With college applications rapidly approaching for upcoming seniors, many are looking for ways to optimize on their final summer before the dreaded due date arrives. Research is a common type of internship students work on over the summer, as completing and publishing your own research can be a big step in improving your applications. It helps show colleges that not only are you independent enough to complete your own research but can provide the possibility of being cited in peer-reviewed journals by professionals. Here is a list of programs past Heritage students have participated in to complete research:
Heritage’s Research Program
The first, and most common, is to join the summer research program here at school. The program allows students to pick their own research project to pursue independently. All the work is completed by the student, and once accepted into the program, students have $1,000 to order any and all materials they might need for their experiment. If you are unavailable during the summer, there is always the option to join the program in the fall as well. There is a cost of $500 to participate.
Young Scholars Program – University of Miami (UM)
The University of Miami hosts a Young Scholars research mentorship program over the summer months. In this program, students are paired with professors in labs to complete the summer internship. The actual experience varies from professor to professor, with some students mainly shadowing, and others actually completing a project in the lab. Students can make connections with post-doc students, as well as undergrads interning in the lab. The program provides students a taste of what university research entails. Young Scholars is free of charge, and high schoolers with experience in science in South Florida may apply.
Young Scholars Program – Florida State University (FSU)
Similar to UM’s program, FSU also has a Young Scholars program, open to any high school sophomore or junior in Florida to apply for. The program varies from other programs including a presentation day at the end of the internship, with students being able to present what they worked on while interning. Students might have the possibility to even publish their work at the end of the program. Housing is included for students from South Florida, and the program is free of charge.
Student Science Training Program – University of Florida
This seven-week course provides students an opportunity to complete their own research project under the supervision of UF professors. Projects can either be completed in the seven weeks students spend on campus or can be a computer science program that can be worked on virtually. This program costs $5,250, which covers boarding and field-trip excursion costs. Students interested in data science or computational biology should especially look into this program due to the professors available.
While at the University of Miami, students are given their own lab notebook and lab space to work on what their professor assigns them. Junior Shriya Narasimhan participated in the Young Scholars program and was able to work with mice in her lab. “Working at UM with mice was a very interesting and informative experience, and something I don’t think I would have been able to do in many other places because of how intricate the work tends to be,” Narasimhan said. (Photo/Emma Colarte Delgado)
