Research & Competition Prep
Research & Competition Prep Courses help students excel in their chosen pathway, gaining a competitive advantage when applying to future summer research programs, as well as when applying to and succeeding in college.

Overview
Students in Research & Competition Prep Courses pursue academic competitions or high-level research in their chosen pathways.
Courses include AIME & USA Math Olympiad, USA Biology Olympiad, Writing Workshops for Essay Competitions, FLEX Research Methodologies Course (FRMC), FLEX Research Mentorship Program (FRMP), and more.

Competition Prep
Explore these HeadStart Pathways that offer myriad academic competition opportunities:
Research
FLEX Research programs help bright and motivated students develop important research skills over time while building a resume that makes their college application truly stand out from the competition.

Coursework that works
FLEX Research Methodologies Course (FRMC)
In FRMC, 9th and 10th graders learn about key research methodologies from UNC Professor, Ethan Hutt, develop 3- to 5-page research papers, and present their findings to an academic committee. FRMC offers two tracks: Health Sciences & Pre-Med and Social Sciences (Business, Economics, and Humanities).
FLEX Research Mentorship Program (FRMP)
FRMP is an exciting opportunity for motivated 10th and 11th graders to work 1-on-1 (virtually) with a professor to develop a research project from start to finish. The goal is for students to complete either a detailed research/conference proposal or an original research paper suitable for submission for publication. Sample topics include “Economics: Effectiveness of Social Entrepreneurship Versus Traditional Philanthropy,” “Neuroscience: Alzheimer’s Disease, Caregiver Burden in U.S. and Korea,” and “A Review of Racial Disparities in Healthcare.”
Achievements of FRMP students include:
- College admissions: Stanford, Princeton, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, USC Merit Scholarship
- First Place in MIT Inspire (#1 humanities competition)
- Admission to Simons Summer Research Program (top 3 summer program)
- Articles published in: the International Journal of High School Research, the Journal of Student Research, and the Journal of Chemical Physics
AMC 8 Math Competition Preparation
This course teaches students the critical thinking and reasoning skills necessary for the AMC 8 math competition. In addition, they learn how to be more efficient in applying their mathematical thinking. A great course for students looking to bridge the gap between mathematical practice and computation to mathematical application and word problems.