fbpx

How to do Research in High School

Table of Contents

Share This Post

The common perception is that research is a serious thing undertaken by serious people; academics in lab coats poring over beakers, writing equations on whiteboards, and shouting eureka. This image, while entertaining, is far from reality.

In this article, we’ll show you the different kinds of research, explain how you can begin getting involved with them as a high school student, and cover what the end goals of the research are. While there are numerous fields of research, not all of them will be accessible to you, though there are still myriad research options available to you, both independently and collaboratively.

Fields of Research

Some fields lend themselves to research more easily than others, especially for high school students. That said, most fields will have openings for students to involve themselves in some capacity. Here, we’ll discuss a few popular ones and a few which are likely unattainable for students in most circumstances.

Popular research fields include biology, chemistry, and related topics in the medical field, especially for students who want to be pre-meds. Sociological fields, including political science and economics, are less popular but still well represented.

Math and physics are much harder to get involved with as a high schooler, especially in any meaningful way. Students interested in business and economics usually find other ways to get involved. Archaeology usually isn’t an option due to safety concerns. Finally, some fields don’t offer the kind of research easily done by high school students, such as philosophy.

While you may not find research opportunities directly related to the field you want to explore, you can still find ways to involve yourself. If you are interested in the sciences, however, we do recommend trying to get involved with research, as that stands out on a resume.

Joining a Research Team

The simplest way to get involved in research as a high school student is to join an existing research project. Every college and university has lab facilities because all faculty are required to conduct research and publish it as part of their job description. This does not mean every school will have a place for high school students who wish to participate in research, but universities are a good place to start looking.

Once you have determined the fields you are interested in, your next step is to look into what research is currently ongoing at institutions near you. Universities are good places to start, as commercial labs are harder to find places in as a student, though some have internship opportunities. Look into ongoing research projects and the professors or graduate students leading them.

Once you have located a project you want to work on or a professor you want to work with, you’ll need to take the leap of reaching out to them. Our article on internships explains how to reach out to find these positions.

Progressing In Research

When you first begin working in a lab or with a professor, the duties you will be assigned will likely feel both dull and repetitive, and will not match the excitement you may expect from research. There are two things you need to know: first, while you will likely progress to doing more independent research if you stick with it, nobody begins their time in a lab by directing experiments. Second, almost all research requires long periods of boredom before achieving (if you’re lucky) an interesting result.

The way you will progress in these positions is by learning all you can. This comes in two forms: first, learning the actual techniques used in research, the physical methodology scientists and professors use to conduct it. Second, by learning what questions to ask, and why. Research occurs when you ask an interesting question, and strive to find an answer no one has found before.

As a final important note on academic research: it is often very boring. Even the most exciting projects; astronomy in Antarctica, excavating long lost cities in the Middle East, digging up dinosaur bones in Outer Mongolia, feature long periods of tedious and repetitive work. There are flashes of excitement and discovery, but don’t expect all research to be fast-paced and flashy. Good research takes time, and a willingness to commit to doing it right. Discoveries aren’t marked with a shout of “Eureka!” but rather an investigator examining data and remarking “Well that’s odd.”

This is not meant to discourage you from doing research; on the contrary, it can be one of the most rewarding things you do. The point is to set your expectations, so you enter forewarned.

Independent Research

Of course, you may not have the access or inclination necessary to join an active research project. In this section, we’ll discuss how you can go about conducting research on your own. While the questions you ask and the answer may be smaller in scope and scale than those done in professional labs, amateur researchers can still make important contributions to science.

You should know that it is easier to do independent research in the hard sciences than in social sciences or humanities (for example, doing archaeology alone is considered grave-robbing, and is frowned upon). This is not to say it is impossible, but that the resources available to high school students allow for easier explorations in some fields than others.

Doing research on your own is difficult due to limited resources, and sometimes due to limited knowledge. That said, there are still many contributions you can make. You simply need to scale the projects you take on with the resources and knowledge you have; the more you learn, the more you are able to learn.

