<p>I want to do research in one of my professors' labs this year and possibly the next and I've already sent out an e-mail to one of my professors in my major. She has not responded back yet. I'm wanting to e-mail other professors who also have research I'm interested in being a part of now, but I don't want to have more than one professors, if I'm fortunate enough, want me to be a part of their lab and then I would be "Sorry, I chose to be a part of another professor's team instead" because I think that would be rude. </p>
<p>So should I wait for a reply or should I send out more emails to others. I sent the email yesterday night though so I might be getting too impatient but the school year starts in two days.</p>
<p>Can you not talk to them in person? It’s probably better to ask the professor face to face. Say something like " Hi Professor X, I know that you do a lot of research in Y. I was wondering if I could help out in your lab so that I could gain some experience and learn about Y, because it interests me." You might want to leave out the part about working in the lab next year, though, in case you realize that you do not like this particular lab. </p>
<p>Then, if that professor turns you down, you’ll be able to approach the other professors when you want, though you don’t want them to know that they are not your first choice.</p>
<p>In person is definitely good; I’ve cold-emailed a few professors just to <em>talk</em> about their lab, and that didn’t seem to pan out so well. In person will give a better impression, I think. If you want to send emails to other professors, I think you should go for it and at least start a conversation about it and then choose.</p>
<p>I got my research job through a “cold call” email. If you email enough professors, one is bound to have space/funding for you. If it’s what you want to do, you can contact a lot of professors from a department you like after reading about what they do to be sure it’s something you’re interested in.</p>