Reply to Tell High School Students to Stop Contacting Professors

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Reply to "Tell High School Students to Stop Contacting Professors"

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[quote=Anonymous]

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Yup. Students are of course already doing that - reading scientific research and journals. But now that's not enough. Applications for competitive high school research programs, governor's school, etc ask students to describe their specific skills and experience in labs, research, and programming.

The broader point is that, for talented high school students with no connections, there are often limited opportunities to develop sought-after skills. So instead of having institutional support (by either high schools or universities), these kids are trying to figure out things on their own which is stupid and inefficient (and apparently annoying to a lot of people). While I agree that it all seems silly and premature, that is the reality. I also think it's weird that our entire public school system is encouraging smart students to load up on supposed college-level work (APs) beginning Freshman year. But we have created a rigor race. Instead of creating a broader and deeper pipeline of opportunities for students, we are increasingly creating a Hunger Games dynamic where students are fighting over the ever-shrinking number of opportunities.

While I realize this isn't a problem for an individual professor to solve, I think it's important for professors to understand the frictions students face and perhaps have more empathy for students instead of assuming entitlement. 
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I hear you. I think parents can also do their bit to discourage kids from trying to do it all. I really did that with my kid. People thought I was crazy. Kid got into Harvard. I guess it doesn’t take all that. [/quote]

Sorry -- I'd guess zero high school students are reading leading journals. They don't have the vocabulary to understand them.  Even college students start with textbooks, not journal articles, in STEM and social sciences.[/quote]

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