finding research as a freshman

Light_Orchestra
Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:48:25 +0000

Generally, more competitive colleges are more receptive to having freshmen work in research labs, typically as a sort of “intern” at first. (My shadowy reasoning: Student “caliber level,” so to speak, is “higher,” and there’s a higher chance that students might know more going into the position, although I wouldn’t say that this is a rule of thumb. At MIT, for example, UROP is pretty wide open for freshmen and sophomores.)

To actually FIND a position to intern first (because to do UROP you have to know what you’re doing, be taught a bit, etc.), go to your school’s biology page, assuming that’s your intended major (?), and look at the faculty listings. Read about their research. Email professors with whatever interests you. Something like: “Hi, my name is XYZ and I am a student here at ABC. i’ve just read about your research online and it sounds very interesting. I’d love to work in your lab if space is available” or something like that. Maybe include some specifics about what you like about his person’s research (it’s what I did).

I emailed about 10 professors, heard back from 3 (one replied about a month later – remember that over the summer, the majority will probably not be emailing ASAP) , interviewed with 2, and ultimately chose 1.