Polygence is a research program that connects high school students with PhD mentors to work on personalized research projects. Students choose their own research topic and work with their mentor to develop a research question, conduct research, and present their findings. The program is offered year-round, and students can work at their own pace. There are some glaring concerns with the program.
What they say are the benefits of the program:
Problems
I received many emails from Polygence telling me that they have extended their deadlines and inviting me to apply. Very strange for a “selective” program.
Many of these mentors are grad school students who are still gaining familiarity with the process of conducting research. Generally, someone who already has a PhD will be better able to mentor you since they are familiar with the process of publishing research.
Polygence’s programs (as per their website) range in cost from $495 to $2,795.
Outcomes
Polygence boasts about the college results of students who have participated in their program. However, it is important to question whether their program is the reason why these students are doing well. Being part of a family that has thousands of dollars to participate in a research program means that the program is only accessible to people who already have a lot of money. Extensive data shows that people that come from families with a lot of money are anyways much more likely to get into top schools.
Consider joining local communities of students and directly reaching out to professional researchers. If neither of these are options, Rishab Jain’s server is also an option, although due to its nature it is a less effective option than the above two. Science fairs are also a great way of presenting your research. Use Rishab’s STEM guide to learn more about how to find these opportunities.
How you Should do Research
The most structured way that you can get involved in doing research is through participating in mentored summer programs. These include Clark Scholars and RSI to name a few. In particular, you should focus on programs that do not charge anything, since they are more likely to be legitimate. However, you often need to have already done research in order to get into these types of programs, which are even more competitive than top colleges. The applicant pool is already pre-selected to be interested in conducting research, and cohorts are much smaller than incoming college classes. RSI, for example, accepts 80 students each year. Rishab has a great video on how he got into RSI.
Instead of costly summer research programs, use this list of 50+ summer research programs
rishabacademy.com
How do I get started if these programs are so competitive?
You can reach out to local labs via cold emailing, since this will get you research experience while ensuring that you are not spending large amounts of money on programs that have questionable value.
Rishab has a guide on how to find a research mentor, and while this is targeted towards science fairs, it is still helpful for general cold emailing where you seek to join a lab. If you struggle to find a lab that you are able to work with, you can conduct your research independently and then present it at science fairs.
How to present your research
Once you have done your research, there are two main ways of presenting it. You can either co-author a paper with your mentor, like I did. Alternatively, you can present your research in science fairs like ISEF. Also look for local opportunities that may not be as competitive. I wrote a blog post with tips on how you can prepare for ISEF.
Deceiving Statistics
While a select few may indeed achieve such feats, the reality for the majority of participants is not as positive. It’s crucial to recognize that these statistics represent only a fraction of Polygence’s overall cohort and does not accurately reflect the experiences or outcomes of all participants.
Try looking for internships, mentorship opportunities, and hands-on projects within their local communities or online networks. If you get an internship, there is a chance that you get paid, rather than the other way around.
Rishab has a video explaining why you should not join expensive research programs.
Conclusions
More resources & opportunities:
Connect with Rishab on LinkedIn
Get 50+ STEM Programs & Opportunities: https://rishabacademy.com/topic
Subscribe to the mailing list to learn about more opportunities: https://rishabacademy.com/email-list. 😁
About Eashan Iyer:
I am a founding member of The Qurios Institute and an incoming student at Brown University. Last year, I co-authored a research paper in the field of theoretical physics. I am also an Eagle Scout and a senior at The Academy for Mathematics, Science, and Engineering in Rockaway, NJ. Learn more about me at my website and LinkedIn profile.
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