The end goal for most research is either publication or submission into a science competition of some kind. While it is entirely possible to just do research for the joy of having done it, having it reviewed and verified by others makes your accomplishments more credible, and easier to weigh. Which science fairs you enter should reflect the scale and scope of your research, as well as its field. More minor or harder to sum up results may work better as a publication, while engineering projects are often better suited to science fairs or competitions.

An easy place to begin if you are aiming for publication is Negative Results research. Repeating an experiment done previously, scrupulously following their methodology, and acquiring negative results, is an important part of the scientific process. Negative results indicate that more research will need to be done on a topic and that the question may not be as closed as previously thought. 

Due to the priorities of grants, however, most university labs do not devote many resources, if any, to redoing experiments to find negative results. This makes it a good niche for students who want to do independent research. Look for experiments done in the past few years, in subjects you’re interested in, with setups you can replicate at home. If you can’t find the full text of an article, reach out to the authors; scientists love discussing their work, and most will share the full paper for free if you ask.

Be sure to thank anyone you contact for their time and effort spent, and if they seem especially friendly, you should ask if the original researchers have advice for your own attempts at negative results. While they may not always be able or willing to devote time to helping you, most scientists enjoy encouraging others to involve themselves in their field.

If you do produce negative results, or if your experiments in another area do so, you can submit them to All Results Journals, which are dedicated to publishing negative results as well as positive ones. Negative results add to the pool of general knowledge by showing what can’t be done or at least can’t be done in a specific way. This prevents future researchers from wasting time by making the same mistakes.

Final Thoughts

Doing the research yourself and publishing it may feel daunting, but scientific discovery is open to all. Further, just because you aren’t directly working with scientists in a lab, doesn’t mean you can’t reach out to them. You should reach out to scientists and professors who have written papers similar to the questions you are working on, both to get their advice, and for networking opportunities. You can use the same email guidelines as asking for an internship, though instead of asking for a lab placement, you are looking for advice, guidance, or merely access to their papers.
If you would like help with reaching out, or have other concerns about doing research on your own, schedule a free consultation with us. We have a long experience helping students find and explore their academic passions, and would be happy to help you discover yours.

Need help with college admissions?

Download our "Guide to Everything," a 90-page PDF that covers everything you need to know about the college admission process.

More To Explore

Female High School Teacher Standing By Interactive Whiteboard Teaching Lesson
Candidacy Building

How to Request Accommodations in High School

High school is an exciting and challenging time, one which ramps up the academic rigor and expectations on students, and seeks to prepare them for

Top view closeup of teenage girl doing SAT test on scantron sheet with pencil
Test Prep

How to Get Accommodations on the SAT and ACT

Standardized testing has long been a very stressful part of high school, and this is even more true for students with conditions which make test

5/5
Wendy Y.
Parent
Below is my son's review. He was accepted to his dream Ivy League school!

From an admitted student's perspective, I am incredibly grateful to have met Sasha - he has been instrumental in helping me achieve my educational dreams (Ivy League), all while being an absolute joy (he's a walking encyclopedia, only funnier!) to work with.

Many people are dissuaded from seeking a college counselor because they think they can get into their desired college(s) either way. Honestly, going that route is a bit short-sighted and can jeopardize your odds of acceptances after years of hard work. The sad truth is, the American education system (even if you attend a fancy private school and ESPECIALLY if you go to a public school) doesn't really tell students how to write a compelling and authentic application. Going into the admissions process alone, without speaking with an advisor, is like going to court without a lawyer - you put yourself at a significant disadvantage because you don't have all the facts in front of you, or the help you need to negotiate the system.

