KaitenKenbu

Hey guys. I'm interested in going into medicine so I was thinking that working in a lab for a biology professor would be perfect as a work study option. Can anyone give me some advice on how to approach the professor? I would love to start during my first year if possible, though I know the core curriculum will be pretty tough already. But in any case, can any current Columbia students are anyone who knows about such opportunities show me an approach to what I'm trying to pursue? Like is it hard to get in touch with a professor, would I need to maybe show that I have had research experience (I can show my abstract and paper for research I did during high school on global climate change I guess), etc.? Thanks for any help!

KaitenKenbu

bump bump bump. thanks thanks thanks!

Columbia2002

Research in a lab is generally not work study because it's not a "job." You generally do research for academic credit and you're essentially volunteering (i.e., providing slave labor).

Profs have limited funding and don't need to pay undergrads to work in their labs. There are certain work study jobs in labs that are really menial grunt work jobs, like cleaning glasswear in a chemistry or biology lab.

KaitenKenbu

o i c. well i would still love the experience if working in a lab, so if it's like volunteering then i don't mind. that being said, how would i go about finding someone who is willing to let me work in his/her lab? like i said before, would research experience that i had during high school (i saved and prepared an abstract and paper for my global climate change research) help me in earning a research assistant position in biology dept perhaps? as for work study, i guess ill see what other work study options there are. thanks!

Skraylor

just so you know, i dont know any bio professors that really have labs on the main campus, all the ones i know of are on the medical campus which means a good hike north

KaitenKenbu

o alright i wouldnt mind that i guess. it's not like i'll be working everyday so. thanks for the info though!

Columbia2002

Look on the website of the departments you'd be interested in doing research for, look at profs' bios and websites. Find maybe 5-7 who seem interesting to you. Email them a short note telling them you're a freshman, you're interested in their research, you've done research in the past at in Prof X's lab at Y university on Z topic, you'd like the opportunity to have a brief meeting to discuss either working in their lab or to find out what other research opportunities might be good for you (i.e., what other profs they know of that might take you if they won't).

Some profs will ignore you or blow you off. Others might not want to deal w/ ugrads or might have enough people in the lab, but are polite and see that you took the initiative, so they'll meet with you out of courtesy and maybe even give you some suggestions about other labs to work in. And others may actually be willing to have you work for them.

Unless it's changed drastically, most of the bio profs have labs in Fairchild / Fairchild Extension. The profs w/ med school appointments are up at 168th, but the CU biological sciences dept is mostly on the main campus.

Shraf

ok, since noone actually answered the question of how this person would go about getting a lab position i guess i will....

you should take a look through the bio website and check out the research of various profs then when u get to columbia think up of a very articulate email and send it to one or two that you find most interresting with your resume and your publication and see what they say. You pretty much would be asking to work in their lab (for free) on a research project pertaining to their research interest. It is usually not hard to find a lab position esp since you are pretty much doing the prof's work for absolutely no compensation. As for work study, I would be cautious about getting a job in addition to a lab position since this might take up ALOT of time.

edit: damn you C02 for responding at exactly the same time i did

KaitenKenbu

hahahaha what a coincidence. but guys thanks a lot for ur help. a lot of the information is really useful. but regarding the emailing professors and showing my experience and work, is it alright if i conducted research in earth science and i show the abstract to a biology professor and tell him/her i want to work for him/her? im hoping that the fact that i DID research will help me even though the field is different....... thanks for ur inputs!

Shraf

yea sure, it shows that you dedicated time to a lab at some point that resulted in a publication...thats pretty good.....they dont actually expect you, as a freshman, to know all that much, i mean having taken some kind of advanced bio in HS would be good too but i'm guessing if you wanna work in a bio lab you have a good enough background. Also keep in mind there is no freshman bio at columbia so you wouldnt be taking bio until soph yr so it clearly would be prefered if you had a strong bio background.

KaitenKenbu

specifically i'm interested in the biochemistry field and i've had background experience in chem and bio honors during high school. my sat 2s were pretty decent too hopefully. hopefully this will be good enough background. if i forgot a lot, i would definitely be willing to learn about the professor's research thru reading research papers. im glad to know that my research experience will help me. thanks a lot for your help!