Hello, Bronx Science!

We, the Managing Editors, Copy Chiefs, and Editors-in-Chief of The Science Survey, remember navigating the college process last year and understand how confusing it can be. As such, we are here to help and share the insights we’ve gained. It is a time full of change and growth for many underclassmen and we cannot be more excited to offer our knowledge in hopes of making the process ever so slightly easier. We hope our advice helps! 

Best, 

Ayana Chari ’24, Maliha Chowdhury ’24, Claire Elkin ’25, Isabel Goldfarb ’25,  Dara King ’25, Anna Koontz ’25, Pritika Patel ’24, Yasmine Salha ’24, Ayshi Sen ’24, and Lily Zufall ’24

Claire Elkin: How do you find good summer internships in high school?

Network network network! The main recommendation I have is to put yourself in a mindset of thinking about any possible people you know and any possible connections they can provide you with. Do not be afraid to reach out to as many people as you can think of! Being the one to show interest and initiate pursuit will define you as hardworking and determined – qualities that any organization is looking for in an intern. I recommend creating a résumé to send along with letters of interest to demonstrate how qualified you may be. Whether it is a coach, a teacher, or an extended family member, the worst case scenario is they do not have an opportunity for you, and you are right where you started. No harm, no foul. 

Even if you don’t have friends or family who can set you up at an internship, there are so many people at Bronx Science who can help you out. Your guidance counselor is the primary person I would recommend reaching out to. Most counselors actually have a list of internships and other summer programs based on various fields, and they would be more than happy to recommend one that fits your interests. Businesses often contact high school guidance offices directly to advertise internship opportunities, especially at a school as highly regarded as Bronx Science. 

But if none of this seems to work, the internet is your best friend. Simply inserting a field you are interested in and follow it with the words “teen internship” into your google search bar will provide a surplus of options (ex: “teen journalism internship NYC”). If you want something remote or perhaps something local, stick those keywords in as well. Don’t be afraid to explore! Keep your interests broad; you never know what niche opportunity may come up that surprisingly interests you. As high schoolers, we are still actively defining what we are passionate about, and exploring a new topic with a summer internship is a great way to do this. I would recommend allocating at least an hour to just testing out different things you can search up, exploring websites of organizations with internships that may seem interesting, and emailing the heads of various programs with any questions you may have. Even if a site doesn’t have an explicit internship opportunity for high schoolers, don’t hesitate to send them an email and ask. Again, showing interest and action is so important! Initiating communication makes a great first impression. 

There are also a lot of websites that are catered to helping students find summer opportunities. StandOutConnect is a great example of a free, accessible database of a multitude of internships for high school students. You can filter the options based on time of year, age, interest, and location, and it will give you a list of possible internships across the country you can apply for. 

Summer internships are a great way to grow experience in a field you may be interested in, but remember that they are also a way to explore and develop new interests! Be open to any summer opportunities that may come your way, and make sure to showcase persistence, exploration, and enthusiasm in pursuit of an internship. 

Dara King: How do I figure out what I want to do with my life at such a young age? What do I tell my parents if I don’t want to pursue what they think I should? 

During these days, at the ripe age of 16 or 17, it is expected that a student has the next ten to twenty years planned out ahead of them. This is an absurd presumption in a world where there are endless possibilities for people these days, each with their own unique and alluring points. Humans are bound by nature to try a diverse range of experiences in order to find their passion The truth is, there is no pressure on you to know what you want to do with your life, despite what external forces you may feel, however here is a comprehensive opinion on how to find your true calling. 

1. Try new things!

Especially in school, there are a multitude of clubs, sports, and classes that you can try and see if you like. Even if you’re a junior or senior, it’s never too late to take up the endless choices offered by Bronx Science. Outside of school, you can try a new hobby or volunteer at some local organizations. In New York City, there is a constant cycle of activity and opportunity, many of which are free or discounted for New York City students. 

      2. Understand your needs for happiness.

Everyone wants different things out of life; being able to understand what makes you happy, without the influence of others, can help you achieve your goals. For example, a student who is always on the go most likely wouldn’t want to work a 9-5 for the rest of their life, so they may opt for life paths that involve more exercise. It becomes easier to narrow down the job possibilities, tailored to your personal interests and happiness, when you make yourself a priority. 

     3. Look at patterns in your life that can define you.

Understanding how the environment around you can impact your problems can help you solve them. Knowledge of how the different environments that you interact with throughout the day affect you can allow  you to understand where you best fit into the job sphere. Seeing similarities between different locations, such as home and school, can help you discern where you fit best in the workspace and open up new prospects that you would have never thought about before.

