Advice Regarding ISEF Competition

Try to setup your project on Sunday, get through SRC and Display and Safety early.   

Our best advice is have fun.  You will be amazed when you arrive at ISEF and see 1500 or so absolutely incredible projects and students.  Of course, the top winner, the one with the trip to Sweden for the Nobel Prize Ceremony and thousands of dollars in Scholarships will say it is all about the winning.  But the other 1499 will say it was about the grandness of the whole event, the music and dancing, the meeting of many new friends.  So, again, have fun, participate in every event that you can go to the mixers, ask the Adults-In-Charge (AIC) who have experience at ISEF, and enjoy to camaraderie of your fellow SARSEF finalists, i.e.  simply absorb everything you can.

There are some rules of behavior, you will get these when you are selected as an Intel ISEF Finalist, but these are mostly just common sense decency.  You must attend the awards ceremonies, you must attend the interviews, & you must be at your display during your scheduled public visit. It is expected that you will wear professional looking attire or coat and tie during your interview, again, common sense, you want to portray the look of a professional.  In fact, at your display, you are the Professional!  

ISEF Rules require that at all times the AIC knows your whereabouts and has a telephone contact, or otherwise hows to get in touch with you if the need arises.  This is critical during the setup and approval stages, where many projects are initially approved only to find later there is problem that needs fixing.  Often this is as simple as your abstract not placed vertically, photographs not credited, etc.  However, these things must be fixed before you are cleared for  judging.  So, just make sure that the AIC can get in touch with you if need arises.  

Also, you might want to ask the AIC, your teacher, or another competitor to practice interview you regarding your project.  You should not have a "canned" speach, but be able to explain your project concisely.  The less you have to pause and think about the answers, the better. And don't forget, trade pins, make new friends, and have fun.