<p>how do you conduct independent study/research in undergrad?</p>
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I don’t get it.</p>
<p>^ “broad” is slang for women. Basically, he got slapped for checking out some chick.</p>
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<p>It’s not that hard to find good opportunities… I guess, depending on where you go. Generally, people contact a bunch of professors and hope one of them decides to take them into the lab. They gain experience that way and eventually create their own research project. There are plenty of students who do their own research. The research is generally guided by a mentor of course, but it’s still their own research.</p>
<p>that’s a big question. it’s a matter of building ur resumes and sending it in to prof’s who could be extremely busy and hope they’ll reply. but once u get down to a nice prof it’s pretty rewarding working with them. most ppl who ended up in grad school had nice mentors for their undergrad/postbac research.</p>
<p>and i knew someone who contacted prof, got accepted to the lab, showed up twice and disappeared… the thing is, don’t do that. research is a lot of work and u need to show that you like it (that’s more important than the number of mistakes you make).</p>
<p>Advice from 1 of my former professors:
Ask a prof in a class that you’re doing well/did well in.
That random advice you hear to let the professor know who you are, comes in handy when asking for research positions. If they don’t have a position open, they could ask other professors for you.</p>
<p>That said, if your goal is to get into grad school, undergrad research isn’t that important. It certainly helps but don’t obsess about it. That’s my view from grad school(s).</p>
<p>well prof’s don’t always take students who got A’s in their classes but they take students when the students know reasonably well about what they (students) did before and what they will be doing. otherwise, they’ll be concerned about the space availability in their lab and the person (graduate student or postdoc) who will supervise or train the neophyte undergrad. it’s more important to get the students trained properly rather than just let them break something or mess things up. a lot of my friends joined the labs by washing dishes/doing easy work before somebody had time to teach them how to do experiments. luckily i didn’t have to start like that… but the space availability and the person who have time to train the undergrad have been the most important factors that professors (at least 5 that I’ve talked to) think about when they take neophytes into their labs.</p>
<p>and btw, i asked all the prof’s from my A classes and I didn’t get into any of them.</p>
<p>the important part is not getting in. the important part is getting in AND impressing the professor (over the course of maybe 2 - 3 years).</p>
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<p>Why do you say that? I’ve heard the opposite from everyone I’ve spoken to.</p>
<p>Why do many of you stress studying abroad so often? Are you not US students?</p>
<p>Can anyone give me some tips as to how to approach professors in order to get involved in research during undergrad?</p>
<p>Spartan, I think people wish they’d studied abroad because after college, no matter what you majored in, you can’t just pick up and leave your life and job for 3 months which you’ll spend in another country, embracing another culture while still working towards your degree. The opportunity cost of doing so when you are in college is much, much less than it will be during your working prime (22 till 55+). The chance to spend that much time in a foreign country when you are young (let’s face it, partying it up in Barcelona just won’t be the same at 60 once you’ve retired).</p>
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<p>Express an interest in their research work (read up a little on it beforehand) and maybe explain how working in a research lab would be important for your career goals. But I think most importantly, they want to know that you can commit a significant amount of your time to them and that you won’t flake out within a few days or weeks. </p>
<p>What I’ve heard as advice is that the “reply rate” is very low, so e-mail a bunch of professors and hope one of them is willing to take you on. Then set up a meeting.</p>
<p>live-, some undergrads are actually in the 22 till 55+ phase of their lives with a family and a home, etc and it is nearly impossible to pick up and move to another country for a few months. We still stress over study abroad. The reason being that most grad schools (at least in the Humanities) seem to view it as a deficiency in your app if you haven’t done it. I’d say that’s the number one reason people worry about it. And as to the difficulty of visiting after undergrad, in truth, it’d be easier for me to move my family to another country for a year and do independent research than to be part of study abroad. I wouldn’t have to live where the school said, pay their idea of room and board x 5, etc so we could arrange our accomidations more to suit our needs.</p>