What can I do?

simfish
Tue, 19 Apr 2005 17:18:00 +0000

Oh, so going to private prep schools does really help. I always thought that “going above and beyond” was Caltech’s primary factor in admissions, provided that the applicant was academically qualified and that more was expected out of prep school applicants (true to some extent, but not overly so). On the other hand however, it’s probably less of a factor for prep schools because it’s much harder to go above and beyond in prep school with more homework and advanced courses.

Getting started on research almost always involves the help of a professor and is usually easiest with a summer program such as HSHSP/UFlorida SSTP. If you’re really really into a particular topic and know enough about it to suggest a novel but not overambitious idea such as one Siemens semifinalist I know, then it involves getting started and e-mailing a professor primarily for the lab space.