     4. Understand what you don’t like and don’t want. 

Sometimes, it can be difficult to discern what you really want to pursue, however, we often know exactly what we don’t like. This can be a good starting point to narrow down the list of jobs that could interest you. It can also open your eyes up to what is truly  important in your future career, which may not have been clear before. 

All in all, it is most important to remember that you have the rest of your life ahead of you to find out who you are and what you want to do with your life. 

Now, say you know what you want to do and it is a clear path in your mind; there’s just one roadblock: your parents. In homes where the end-all-be-all is determined by your parents, it may seem difficult to imagine a life not dictated  by them, let alone confront them with your true thoughts. It’s a sensitive topic, but it’s important to keep in mind the opinions of both parties involved. 

Starting off, it’s good to have an open and honest conversation with your parents. Calmly explaining to them your reasoning for your decisions can lead to a much less stressful experience than if you were to expect them to immediately accept your point of view. Seeing that doing what you enjoy can lead to much more success, rather than trying to live up to someone else’s expectations, is important. Additionally, hearing your parents’ side of the story leads to a more open discussion that allows you to get some insight into their thought-processes and concerns. 

Make sure to reinforce that careers are fluid and it’s more important to follow your calling as opposed to only caring about the end goal. Spend time together researching different careers for you. Be sure to take into account the age difference and how the opportunities for your parents might have been different than what is now available to you, you might have access to new information and career opportunities that never existed or were unknown to most during your parent’s time of finding a career. 

Yasmine Salha: How do you properly ask your teachers for letters of recommendation? Do I need to ask a teacher from an Advanced Placement class?

Typically students need to ask for two letters of recommendation from their teachers, one STEM and one humanities. Choosing these teachers does not have to be a daunting experience if you know what to look for.

Class rigor is an important consideration for whether a teacher should write your rec, but by no means should it be the deciding factor. More important is to consider whether there is a teacher you have an especially close bond with. If so, pick them as the writer of your rec, because the more of a well-rounded narrative a teacher can create about who you are as a student, the more effective the rec will be.

Also, some teachers are notorious for writing really good recommendation letters, so I would consult your peers and upperclassmen especially to get a sense of  this.

Teacher’s will normally announce when their window for accepting requests to write letters of rec begins. You should ask them as soon as possible after the announcement because many teachers will run out of spots. I recommend doing this during SGI, as opposed to swarming a teacher after the bell rings.

Upon a teacher agreeing to write your letter of rec, they will most probably send you a list of questions that ask you to reiterate what value you brought to the class environment (i.e. I participated frequently), as well as reflect on something you are proud of that you wrote/accomplished in the class, and what you plan on studying in college. Teachers will take these responses and weave in their own reflections on you, ultimately forming your 1-3 page letter of rec. 

Good luck!

Pritika Patel: How do I create a balanced senior schedule?

Your schedule can make or break your last year at Bronx Science. In addition to assignments and tests from regular classes, your senior year also features looming college application deadlines, managing personal finances for what may be the first time, and navigating a period of uncertainty. While many of us struggled to manage just classes and extracurriculars junior year, senior year adds even more factors to the complicated equation that is our lives. Thus, having a balanced senior schedule is one of the most crucial factors of success. 

The ultimate goal of your senior schedule is to have it most closely emulate a sample of courses you may take freshman year of college. If you’re interested in political science, take courses such as AP Comparative Government or AP Economics. If you’re interested in biology, take courses such as AP Biology, Neuroscience, or Microbiology. Senior year allows you to have the most freedom when selecting courses, so take advantage of it! Use your schedule to take courses that you are genuinely interested in and want to further pursue in college. However, this doesn’t mean to just take courses in a specific field. If you are interested in multiple fields, this is the perfect time to choose a diverse range of courses that speak to all your passions. 

Also, keep in mind that you still have to fulfill graduation requirements! While these requirements may seem tedious, that doesn’t mean that the classes you take will be. This year, I decided to take Post-AP Modern Physics and it was one of the best decisions I made. Despite being a self-described humanities kid and barely surviving AP Physics 1 last year, Modern has been one of my most rewarding classes yet. I have learned so much from the intricacies of black holes to pseudo time travel, changing the way I view the world around me. 

