Well, if you have this attitude about things in general, you are simply going to fulfill your own expectations. OK, so it is hard to get where you want to go and you have no support form your family, you still have a good GPA in an engineering program and if you take the GRE, you should be able to get into a graduate program as a first step toward your goal. Maybe you won’t get there all at once but if you have patience, you can make it.
You still did not say which university you are at. Does it have an ABET accredited engineering degree? Is it a research university? If you stop focusing solely on nanotechnology and get any kind of research experience, you will greatly enhance your graduate application. Graduate programs in STEM really don’t care who you know or where you got your degree but how you did in your academics and if your letters of reference are good. I know because I have been running graduate admissions for my department for years and I also ran it for the entire university for 3 years.
Since you have not been able to get into a research lab yet, and if other students have, then you have to start looking at yourself and figure out what you are doing that turns people off. You can’t continue to blame the whole world for this situation.
@xraymancs I tried to pursue connections fro 2 years and it has not led to any success. I was positive and willing to take a bashing to meet the 1 person who would have helped me…that person is not where to be found. I am focusing on the biotechnology industry …nanotechnology is what I will drive for once I get into the field.
I am not blaming others, because they don’t allow others in either. It is a very closed off group of students who get to participate in the lab and its graduate program.
I met with the lab manager and she talked to me saying she will do her best to get me in contact with the leader, etc…She said the lab director was really busy and unable to meet…I met the lady who was in charge of the lab by accident while getting lunch nearly 2 weeks later and the director said she never received any news of me. By then it was to late to apply, and I tried to recontact the manager she never replied but 2 of her colleagues was in the lab as interns.
I have tried to contact professors from another university; however I know I will not be their priority because I am not a student at their institution.
We are ABET accredited; however the advice I am getting is where they say go join the manufacturing industry or construction and 10 years down the road come back to nanotechnology…I may be a student but even I know that is worst route into nanotechnology.
I am doing my best, and as for the letters of reference I dont have any professors to turn to. the professor who I got along with left last march to take a job in another university.
I want to thank you for helping; however more and more science and engineering majors are leaving and simply joining the military or starting over in different universities from the ground up again. I would do the same but the military already told me no and I have no money to transfer.
I appreciate your advice; however I doubt I will finish my bachelors. I am not looking for pity …I am looking for serious advice about what to do.
Should I push back my graduation?
Should I transfer?
What route should I take?
Pushing back your graduation doesn’t do anything but increase the opportunity and financial cost of your degree. Transfer is “pushing back your graduation” in disguise. You need to finish your BSE.
If you want a constructive plan, I’d start with the following:
work on a paid internship for the summer
get a full time job for a bit (I'd say two years but I suspect @xraymancs could give you a better advice) and then start thinking about grad school
Finally, some general advice: for some unknown reason, you’ve decided on an emerging, immature field as a defining focus in your life. You’re trying to run before you can walk. For most people, life’s a marathon not a sprint. You need to find anything to enjoy. Churchill said, “a fanatic is someone who won’t change his mind and won’t change the subject.” A little bit of balance can go a long way for you as well as your relationships with others.
@fragbot Thank you for helping. But my personal problems with my family have hindered me more then anything. It is hard moving forward with them family I am with.
On another note, what job can I do for 2 years that is remotely related to an advanced tech field?
-Are their anyways to leave the country for a job and work abroad (I am willing to give up my citizenship)
I think you are going about it all wrong. You are at a university. That means you take classes where you have professors instructing you. You might even have a lab course where you have even more contact with the professor. You have good grades, so professors know you do well in class. Instead of talking to a lab manager of a particular research group, why don’t you approach a professor in whose class you have done particularly well and ask to work with him/her. I can’t believe that at your university (it would be useful to know what that is, you won’t be compromising your identity…) the professors refuse to talk to students. I know a lot of professors and they all are willing to talk to good students. Get into ANY research group. As I said before, the specific research experience you get is not as important as getting the research experience. Then you can get a good letter of reference for graduate school and with your grades, you can certainly get into a program somewhere.
I second the approach @xraymancs advocates there. I have never been at a university where all the professors refuse to talk to the students. Try to get into a research lab on any topic that has remotely interested you over the last several years and use it to just get some research experience. Then use that to get into a graduate program that is strong in the areas of nanotechnology that interest you. That ought to set you up more squarely to break into said field.
OP you lost me when you lashed out at your family.
You have to look at the opportunities available to you and go the best route based on that. You are ambitious and skilled, which is good. However opportunities are what they are. One has to have a good attitude when the chips are down. Your interpersonal skills may be having people wonder about giving you an opportunity.
If you put forth 100% positive energy and go after everything potentially available, then you have done what you can do. Do you maybe need to re-evaluate your approach and attempts? One has to view successes, opportunities, adversity, and challenges and continue to move forward. No point looking behind at what didn’t happen; thinking about that will only discourage your current efforts and keep your eye off of the future. Completing the ME degree is important, and looking at how your school’s student services can assist you on career opportunities. REU is a good suggestion.
I’m not an engineer, but I’m going to hazard a guess that part of the problem here might be limited writing and reading comprehension skills.
OP, if English is not your first language (which is what I assumed after reading a few of your posts) or it’s just simply not your strong-suit, you’re going to need to go over any written communications with a fine-tooth comb. Is there anyone in your university’s career placement office who can help you in this area–proofreading your written communications?
And the fact that you’re missing a lot of the very pertinent points being made here makes me wonder if you’re actually reading what’s been written. You seem to have completely missed the point that offering to volunteer for a position like you seek is the wrong move.
Finally, and this is very important, you need to stop projecting your frustration and anger at others. I empathize with your family situation; I truly do. But as they say, it is what it is. I would strongly encourage you to get some some mental health counseling, as you’re clearly dealing with a lot of issues and may be clinically depressed. This is nothing to be ashamed of, BTW. Good luck to you!