Join us for a live info session on Tuesday, August 19 at 7PM IST! Register here.
Overview and Purpose
Gearing up to craft research papers and capstone projects? Without real preparation, these run the risk of appearing rushed, superficial, and ingenuine.
When students rigorously read scholarly texts and grasp their significance, it reflects in the quality of their projects, essays, and more.
Here’s how RECO Reads guides students to build a base for sophisticated and authentic research projects.
Colleges want strong readers. Here’s why.
Take a look at this excerpt from a college-level text. Colleges will require you to read 300+ pages of dense scholarship like this per week.
Imagine being in a class where participation affects your grade and feeling completely lost. The best way to prepare? Read with a mentor. That’s what we provide.
Your READS Project
Meet your individual mentor once a week for 2 months. Discuss readings we curate just for you. Create any one of the following academic projects.
Research Proposal
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Formal research proposal showing familiarity with research process, purpose and design.
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Colleges want students with end-to-end research experience, not just published research papers. As every college knows, this always begins with a proposal.
Writing a research proposal helps applicants show a sophisticated appreciation of research provides genuine, rich experiences to discuss in essays and interviews.
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Students planning to write a research paper in the short term.
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Curated scholarly articles and primary sources in your chosen topic.
Online Written Content
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Micro-blog series or one long-form blog to publish on LinkedIn, Substack, or Medium.
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Colleges seek students with bold ideas, the confidence to express them, and the promise to enrich campus culture.
By sharing informed views online, students position themselves as emerging thought leaders with the ethics to shape public opinion for the better.
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Students who enjoy public speaking and want to build an online presence.
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A curated selection of media including scholarly articles, op-eds, speeches, primary documents, commentaries, and more.
Annotated
Bibliography
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Personal reading diary analyzing and comparing texts by the greatest thinkers in your field.
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Writing research papers involves reading highly specialized literature, but usually not the most influential texts that have shaped entire fields.
This course helps students show their maturity to wrestle with large abstract questions and their…
Writing research papers involves reading highly specialized literature, but often not the most influential texts that have shaped entire fields.
This course helps students demonstrate their ability to tackle big questions and showcase intellectual maturity and depth of thought.
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Students with multiple interests who want to survey diverse fields before deciding their intended major. Also suitable for students to build strong foundations in one discipline.
Note: This course is demanding and meant for driven students only.
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A wide selection of texts within a single discipline or theme, chosen to help you demonstrate mastery of the field.
Past Project Journeys
Like every RECO student, you’ll create a project that feels authentic to you. Here’s what some of our students have chosen to do.
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Kiara Jain from Hill Spring International School is writing a literary and philosophical online blog questioning the notion of “masculinity” and exposing its connection to power and violence.
This blog is inspired by Kiara’s journey of reading and discussing the works of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Maggie Nelson with RECO.
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Karthik Agarwal from Seth M.R. Jaipuria School, combined his interests in computers, geography, and literature to write about how social media algorithms intensified the Rohingya Refugee Crisis of 2017.
The article is supported by data presented in various credible documents such as the Digital Divide: India Inequality Report of 2022.
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Karthik Agarwal from Seth M.R. Jaipuria School, combined his interests in computers, geography, and literature to write about how social media algorithms intensified the Rohingya Refugee Crisis of 2017.
The article is supported by data presented in various credible documents such as the Digital Divide: India Inequality Report of 2022.
Learn more at our upcoming Zoom info session!
What’s included?
RECO Reads: A Sneak Peek
Watch our students and mentors interact. Learn with empathetic and experienced PhDs and professionals from top universities.
How To Join
Step 1 (Optional): Book a free consultation to understand the course
Step 2: Fill out our short application form
Step 3: Be yourself in our friendly interview
Step 4: Start RECO-ing!
FAQs
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The discovery call is meant to understand where a student’s strengths and curiosity lie. A suggestion on the project option will be made after the discovery call. That said, a student might also enter the discovery call with a clear intention to pursue a particular project.
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Switching tracks mid-way is not recommended because each one follows a different reading and assignment plan. However, this is possible in some cases, depending on how far along the course a student already is.
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Most students spend 2–3 hours per week outside the mentor sessions. This includes reading, making notes, and completing short writing assignments. Like any college-level class, students will get from the course what they put into it.
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No. In the application process, we are looking more for curiosity, humility, and drive rather than prior experience or minimum reading level. Mentors will select texts that suit your child’s current reading level. The annotated bibliography project option, however, is invite-only. Invitations will be made depending on the student’s level, as assessed by RECO. Click here to apply.
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At the end of the course, your child will have a call with the founder to decide next steps, such as publication, larger projects, and integration with the student’s other profile-building activities.
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Students are usually in grades 10 or 11 and are curious, motivated, and ready to push themselves to the next level. Most are preparing for university applications in any subject to prestigious universities in the US, UK, India, and beyond.
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They will need to do another round of RECO Reads. Please note that this will not be a repetition of learning outcomes. The second course (or any additional course) will be completely redesigned for the student, helping them flourish in an entirely new direction.
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Yes. Parents and students can book a free consultation with RECO to understand the program and decide if it’s a good fit.
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Yes, if the student has followed our honour code.
Students in all three tracks of Reads may apply to publish their work on The Hive or The RECO Review – RECO’s publications for high school students.
Students in the Online Written Content track are encouraged to publish their work on Substack, Medium, or LinkedIn. Their work may also be featured on The Hive.
Students can also explore other pubilcation options during their post-course Future Directions call with the Founder of RECO. Students will be guided on how they can approach publication, keeping in mind the purpose of college applications.
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Yes. Strong readers often benefit the most! Our mentors are usually PhD students from top universities. Your child will be assigned texts that are more complex than the ones they have already read and be engaged in deeper, perhaps college-level questions. We customize readings and discussions so students don’t just read more but they read better.
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If you complete the course while adhering to our honour code, you will receive a Certificate of Completion, signed by the Founder of RECO. You may request your mentor for a Letter of Recommendation, but this is provided only in exceptional cases and is not guaranteed. Certificates of Excellence are provided to only our top 15-20% of students.
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If you complete the course while adhering to our honour code, you will be invited to present your work at our half-yearly Virtual Student Showcase and our In-Person Student Showcase (Mumbai, July 2026). Here, you will take questions, gain feedback, and earn a recording to submit to universities proving the authenticity of your work.