But while it may seem tempting to take so many exciting courses, keep in mind that senior year presents an entirely different set of challenges. Don’t overload yourself with too many classes. You will need to block out large amounts of time especially during first semester to dedicate to college applications. If you are too busy stressing out about multiple tests, keeping up with homework assignments, and balancing schoolwork, you will find yourself having little to no time to dedicate to the other pressing matters senior year brings. This only leads to burnout, and trust me, you don’t want to go there. Moreover, senioritis will hit you hard. Although we may all try to avoid it, the truth is that it is inevitable. Don’t overload yourself with a class you may not be as passionate about that you will have to struggle through second semester. Take classes that you know you won’t get bored of and that you will find enriching. 

Most importantly, however, senior year is supposed to be fun! It is your last year of being at Bronx Science, so make sure to make the most of it! If you’re thinking about dropping lunch, keep it — use it to take a much-needed break from school. Keeping your lunch break provides a valuable opportunity to unwind, socialize with friends, and recharge for the rest of the day. Plus, many fun events hosted by the S.O. and Senior Council take place during lunch periods. At the end of the day, creating a balanced senior schedule is just as important as any other element of senior life. Whatever decisions you make, make sure that they are true to you. 

Lily Zufall: As a junior, when should I start writing my college essay? 

The college essay prompts really don’t change year to year (and, quite honestly, your essay doesn’t really need to fit any of the prompts exactly; they’re more of a starting point), so I would definitely recommend getting started during the summer before senior year. I had it in my head that I would write the whole essay (and all my supplemental ones) over the summer and be completely finished by the first day of school, and while that didn’t happen, I was definitely grateful for the time I spent thinking over my essay and exploring potential topics.

Even if you think an idea won’t work or is not that good, there’s no harm in writing it down and thinking it through, so definitely start recording your ideas as you begin to think about the essay. I found that coming up with a topic was the hardest part, so any bits and pieces you come up with could come in handy later on. The most important thing is that your essay really says something about who you are as a person.

Additionally, you are going to have to go through MANY rounds of revisions and edits and rewrites. My essay topic barely changed from August to November, but the first draft is practically unrecognizable because of how much rearranging, rewriting, and editing I did to it. This is a big reason why I would highly recommend working on the essay over the summer, because even if you think you have a full draft and you feel good about it in September, odds are you are not finished yet. By finishing the brainstorming and drafting phases early, you are putting yourself in a great  position to be able to focus fully on polishing up your essay without the added stress of not knowing what you’re planning to write about. Throughout the spring of your junior year you can start thinking about potential topics and letting ideas marinate in your head, but it’s not until over the summer that I would really recommend you start putting pen to paper and writing out your essay.

Ayshi Sen: How do I know which college is my dream college? / What are the most important factors in choosing what college you want to go to? How can you know one will be a good fit? 

Picking your “dream college” can be a daunting task. Mainly because dream colleges don’t really exist. When researching colleges, there are so many different factors to take into account like location, available majors, extracurriculars, and cost, that the college search process becomes more about the “fit.” 

For researching colleges, I recommend creating a spreadsheet with factors that matter the most to you. This can be broken down into two categories: academics and non-academic factors. For academics, consider whether or not you want to attend a college that is more liberal arts or pre-professional. Then, look at whether or not the school has your intended majors. Look into the classes they have to offer. If you are planning on double majoring or minoring, do they have that? Usually, you want to choose a college that has multiple majors you’re interested in because you will grow throughout college and your interests will change. You may not graduate with the same major as you apply for. After all, you are not the same person today as you were freshman year of high school. Second, consider whether or not the college has extracurriculars you’re interested in. If you want to do research, are there professors you want to work with? Does the school provide you with undergraduate research funding? 

You also want to look at the school culture. For instance, a large state school such as University of Michigan is known for its school pride, whereas Columbia, due to its location in New York City, has a well established hustle culture where your social life consists of the city as a whole rather than the actual campus. Consider if you are interested in Greek life and if that is important to you in a school.

After you have established factors important to you, begin your research into different colleges. Being a Bronx Science student, it may be easy to fall into the trap of googling college rankings and picking the top 20 colleges and adding them to your college list, but building a well balanced list requires time and effort. A college that may be a great fit for your friend, might not be the best fit for you. I recommend visiting schools whenever possible. Recently, Bronx Science has been providing increasingly more opportunities to travel to different universities for tours. There is no better way than getting to know a college than to step foot onto their campus and see the students go about their day. If that is not possible, one positive consequence of the pandemic is that almost every university now has virtual information sessions. Some schools like Georgetown University even have separate information sessions for financial aid and for each specific college you may be interested in be sure to take advantage of these opportunities. 

