I am wondering if it is at all beneficial to contact a professor at daughter’s school of choice who is heading up research in a subject that she is extremely interested in and already researching? It seems like it would be jumping the gun quite a bit, since she won’t even start till 2018 and even then will be “only” a freshman. At the same time, perhaps it’s good to make contact already, express interest and ask for advice on how to get involved quickly once on campus or what she could read ahead of time or something like that? I’m unsure. I don’t want to give her bad advice.
FWIW, I don’t think she would contact the professor unless I told her it would be a good idea. She sent me a link to this professor’s lab yesterday saying she was getting palpitations being so excited about it! She has been self-studying many of the subjects listed on the lab website for about a year. I just thought, well if she’s so excited about it perhaps she could just email the professor and ask some questions, make herself known.
My daughter did this. Small college. He said contact him again after she had some freshman courses behind her. She did that. Has attempted several subsequent contacts freshman, sophomore and sumber before junion year. She presented at a national conference recently, a poster for her summer research at a different university and he visited her there. But it still hasn’t resulted in research with his lab at her school. Last summer, he said he would see if any of his grad students would take her on, but this hasn’t panned out. So yes, go for it, her results may vary. (My daughter is a junior in college, engineering, and tippy top grades by the way).
Has she been admitted to the school yet? Is the school a big university with a lot of graduate students or is it a liberal arts college with only undergraduates? Does she have the stats to be in any kind of honors program, if they have one? What kinds of programs or opportunities for getting undergraduates engaged in research experiences does the school advertise? Some schools have programs that pair eligible freshmen with faculty to get them started with research early – does this school?
Looking at the research lab’s website, what kind of people are involved? Are they all PhD students, post-docs, and research associates, or is there mention of undergraduates?
What undergraduate classes does this professor teach, what are the prerequisites for those classes, and how soon would your daughter be able to take one of those classes?
Has your daughter read any of the professor’s own published papers? One strategy might be for her to send an e-mail asking an insightful question about the professor’s current research and then mention that she will be a student at the school beginning next year.
Myself, as a professor at an undergraduate college, where teaching is emphasized over research, but engaging students in research is highly valued, I would welcome contact from a prospective or admitted student who was sincerely interested in my research and had the chops to become involved in it. I can imagine, however, that other professors, in a different setting, might see such contact as an annoyance.
@colfac92 Hello – Thank you, especially for that last paragraph. The school is a big state school but does emphasize undergrad research. I believe the lab site mentioned this, but I would need to check personally. I will have her check if this prof teaches any undergrad classes. I’ll mention to her the idea of reading any of his studies and asking him a question about that. Thanks!
Edited to add: Ok, just had a quick look through the lab website and this prof does teach the second semester of freshman bio, and there is a section offering lab work to undergrads. So I guess she can try to get him for bio already freshman year.
My D met a prof during a tour the summer before her Sr year of HS at a big state U; the prof sent a personal letter (and some swag) after; D let him know that the big state U was her first choice and that she was very interested in his area of study (a particular area of engineering), they had a couple of email communications during her sr year; and now he’s one of her best mentors on campus – he takes the time to introduce her to folks who share interests, alerts her to opportunities, etc. So… absolutely-- encourage your D to contact the prof and express interest… a student who takes initiative stands out… and it’s good to have someone in your corner when you hit campus.
You’re in Europe, right? I was thinking of telling you to set up your visit to campus on a day the professor is teaching and contact the department to see whether she could sit in on a class, but that’s probably logistically a nightmare for you.
Since visiting physically to establish the contact isn’t possible, a polite email is probably the best possible approach.
My nephew contacted a professor the summer before he started as a freshman at Rice. He met with the prof during freshman orientation and pretty much started working in the lab right away. He ended up doing some fun research that won some sort of student contest and ended up with his team being interviewed on NPR.
It’s obviously too early to ask if she can work in his lab, but if she will be visiting the campus at some point there is no harm in asking if she could stop by his office and meet him.
That’s great that the professor teaches in the first-year bio course sequence. I think one of the key ways of catching a professor’s eye as a potential undergraduate research collaborator is to distinguish yourself (i.e. do really well) as a student in a class taught by the professor (or by a member of the prof’s research team).
If for some reason she is unable to get in to that particular prof’s section of the course, then a strong recommendation – perhaps even an introduction – from the instructor that she does get for the course would be the next best thing.
In both cases, the student needs to do well in the course, but also to work on establishing a relationship with their instructor. Obviously, one doesn’t want to come across as a grade-grubbing brown-noser, but rather get to know the instructor as a person.