Aspiring Astrophysicist

Mom2aphysicsgeek
Wed, 30 Sep 2015 11:49:36 +0000

Ask depts specifically about UG research opportunities. Our ds DE at a small university and did UG research on that campus as a high school student. He attended SSP. When he was interviewing physics depts during his college application process, (he really did interview the depts bc UG research opportunities was near the top of his list of requirements) he asked very specific questions about what types of research he would be able to participate in and if he could join research as a freshman. At one top school he was told he had more direct research experience than their UGs bc their focus was on their grad students and that UGs work for the grad students. Ds was incredibly thankful for that dean’s frankness. He gave ds a lot of good info to consider.

Our ds is attending a lower ranked school bc of scholarship $$, but he chose the school specifically bc of the UG research opportunities. He has been interacting with profs on research since his 2nd semester freshman yr. He was hired for research over the summer between fresh/sophomore yr. This yr he has weekly project meetings with the prof he is doing research for. He loves every minute of it.

investigate what the dept will offer you as an UG beyond the classroom.