Frequently Asked Questions

ASRP meets every other day in the Science Research Center. Roughly one-third to one-half of all class periods will be devoted to individual meetings with students, and you'll be able to work quietly on your own. The rest of the class meetings will be devoted to presentations and lessons.

Three things: knowledge (how well you can explain (verbally and in writing) and answer questions about what you've been learning), responsibility (meeting deadlines, following assignment directions, etc.), and improvement (a goal you set for yourself). You will assess yourself before each individual meeting and then discuss it with Mr. Dowd at the meeting. Rubrics will be used for every major assessment and assignment.

Yes! Although "science* is in the name, you can also do a research project in math, engineering programming, or even something closer to the humanities or behavioral/social science. Anything that involves analyzing data and drawing conclusions can be a project. You can make a mathematical model, invent and build a device, or write crafty code to do useful things.

No, but you will be taught how to find and contact potential mentors. Success is extremely likely with enough perseverance and flexibility. Students should tap into their network, their families, friends, and community members to make contacts in their field of interest.

No. Many legitimate, fascinating projects can be done at home, at school, or completely on your computer. However, an in-person lab experience is highly recommended for at least one of the summer research projects.

That alone has no effect on the inherent quality of your project or your grade in ASRP. Welcome to authentic STEM research. where results aren't known in advance! All that matters is that your research question(s) or engineering objective(s) are well-thought-out in advance and that you follow the best methodology.

In addition to class time, students are expected to spend an average of 10 hours every two weeks outside of class. Some weeks are busier than others for all of us, so I give the two-week flexibility to complete the 10 hours. This can be done as 5 hours each week or any combination of ways to get the 10 hours. Some parts of the year are busier than others, and sometimes you'll be able to move your ASRP deadlines around to accommodate other classes.

Yes: Many successful students do it. You can ask Mr. Dowd to connect you to some such students. It is important to carefully evaluate your course load with your parents, especially senior year. Maxing out your schedule with AP courses and extracurriculars can make it very stressful and difficult to meet and exceed performance expectations while maintaining a healthy work-school-life balance so be mindful of your capacity.

This varies. One project needs to be done before the beginning of the junior year so you come back to school in the fall with sufficient data to analyze, write a solid research paper, create a poster, and compete in at least 2 competitions junior year (typically the Westchester Science & Engineering Fair (WESEF), and either the New York State Science & Engineering Fair (NYSSEF) or Genius Olympiad. Additionally, a continuation of the junior year project or a completely new research project needs to be done before the beginning of the senior year, with additional expectations of competing in 3 competitions senior year (typically the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), JSHS, and WESEF. If you can do your first project from home or school, and you have a strong and comprehensive research plan developed and approved,  you will have most of your junior year to work on it. All senior research project data collection MUST BE COMPLETED by the end of summer leading into senior year and the research paper full draft must be complete in order to enroll in Science Research III. In lieu of  one competition, a junior or senior can meet the program competition expectations by submitting their research paper manuscripts to a credible science journal for publication.

The only requirement is for the summer before senior year: you must leave that summer open for substantial ASRP work, and you will need to have two virtual meetings with Mr. Dowd: one individual and one with all rising seniors. You do not have to do anything ASRP-related during the summer after sophomore year; however, there are numerous benefits to making substantial progress on your project that summer, and you'll have Mr. Dowd's support if you do so.