My kid was an ISEF finalist and even won a small bit of prize money. It's never been a big deal at our high school and he was one of the first, if not the first, from our school to advance beyond the state finals. His project was completely self-driven with off the shelf parts or tools he designed and 3D printed.

I was amazed/disgusted to see finalists partnered with the JPL and working with NASA partnerships and university labs when my kid tinkered mostly solo in our garage or his bedroom. It really made me proud of what he was able to accomplish.