work people’s kids have done. I honestly thought many students take advantage of these programs in school, but if a school doesn’t offer, then motivated students are clearly finding opportunities in other ways.
Ahh, got it. The high schools in my area don’t offer courses with these names. Reading apps I saw AP Research on transcripts, but don’t remember seeing these.
FWIW, I also have never heard of this. Maybe it’s just something in your local area.
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For those interested, I’d say this might be a typical sequence of a science research class in high school. I chose this school randomly:
http://www.northport.k12.ny.us/instructional_programs/science_research_program
That wasn’t an option in any of our midwest schools although D did project work with an engineering teacher junior and senior year of HS (the school was exploring patenting their device with one of the local universities when she graduated).
Somewhat related - but even as a grad school student the rules of the journal in which I was being published made me list my advisor with my name, even though the work was all my own. Students weren’t allowed to be published solo in this particular peer-reviewed journal.
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Mea culpa. I need to clarify my earlier post. I have wrongly assumed that these courses were common around the country, or that most high schools offered some established path for students to be involved in it if they want to. Clearly there are other ways high school students get involved in research.
I was too dismissive of paid summer research programs. Some are more credible than others. I think @Mwfan1921 ’s perspective as an app reader is important.
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Not common in NJ either. Perhaps a NY thing, @Lindagaf?
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Is it possible for you to send me a DM. I am wanting to transition my career and become an AO.
Maybe. I believe my family members on the west coast have participated in similar programs.
PM sent