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<li><p>I honestly just got lucky. When I emailed professors, I had no idea what I was doing or what to expect. What I basically did was choose two professors whose area of research sounded interesting to me, and I emailed them. I sent two different emails, and I wouldn't advise just copy pasting. Chances are, you're going to be sending emails to professors in the same department, and it's not unlikely that they know each other. It would reflect poorly on you to send the exact same email, in that case. I also wouldn't recommend emailing very many professors. Choose one or two that seem the most interesting to you, and wait to see if they respond. When I was applying, someone told me that you don't want to spam your department with unsolicited requests for employment, and I completely agree. </p></li>
<li><p>All smaller labs are definitely not always better than the bigger labs. I advised to try and find a smaller lab because if your PI only has, let's say, 2 graduate students, he's going to be more able and more willing to spend time with you than if he had 10. Of course, there are professors with large labs who would do the same. Like I said, my lab is small. My PI has three postdocs, and one grad student. I'm the only undergrad. He also coordinates the work of some others. I also don't think you should ask about lab size. But most faculty have a webpage, so you can get some idea from that. When I was looking, I noticed that a lot of professors listed all the post docs, grad students, etc that worked for them.</p></li>
<li><p>I'm not sure how your school is, but at my school, there's introductory seminars for most of the majors that have faculty who speak about their research. Those professors would probably be good ones to contact. Some other schools have classes or programs that set you up with a lab. Try looking for one of those. If your school used to have one but doesn't now, the same professors who were a part of the old program would still be a good choice to contact. Another department here has a website where professors who are looking for undergraduates who want to do research post project descriptions and you can email them if you're interested. Look around at your school and see if there's anything like that. Also, don't just look at professors in the MBB department. There are going to be professors at the school of medicine or school of pharmacy (if your university has either one) that are doing MBB and would be open to working with undergraduates. However, I still know people who had to try out 3 or 4 labs before finding one that worked for them.</p></li>
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<p>I might be wrong about this part, but I get the idea that funding for MBB and for physics are completely different. It seems like biology is much better funded than physics in general (someone correct me on this, if I'm wrong). More funding will mean that a professor can support you as well as the grad students. I'm not getting paid right now, but my PI said that even if I don't get any of the fellowships I applied for, he'll be able to give me money just out of his grant for the summer. </p>
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<li><p>I didn't have the chance to take classes with any professors doing research in my area (bioengineering) either. Both of the two professors who I emailed had no idea who I was. Since they don't know who you are, it's important to be concise and clear. When I sent the emails, I included a very short introduction (my name, my major, etc), and a very short explination of how I found them. Then I expressed my interest in a particular part of their research, and asked if they had any projects in that area that I could work on. </p></li>
<li><p>When I was looking for a professor to email, I had the same problem. I tried reading some of the papers that they published, but there was a lot of jargon and a lot of methods that I didn't understand. I decided to just look at their profiles rather than their actual papers. The profiles will talk about their general area of research, but won't be so indepth that it'll be over your head even if you look up the terms. In an email, you can show interest in that general area. Also, when I went to talk to my PI for the first time, he explained all the current projects that they're working on to me. I didn't understand some parts so I asked questions, which in itself shows interest. If a professor asks about your motivation, I would just tell the truth. Obviously, don't say "I want to publish papers so I can get into grad school." But if you're considering a career in research and want to try it out to see if it's a good fit for you, you can just say that. </p></li>
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<p>Sorry, that was really long. I hope I answered all of your questions. If you have any more, feel free to ask.</p>