At the end, make a pros-cons list for every college. This will help you determine which colleges you like and which colleges may not be for you. You should end up with a list with multiple colleges you would be happy to attend. Reach out to your guidance counselor, they are here to help you! 

Anna Koontz: Given many ongoing challenges the world is facing, including climate change, poverty, inequality, war, and more, how can Bronx Science students help make an impact in our school and our community? 

In the face of major global problems, it can be tempting to think that it takes an enormous amount of effort to make substantial change. And while that’s not wrong, it’s also unfair to expect yourself to be able to completely solve something that is deeply rooted in society. Starting with small steps can often be more realistic and allow you to later pick up momentum towards addressing a specific issue. 

Let’s say you’re passionate about climate change. In Bronx Science, there are several environmentally oriented clubs and classes. Consider joining Green Team, LEAP, or Gardening Club. If you don’t have time after school, you could organize your schedule to include courses such as AP Environmental Science or Green Design. Any of these could be a great opportunity to learn more about the topic and determine how you can best take action.

Participating in clubs and classes will also put you in a better position to raise awareness about the topic within our school community. For example, the Green Team recently trained volunteers to monitor cross-contamination between cafeteria bins during all lunch periods, proving how one club’s initiative can grow to include the whole student body. You could also help or encourage your club to organize donation drives or host school-wide events.

Building off of this foundation, you can then expand your impact outwards, into New York City and beyond. Try applying for different internships and programs related to your topic of interest. You could also consider creating your own non-profit or fundraiser. If you have a particular project in mind that you’re excited about but feels unfeasible, consider applying for this year’s Brunner Awards to receive financial aid from the Alumni Foundation. Our school and city offer endless resources and opportunities that you should take advantage of.

However, it’s important to circle back to my first point: starting small. You don’t need to dedicate all your time and energy towards something or be a famous activist like Greta Thunberg to make a difference. Familiarize yourself with the topic, research ways that you can help locally, and share about it with others – that’s already a great start. From there, you could dive deeper into exploring solutions, but if you feel like you don’t have the bandwidth to do so at the moment, that’s okay. Maybe your small actions will have inspired others to join the cause, multiplying the impact of your initial efforts. 

Isabel Goldfarb: Can using CHAT GPT potentially enhance learning?

ChatGPT is a tool that is meant to be used to generate ideas and give you inspiration. In the context of school work, ChatGPT does a great job of simplifying and explaining complicated subjects and can definitely be used to fill gaps of knowledge. Its ability to understand and generate human-like text allows it to offer instant feedback and clarifications on a wide range of topics. However, I would avoid ChatGPT when it comes to explaining any advanced math or physics topic as it tends to misinterpret and explain the wrong concepts. Additionally, I would avoid ChatGPT when it comes to writing any text based essay such as a DBQ or LEQ in history courses. Even though it seems like ChatGPT can save loads of time that would have otherwise been spent writing essays, ChatGPT has trouble understanding the AP format and after being prompted ends up altering the original texts. Using ChatGPT for anything other than ideas would be a detriment to not only your learning but also your grades as some teachers occasionally use plagiarism detectors that look for A.I.. 

What A.I. tools like ChatGPT can be useful for generating interview prompts or essay ideas. When it comes to interviews for in school or out of school activities, ChatGPT does an excellent job in generating questions and altering your responses to make them more compelling. Additionally, ChatGPT can be helpful when it comes to creative writing assignments. While ChatGPT’s writing should not be quoted directly because of its rigidness (and academic dishonesty), it does a great job suggesting a story structure and giving the writer interesting ways to tweak their pre-existing ideas. 

Ayana Chari: What is the best way to manage school work and college applications? 

Junior year is notorious for being the “difficult year” of high school. Yet, the stress continues into senior year when college applications are in full swing and grades seem to matter more than ever. These few months are a true test to your motivation and determination. The best advice I have is to utilize all of the planning and organizational skills that you have developed over the years and have all of your deadlines easily accessible. More than homework, projects, or even tests, college application deadlines are incredibly strict and can come upon you much more quickly than you would have assumed because the months move so fast. 

My first piece of advice is to have some sort of document, whether it is a spreadsheet, notes app, or google doc, detailing all of the most crucial college deadlines. You’ll have an ever changing Google Classroom to-do list with all of the assignments your teachers post, but your college deadlines will be clear from the beginning. As you add or remove schools, this may change a little bit, but you will know exactly what needs to be done and by when. 

