Updated: 16th October, 2026 TL;DR Email a professor whose recent work matches your interest, keep the message short, and ask for one small next step, like a 15-minute call. Name a paper or project you actually read so your note stands out. Send one follow-up after one to two weeks, and keep emailing other professors while you wait. This guide gives you templates for a first email, a follow-up, and a thank-you. If you'd rather not wait on replies, look at the Lumiere Research

The Research Archive of Rising Scholars is an open-access preprint archive, not a peer-reviewed journal.

Original research means you ask a question no one has fully answered, then gather your own evidence to answer it.

The Columbia Junior Science Journal (CJSJ) is a real journal for high school researchers, started in 2015 by the team behind the Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal.

Updated: 16th October, 2026 TL;DR AP Research is the second course in the College Board's AP Capstone program. You pick your own topic, write a 4,000–5,000 word paper, and defend it in a 15–20 minute oral presentation. The paper counts for 75% of your 1–5 score, and the presentation counts for 25%. You need AP Seminar first, so this course fits juniors and seniors who want a full research project on their record. If you want to keep researching after the class, look at the Lu

Updated: 9th October, 2026 TL;DR A conference presentation and a journal publication both show off finished research, but they're judged in different ways on different clocks. A presentation gets reviewed fast and is judged on how clearly you explain your work. A journal paper goes through peer review, which can take weeks or months and checks the research itself. This guide is for high schoolers choosing where to share a finished project. Neither path beats the other. If y

Pick a subject you are curious about, because that matters more than one that sounds impressive on an application.

The Lumiere Research Scholar Program pairs you 1-on-1 with a PhD fellow, post-doc, or professor to write a research paper.

Updated: 9th October, 2026 TL;DR Finishing your paper is the middle of the process, not the end. After a research program, you can submit to a journal, present at a conference or symposium, or use the work in your application as is. Journal review can take weeks to months, while presenting runs on a faster clock. None of these paths is required, so pick the one that fits your goals and deadlines. If you want a mentor to help you plan what comes next, look at the Lumiere Res

Updated: 9th October, 2026 TL;DR Founding a club or startup and doing research show different strengths, and neither is the right pick for every student. Founding something shows drive and leadership. Research shows depth and focus. Either one only helps if you stick with it, and the Common App gives you just 10 activity slots, so each entry has to earn its place. If you want depth with expert guidance, look at the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. It pairs you 1:1 with a P

As of the 2026-27 cycle, six of eight Ivy League schools require SAT or ACT scores again: Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, and Penn.

Most research programs run 8 to 12 weeks. But the paper itself is only the first deadline. You also need time to use it.

Cost should not be the reason a student skips research. There are two very different ways to cut it.

BU calls RISE highly competitive and selective: about 190 students attended in 2025, chosen from thousands of applicants, and BU publishes no acceptance rate.

Harvard's Class of 2029 admitted 2,003 of 47,893 applicants, a 4.18% acceptance rate. Its yield was about 83.6% (1,675 enrolled).

Penn admitted 3,570 of 72,544 fall 2025 applicants, a 4.92% acceptance rate, and enrolled 2,420, a 67.8% yield.

If you are a high school student looking to build skills that can help you stand out in college or just explore your interests in a structured way, consider engaging in research. Research can offer a unique platform to dive into a niche topic, examine open-ended questions, communicate your ideas, and use data to tackle real problems.

If you're a high school student interested in medicine, biology, public health, or biomedical engineering, completing a disease research project can be an effective way to explore these fields in depth. Independent research allows you to investigate questions that may not be covered in a traditional classroom setting while developing analytical, writing, and problem-solving skills.

A summer research program asks a lot more of a student than most classes do: pick a real question, spend weeks investigating it, and be ready to defend what you found. That is precisely why it tends to leave a deeper mark than a typical summer activity.

Entrepreneurship research can cover much more than starting a company. You can study how startups use technology, how entrepreneurs raise funding, how businesses respond to crises, how social ventures create impact, or how factors such as education, gender, culture, and age shape entrepreneurship.