<p>This IS CC; I'm betting a lot of you do research, so you can help me...hopefully? lol</p>
<p>How long does it take to find a decent mentor?</p>
<p>Can I find I good mentor at the community college near my school?</p>
<p>Where do I find the best mentors?</p>
<p>How do I convince them to be my mentor?</p>
<p>Any help, PLEASE, because I'm lost!</p>
<p>In my experience, the research folk off at universities are generally very welcoming of anyone who expresses an interest in his/her field. I know one girl who did research with this neurobiologist (or something like that?) last summer -- all she did was send out a lot of letters explaining her interest in the field. One of my friends has been doing research with Princeton for about three years now, and from what I heard, it's not all that hard, he doesn't feel like he's in over his head.</p>
<p>Community college -- heh. I'd advise against it.</p>
<p>So as for advice: just write to them. Really. Don't seem pretentious and just be yourself and be genuinely interested in their field. If they don't respond, then they don't respond. And if they do, well, good luck with it.</p>
<p>most people at intel finalists usually have good connections with professors</p>
<p>If you don't you're basically screwed</p>
<p>Just sayin'</p>
<p>^Usually, but not necessarily. I've done my research project (3 year continuation) on my own in the back of my high school's physics lab with input from my teacher who now doesn't even understand what I am doing. I got a couple mentors to teach me higher level mathematics so I could teach myself the concepts (i'm working on quantum physics). I got in contact with some people from a local tech company because I needed better equipment than i obviously would have at hand in a high school science lab. </p>
<p>Also, don't bash the CCs, before I contacted this tech company, I borrowed equipment from the local CC for two years and the guy from their physics dept was very helpful and informative. </p>
<p>Point is yeah, a lot of kids work with profs and some will just present a project based on the profs work, but it is possible to be competitive with some old school hard work.</p>
<p>Proof: 5 District 1st places, 3 State 2nd places, 2 State 1st places, 1 State best of show, 1st at Intel ISEF subcompetition, 3rd at Intel ISEF category competition.</p>
<p>OP, there is no formula for where the best mentors congregate. A good mentor is simply someone who is experienced in your field of interest, who is open to working with you, and who can be a vital asset to understanding your research. If you live near a college, definitely try to contact someone, like taggart said, many profs are open to this kind of thing. As long as you are proactive, it doesn't take long to begin working on research, good luck.</p>
<p>What's the name of the directory of researchers in the nyc area? I've heard there was one, but I don't know the name or the website, and I'm not getting much luck with google...</p>