Rant about "research" and "internships"

[Anonymous]

Contrary to popular belief, most kids are getting internships based on merit. We refuse to help our kids on this front and guess what - the internships they got on their own are so much more meaningful. Also, no one really respects the nepo interns and they don’t usually get the full time offers (after college).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The whole "research" thing was news to me. Granted I'm old (51) but I don't recall hearing about a single kid in my high school doing "research" and my high school was one of the top Ivy feeders in the country. When did this become a requirement?

For the last 2 years, the unhooked admits to Ivies and Ivy+ at my DC’s big3 private have ALL had published research. Every one.

Published where, though? Sorry, if you say published research the first thing people think of are journals (or at least working papers somewhere reputable) and high schoolers are not pulling that off. Maybe some stem thing with eight authors and the kid did some basic research assistant work, but even then a stretch. I think that’s why people are asking.

[Anonymous]

My kid got a STEM internship at a DC local university. They found it by going to the schools website, looked for professors teaching the subject they were interested in and cold call/emailed asking if they had internships with a "resume". While it basically was cleaning up xcel spreadsheets, they got their name on a paper. Then used that experience in applying to colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing about HS kids doing "research" and getting "internships" to get into top colleges. What does this actually mean? Besides securing a spot through connections, I find it hard to grasp how a high schooler could provide value to a professor etc who is doing meaningful work. My friend's child "interned" this past summer, but all he did was clean the space. How is it that these kids are becoming coauthors on research papers? Especially since many, many STEM subjects are math-heavy, difficult to grasp, and require an insane amount of background knowledge?! Even if the kid is intelligent enough to understand the basic subject material, isn't it a liability for them to handle expensive materials/equipment?

The title was sort of clickbait. I'm genuinely curious.

What did the kid learn while he was at the internship?

Are those things that kids who didn't have a similar experience learn?

Does his willingness to do that internship and extra work indicate his seriousness about the subject?

Would a reference from those academics/professionals count as a pre-qualification to the admissions officers?

This isn't really a complicated thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid did a "real" internship this summer in NYC at a nonprofit - wrote an application, interviewed, got paid - but the work itself was just basic work. He would have gotten just as much out of working the counter at Chipotle or a summer camp or whatever.

For many kids starting out, the reference is what they hope to gain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I separate the two: many internships can be real/valuable.

As for research, money almost always changes hands and the credential is purchased. The key example of this is hiring Crimson to help your kid. They are a venture backed, for profit college consulting firm that has international offices. They have these gigs all lined up (for a hefty fee, of course) and the kid just slots on the team. Doesn’t do much. Voila! Research.

I am overseas. They have this one guy in a local FB parents forums who posts as if he is a parent. He just has this great idea for you! I think they are popping up everywhere. It’s so gross.

I have never heard of money changing hands to give someone a research opportunity. (And I am a scientist, and the parent of a scientist).

Sounds like some level of corruption that goes on overseas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not a thing.

There are some universities that have established programs to give these opportunities to high school students, but those are structured, competitive, and clearly established program. There are also high schools that have connections with certain places for internships (MCPS + NIH or UMD, for example). It really is not a thing that a kid can send an email to a prof, get hired, get their name included on papers (which take YEARS to get published...they'd have to get their name on it in 8th grade to make it to publication in time for college applications) and get into college this way.

Couple of reasons:
- there are so many college students competing for these things
- grants don't work like this; you can't just use a random high schooler for research or work
- liability
- no one unaffiliated with a university is going to get hired for a student worker job many of which are federal work study or open to certain types of enrolled students

If someone has a dad there and just tags along and helps clean lab equipment and gets SSL hours or writes about the experience and enriching conversation, maybe. Maybe. But it's not a job. And if someone tells you it is they are either in one of these programs or they are embellishing a glorified take your kid to work day.

There are pay to publish journals (including student journals that don't pretend to be real research journals) that will publish in 3 months or less.

Think of it more like "getting published in poetry magazine" than "published in Nature"

Couple of things. Any academic knows that certain journals mean something and others don't. Which I get is what you're saying. So why would it matter to publish in a pay-to-publish if you're submitting this to academic-adjacent admissions officers?

Also, poetry journals can be very competitive. Ask me how I know.

[Anonymous]

Being like 4th author in JACS isn't out of the realm of possibility, though.

[Anonymous]

I am concerned about young kids wasting their childhoods trying to do adult things like publish papers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am concerned about young kids wasting their childhoods trying to do adult things like publish papers.

You can do independent research on whatever you want at our high school as an AP class. It’s not all that hard. And this is a student thing, not an adult thing. Getting published is always hard but possible.