Next, I strongly encourage you to try and do a little bit of work every day. Of course, there will be some days where you have a test the next day or you are super tired from a long sport practice. You don’t need to devote hours to supplements every day. However, if you try to do something small every day you will progress much faster. On rough days, maybe you edit one short supplement, or draft ideas for a school you haven’t yet started. On days where your school workload is lighter, devote a bit more time to the harrowing work: write the body of your essays or tackle the difficult revisions. When you see yourself working through the initial pile of work, everything becomes much calmer because there is a shorter mountain to climb.

Prioritize! It’s funny that I am giving this advice because any one of my friends could tell you that I am pretty bad at making sacrifices in my workload; I try to get everything done and sacrifice sleep instead. This becomes a lot less feasible when you enter the college application season. It is not one hard week with 5 tests or a debate tournament the next weekend, it is a process that doesn’t have an ending anywhere near. I’m not saying this to scare you, I’m just being brutally honest. There will be many moments when there is no end in sight. This means that you need to prevent a burnout! A good way to approach this is by prioritizing what is most important. Do you need to spend 2 hours on that one math homework assignment? Should it really take you 5 hours to study for this physics test? Usually, the answer is no. It is okay to prioritize your time and not devote as much effort to each assignment because you have a much larger looming goal that requires your full effort: the dozens of supplemental essays that you will be writing. 

The energy required to tackle college applications is akin to leaving a harrowing therapy session and knowing you don’t get to go to sleep right after. There might be tears or struggles and that’s okay! You can’t expect yourself to be able to add an entire workload that seems to be the accumulation of many years of hard work and not struggle throughout the process. If I want to leave you with one thing, it’s that everything will be okay. Yes, it will be difficult and honestly, it will truly suck. Despite all of this, you will succeed. Give yourself credit for all of the effort you put in, allow yourself to take breaks and enjoy the fun moments, and if nothing else, don’t forget to breathe!

Maliha Chowdury: How do I make my last year at Bronx Science the most memorable?

For many of us, it is hard to imagine that we are in our final year of high school and it is unbelievable to think that these four years have practically flown by right under our noses. Since college app season is officially over, midyears are officially over, and college decisions are slowly being made, many seniors have finally relaxed these past few weeks. And they all deserve it. These four years at Bronx Science were not easy, especially since we started off rough with remote learning. Bronx Science in general is not a breeze in the park either; the immense coursework and tremendous amount of homework and tests we had to complete made it hard for a lot of us to truly enjoy ourselves. We are all human and need some time off to do the things we love, but sometimes school makes us forget that grades aren’t everything. 

Now that senior year is “stress-free,” I think the second semester is the perfect time to spend time with friends you made at Bronx Science. Reconnect bonds that you might have forgotten about. Get together and make plans to hangout. School should not be haunting you during this semester, and while it is important to maintain your grades up until June, I think it’s even more crucial to solidify all the memories you made. 

Another piece of advice I want to give seniors: reflect on who you have become. I would assume that everyone believes they are a completely different person now compared to their freshman year self. Take this time to look back on all the events, all the years, and all the relationships that have transformed you to become the person you are now. Where you stand right now will carry over to college next year, and reflection is a good way to bask in all the memories. Some memories might be sad. Some might be extremely joyful. Some might even be disgustingly cringy. But they build up you. Take the time to recognize that fact. 

One thing that I have told myself I would do during the remainder of my senior year is to establish past hobbies that I have dropped. Like I mentioned before, Bronx Science sort of makes us forget that we are human. I for one have spent hours and hours studying and studying and doing homework that I would be burnt out and do nothing but sleep. It is okay to admit that; trust me, we’ve all been there. I think reconnecting with hobbies, with activities you like to do for fun will really make your final year at Bronx Science better. And it is okay if you don’t have a hobby. Try something new! Seniors have that luxury now. 

Finally, I encourage all seniors to take part in senior activities! The school has plenty of upcoming events exclusively for seniors, such as prom, senior brunch, and trivia night. This year is the time to truly embellish in the “senior year experience” and Bronx Science’s senior council is doing everything they can to make our senior year as exciting and fun as possible. Don’t be a stranger to your peers! Have fun, relax, and just be grateful for everyone you met throughout the year. 

It is a time full of change and growth for many underclassmen and we cannot be more excited to offer our knowledge in hopes of making the process ever so slightly easier. We hope our advice helps!