<p>How difficult is it for an undergrad to get involved in research at Tech?</p>
<p>Based on anecdotal experience, I don’t think it’s too difficult, but it does seem to depend on the department. Several of my close friends, for example, have successfully partaken in undergraduate research with MSE (material science), ChBE (chemical engineering) postdocs, and CS postdocs. My second-year roommate, however, was decidely less successful in obtaining a research opportunity in the math department.</p>
<p>Being a large, research-intensive university, especially in the natural and applied sciences (ie. engineering), I want to say that in general, there is ample opportunity for undergrads to get involved in research because some departments have lots of postdocs and PhD students who presumably would be happy to have someone else do certain tasks for them.</p>
<p>I think the key is being able to successfully communicate why you want to research with a certain professor. Back in Spring 2008, two of my friends applied for summer research with a professor in the MSE department. The first clearly and consistently communicated to the professor that he was interested in the professor’s work and wanted to work with that professor. The professor approved him for work with a postdoc after a short e-mail exchange. The second failed to send a clear signal as to why he wanted to work with that professor; he even wrote along the lines of, “I just want to do something.” The professor quickly replied by directing my friend back to the general application area for summer research.</p>
<p>GPA probably plays a role, too, but not as much as explaining why you want to do it. My second-year roommate is a math major and plainly stated that he did not care about his GPA; in fact, his major GPA was actually less than his overall GPA for two years. I doubt that he was able to successfully convey his intentions for wanting to do undergrad research, but even if he did, I have a feeling that his low major GPA probably got his application axed immediately.</p>
<p>Be advised that especially if you’re just starting out as a rising sophomore, don’t be surprised if the work you end up doing is extremely menial and tedious in nature, like washing lab tubes. I think it gets better as you get more experienced, though.</p>
<p>Thanks, that was very informative.</p>
<p>I can speak for the sciences…</p>
<p>It’s very informal, you just email a bunch of professors (ones who have labs that suite your interests would be best) telling them that you’re looking to get into research and why you want to work in their lab. Research interests are usually found on the faculty webpage for each department. They usually ask you to come in to talk to them and some of them will ask for a recommendation or two from a TA or another faculty member. Most times GPA doesn’t matter, but that still doesn’t stop a faculty member from looking up your transcript if they’re inclined to do so.</p>
<p>A lot of the labs in IBB and MSE will actually put you on your own research project with a grad student as your advisor. You do have to register your research as an actual class. If you’re getting paid then the class is just audit hours, but if the professor can’t fund you then you get actual credit towards your degree and a grade at the end of the semester (3 lab hours per week = 1 credit hour). And let me tell you, as long as you write a decent report at the end of the semester they’ll just GIVE you an A…easiest A you’ll ever earn at Tech.</p>
<p>In engineering, you can do that as well, but you’ll also find paid research positions posted in the main buildings for each college. You usually start out with menial tasks: taking measurements, repeating experiments, etc, but after a semester or so, you can move on to more independent research (and from paid assistant to taking the class for credit).</p>