Should I Change My High School Senior Project to Something Related to Physics?

[Biscuit]

So at my high school we have to do a senior project. My initial plan was to write a book and then a piano song to go with it but I'm having second thoughts. Although mine is plenty difficult enough I see people doing internships and all this stuff that looks great on a college app. For example, my friend is mentoring at a chemical engineer and he's just going to write about it. I intend on majoring physics and now I just feel like I'm wasting my time writing a book. I feel like I should do something that looks good for colleges and is based around physics. Does anyone have any ideas for such a thing?

 

[berkeman]

So at my high school we have to do a senior project. My initial plan was to write a book and then a piano song to go with it but I'm having second thoughts. Although mine is plenty difficult enough I see people doing internships and all this stuff that looks great on a college app. For example, my friend is mentoring at a chemical engineer and he's just going to write about it. I intend on majoring physics and now I just feel like I'm wasting my time writing a book. I feel like I should do something that looks good for colleges and is based around physics. Does anyone have any ideas for such a thing?

You could do a paper and poster session presentation on some interesting physics recent event. LIke, you could do it on the controversy and eventual resolution of the FTL Neutrino controversy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-light_neutrino_anomaly

It was pretty controversial while it was going on, with potentially large ramifications in our understanding of physics. The final answer/resolution turned out to be much more pedestrian, but how it was figured out and verified makes for some pretty interesting story telling.

Doing a paper and poster presentation like this would look good on your college applications as well.

 

[berkeman]

BTW, when doing a paper like this, be sure to include a number of references to the materials that you read when writing the paper. The more professional you can make the paper, the better it will serve you.

 

[Biscuit]

You could do a paper and poster session presentation on some interesting physics recent event. LIke, you could do it on the controversy and eventual resolution of the FTL Neutrino controversy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faster-than-light_neutrino_anomaly

It was pretty controversial while it was going on, with potentially large ramifications in our understanding of physics. The final answer/resolution turned out to be much more pedestrian, but how it was figured out and verified makes for some pretty interesting story telling.

Doing a paper and poster presentation like this would look good on your college applications as well.

Interesting idea I never really thought about doing something like that. Most people tend to do something like starting a club. I have to write a paper to go with the project anyways but I think just discussing news in physics would actually be really interesting thanks for the idea.

 

[berkeman]

There was also another controversy involving neutrinos back in the 1960s that was very interesting, but it's probably of less interest now since it was a long time ago -- The Solar Neutrino Mystery:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_neutrino_problem

But I think the recent FTL neutrino problem is probably a better candidate for your paper. It's recent enough that it is fresh in people's minds, and anything that involves the possibility of FTL piques people's interest...

 

[Biscuit]

There was also another controversy involving neutrinos back in the 1960s that was very interesting, but it's probably of less interest now since it was a long time ago -- The Solar Neutrino Mystery:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_neutrino_problem

But I think the recent FTL neutrino problem is probably a better candidate for your paper. It's recent enough that it is fresh in people's minds, and anything that involves the possibility of FTL piques people's interest...

I might just end up discussing the history of neutrinos and go into detail on the controversy they cause as I approach that point in time.

 

[berkeman]

Be sure to check out how we make neutrino detectors. Pretty amazing stuff!

 

[Biscuit]

Be sure to check out how we make neutrino detectors. Pretty amazing stuff!

Now reading over this it seems there was just a fault in the machinery. Still interesting and I might do it, but I also might try to do a board on some discovery that way I have something to build up to in terms of structuring my paper.

 

[Biscuit]

Now reading over this it seems there was just a fault in the machinery. Still interesting and I might do it, but I also might try to do a board on some discovery that way I have something to build up to in terms of structuring my paper.

Something like the Higgs.