Research experience during high school

[StenoLubr]

Hi,

 

I was just wondering if it is okay to include my research experience in my sop and C.V

I read that I shouldn't talk about anything before college, but my first research experience happened in high school at Stanford University. (through a highschool research program between my high school and stanford)

 

Although I was just a research assistant who did minimal things, I was able to learn about research and how i liked them.

 

I am planning to talk briefly about them in my research experience paragraph in SOP and include it on my C.V as my other college research experience. 

 

any thoughts on this matter?

 

Thanks

Edited October 22, 2014 by kingwd

[Monochrome Spring]

You can include this. It is still research experience and it influenced your decision to pursue a higher research degree.

[Quantum Buckyball]

No, you should not include anything from high school in your CV for grad school applications. You should only focus on what you have done or achieved since you started undergrad. My PI is on the admission committee and I've heard so many bizarre stuff people included in their SOPs  .

[bsharpe269]

I think it is fine to include if it is your main research experience. The point of the SOP is to supplement your CV, not to basically tell your CV in story form which I think too many people do. If you want to talk in detail about this experience because it is related to your research interests then sure, discuss it. If it isnt that related and you are just going to write a couple sentances about it then leave it in your CV. Basically, focus on going into detail on a couple things that really influence you in your SOP and discussing research interests, not skimming over a bunch of stuff and restating your whole CV.

[GeoDUDE!]

Your CV and SOP are two different things: a CV is a historical record of your achievements and skills. A statement of purpose is an essay which states the reason why you are applying to a graduate program. One is a vision of the future, the other is a record of the past. 

 

I would not put this experience on my CV or in my SOP. General events, in my opinion, waste space in a statement of purpose. In a statement of purpose, you want to focus on specific times where you solved problems,

 

Either way, I don't think the adcoms will care if its on your CV, but I have always been of the opinion that undergraduate research experience is weighted much less than people here want to believe. This is coming from someone who got into graduate school because of his research experience. 

 

There are more people with reasonable amounts of research experience than people who can write an eloquent and logical vision of the future. You want to focus on why you want a graduate degree, what problems you want to solve, and how the program you are applying to can help you accomplish this. Unless the research you did before graduate school was exceptional, professors know what undergraduate research is like, why waste space? They are not stupid. They work with undergraduates all the time. 

[VulpesZerda]

My opinion is that it can't hurt you to put it on your CV; I mean, it was Stanford. But I wouldn't put it in the SOP. I realized that you don't have to chronicle your research experiences start to finish in the SOP, in fact, that's usually not a good idea. My first two research experiences aren't even mentioned in mine because I've done more relevant and interesting things since then. That's what deserves the space in that document.

Edited October 23, 2014 by VulpesZerda

[StenoLubr]

Thank you all for the responses. I am just still confused because all the answers are different haha.

 

One section of my SOP is going to be how I got into liking research, and I was planning to mention this high school experience as the fire that lit up my motivation in research (1 or 2 sentences). Then go on about how my next research experience taught me more and more. Would it work?

[Monochrome Spring]

Thank you all for the responses. I am just still confused because all the answers are different haha.

 

One section of my SOP is going to be how I got into liking research, and I was planning to mention this high school experience as the fire that lit up my motivation in research (1 or 2 sentences). Then go on about how my next research experience taught me more and more. Would it work?

 

1-2 sentences is fine. I included an entire paragraph (about 7 sentences if I remember correctly) on events prior to college and how they shaped my motivation to pursue research as an undergraduate. One of the first conversations my current advisor and I had was about those experiences, because he likes to see a lifelong drive. Especially since your experience is research at a well known university, I think it is fine to include it. We have high school students in our lab every once in a while; the entire goal is to inspire them to continue research, not to get advanced lab help. I would refrain from spending more than a few sentences, unless you produced something substantial, however.

[Crucial BBQ]

Thank you all for the responses. I am just still confused because all the answers are different haha.

 

One section of my SOP is going to be how I got into liking research, and I was planning to mention this high school experience as the fire that lit up my motivation in research (1 or 2 sentences). Then go on about how my next research experience taught me more and more. Would it work?

One or two sentences is fine as long as one of them does not begin with Ever since....

[juilletmercredi]

I am of the opinion that YES this should go on your CV, and you can talk about it in your SoP in a limited sense.

 

It's true that in general, you shouldn't put things that happened before college on your CV.  However, I think that doesn't necessarily apply to research-related things.  "A research assistant who did minimal things" describes almost everyone's first experience as a research assistant; you just happened to have yours earlier than most people.  As someone said, a CV is a historical record of your professional life and you record things that happened professionally since you started; you started your research career in high school, so include it.  If you had published in Science in high school you wouldn't leave it off just because it was HS, right?  So IMO, put it on there.  (Same thing about honors - large national honors or prestigious awards, I would leave.  If you won the Intel Science competition in HS, I would put that on my CV in grad school applications, although I might remove it after I was in grad school.)

 

And yes, I think that you can spend 1-2 sentences talking about how you first got interested in science in HS as an RA.  Most statements are looking for some information about when you got interested in research, and by talking about it in this context you show that you've had a longstanding interest in the field that has persisted over the course of the last 4 years.  It makes a stronger case for you being truly invested in the idea of scientific research.

[poweredbycoldfusion]

If you won the Intel science competition or something, maybe. Whatever it is, it needs to be small and act as supporting evidence. I worked for 3 years (~15-20hrs/week) at a nursing home, and I mention that in the diversity application essay (not SP/SOP), but only as a sentence/small piece of evidence to show longevity in my commitment to the human side of the health sciences.
 

 

One or two sentences is fine as long as one of them does not begin with Ever since....

Agreed