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While it's very true that privileged parents/school connections help some students tremendously, good science is still good science. Anyone with a good researc

by Shooter 18y ago

While it's very true that privileged parents/school connections help some students tremendously, good science is still good science. Anyone with a good research idea that can execute well will be able to go pretty far in the competitions. You don't have to have PhD parents or go to a private school to win. I won several awards at ISEF many years ago, including a few full-ride college scholarships. That was before Intel took it over completely. I also won awards at Westinghouse and some of the DoD science competitions. My Dad was a truck driver and my Mom was a waitress at the time. They are 'normal' - for the most part ;-) I also went to a small, rural high school that was definitely NOT known for its science programs. Despite this contrary anecdotal evidence, I'll have to mostly agree with you about the background of the people that win at these competitions...although I can't speak directly to the gender issue. (I do remember quite a few female competitors...?) I was definitely the odd guy out at most of the competitions because I didn't go to a private school and/or come from a very wealthy and educated family. I was also a little lower on the...uh...Asperger's scale that most of my competitors, to put it diplomatically. While I was a geek at my high school, I seemed like an extroverted uber-jock at most of the competitions because it turns out that everything IS relative. It was a very weird (but nice) change in roles. They have some great awards at these competitions. I won a trip to MITI City in Japan, for example. It's also fun...the practical jokes that come about with that many geeks hanging out are amazing! ;-)

timr 18y ago
Well, like they say...the exceptions make the rule. I think what's interesting about your story is not so much that you did these things, but that you were able to do them. In particular, what happened that allowed you (rural high school kid with blue-collar parents) to do Westinghouse-caliber work? Did someone approach you with a great opportunity, was it the result of tenaciousness and single-minded dedication, did you have a Homer-Hickam-style, one-in-a-million series of fortunate events...all of the above? The fact that you're agreeing with us about the overall competitor pool in these contests suggests that your experience was a pretty rare event.

by Shooter 18y ago

timr 18y ago

Well, like they say...the exceptions make the rule. I think what's interesting about your story is not so much that you did these things, but that you were able to do them. In particular, what happened that allowed you (rural high school kid with blue-collar parents) to do Westinghouse-caliber work? Did someone approach you with a great opportunity, was it the result of tenaciousness and single-minded dedication, did you have a Homer-Hickam-style, one-in-a-million series of fortunate events...all of the above? The fact that you're agreeing with us about the overall competitor pool in these contests suggests that your experience was a pretty rare event.