That said, you need a good lawyer just like you need a good college counselor. And that's where Sasha distinguishes himself from the crowd of people claiming they'll get you into Harvard. I came to Sasha worried about and frankly dumbfounded by the college admissions process. I was unsure what to write about and how to go about drafting the essay that perfectly captured my passion, interests, and self. And I was highly skeptical that anyone could really help me. But, damn, did Sasha prove me wrong. From the beginning, Sasha amazed me with his understanding of the process, and ability to lend clarity and direction to me when I desperate needed it. After interviewing me about my background, experiences, activities, outlook, and vision, he helped me see qualities about myself I had not previously considered 'unique' or 'stand-out.' This process of understanding myself was so incredibly important in laying the groundwork for the essays I eventually wrote, and I'm certain I would've drafted boring, inauthentic essays without it.

Looking back, Sasha's talent is that he can see where your strengths lie, even when you don't see them. The truth is, although we don't always realize it, everyone has a unique story to tell. Sasha helped me see mine, and with his big-picture insight I was able to write the application that truly encapsulated my life and vision. He inspired me to dig deeper and write better, challenging me to revise and revise until my essays were the most passionate and authentic work I had ever written. As clichéd as that sounds, that's really what universities are looking for. In retrospect, it makes sense - in the real world passionate (not simply intelligent) individuals are the ones who make a difference in the world, and those are the individuals colleges would like to have associated with their brand.

In the end, I was accepted to the college of my dreams, a feat I could not have achieved without the direction Sasha lent to me. Essays (and the personal narrative you develop through your application) matter so much, and can literally make or break your application. I have seen so many of my 'qualified' friends receive rejections because they wrote contrived essays that didn't truly represent who they were; conversely, I have also seen so many friends with shorter resumes accepted because they were able to articulate their story in a genuinely passionate and authentic way - I fall into the latter category.

As a former admissions officer at Johns Hopkins, Sasha knows what types of essays jibe well with universities, an invaluable asset to have in the admissions process. He is responsive, flexible, creative, positive, and witty. For anyone who is serious about going into the college admissions process informed and prepared, I highly recommend Sasha.
5/5
Arda E.
Student
I used Ivy Scholars to mainly help me with college applications. Within weeks of using this service, Sasha was able to simplify the already complex process. When it came to writing the Common App essay, Sasha didn’t just help with grammar and syntax, he brought my essays to life. Sasha also worked tirelessly to help solidify my extracurricular activities, including research and internship opportunities. Without his help, I would have never had an impressive resume.

Sasha is not only an extremely knowledgeable tutor, but also a genuine brother figure. His guidance, throughout my last two years of high school, was everything I needed to get me an acceptance letter from my dream schools (UC Berkeley, Tufts, Emory).

When it came to testing, Ivy Scholars worked like a charm. Sasha offered a very comprehensive plan when it came to completely acing my standardized tests. Without his test taking strategies I would have never gotten straight 5s on my AP tests and a 35 on the ACT.

Working with Sasha, I didn’t just become a good student, I became a genuine scholar.
5/5
Samson S.
Parent
We worked with Ivy Scholars during my son's senior year. I was concerned that we may be too late to take advantage of college advising but the Ivy Scholars team quickly and confidently directed us through the steps to ensure no deadlines were missed. Sasha's knowledge about schools, what they looked for in candidates, and how to maneuver the application process was invaluable. Mateo and Ryan worked with my son to help him create an essay that would get noticed and I am so appreciative he had their guidance.

Prior to securing Ivy Scholars, we tried using a less-expensive online service which was a terrible experience. As a parent, Ivy Scholars brought peace of mind to an area that was frankly overwhelming. This service was invaluable in the knowledge that we gained throughout the process. He has also met with my freshman daughter to provide guidance for her high school courses, career paths, extracurricular activities, and more.

Prior to signing with Ivy Scholars, I tried a less expensive online service and was very disappointed.

As a result of our work with Ivy Scholars, I am pleased to say that my son will be attending Stern Business School at New York University this fall! I highly recommend Ivy Scholars. Highly recommend!