<p>On average, how many professors do you have to contact in order to get an affirmative response?</p>
<p>Your mileage may vary, but for me it took about 10 emails as a 1st semester freshman and 2 emails this summer as a rising sophomore to get an interview.</p>
<p>-Is it hard for a spring-semester freshman to find a research position in a specific lab (ie. not Media lab, but like a normal lab with a single PI)?</p>
<p>No, it’s very easy, actually.</p>
<p>-Are there certain courses you have to take in your major that you have to take before a professor in your department will take you?</p>
<p>Sometimes it can help if you’ve taken a lab course or some specific class related to the research discipline, but it’s by no means required. I got multiple offer before I took any classes at all at MIT.</p>
<p>Also, a lot of labs seem to have complex application processes for prospective members (ie. three references, list of publications, and a couple of paragraphs about what you can contribute and why you want to work there). Is this just for grad students? I’ve never published anything in my life…What specifically would I need to apply for a UROP position?</p>
<p>These are definitely not for UROPs. Usually you send an email describing your interest and your CV, and that’s plenty.</p>
<p>And finally, I’ve heard that there are interviews involved. How intense are these? Are they going to quiz me over experimental procedures? </p>
<p>Interviews for UROPs tend to be formalities, where the PI is trying to confirm that you’re not a sketchball, basically. Exceptions are advertised UROPs, which are actually like job interviews. If you cold-emailed a PI and they want to interview you, you are very likely to be offered a UROP with them.</p>
<p>Also, you should read this, it’s pretty accurate:
[How</a> to get a UROP | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/blogs/entry/how_to_get_a_urop]How”>How to get a UROP | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>If you have any other questions, I’ll try to answer. I <3 UROPs!</p>