How much / when research in college for biology PhD/grad school, esp. insights re: LACs.

And to add to that, even if she doesn’t find a summer spot on campus, a prof might suggest she come back in the fall.

Hey @intparent – tks for your suggestions but I think you missed my update from earlier today – she got an REU for this summer – not at her campus, in fact half way across the country! She’s pretty excited b/c as a first-year she knew the odds were low, but she lucked out!

Oh, missed that. Good for her! ?

Great news!

Congrats to your D! I think the hardest part is landing your first research position. My son is a senior now in a biochem field. He had no research experience in HS. He was fortunate that the university sponsored freshman summer research projects and he was able to get this grant for his freshman summer. After that he did research for credit in that same lab for all of sophomore year. Then, he was much more employable. He decided to do industry research sophomore summer to see something different. Then during junior year joined a new lab at school where he still is now. He also stayed there for his junior summer. This set him up well with lots of research experience to discuss on grad school apps plus three different recommendation writers. PhD interviews are often 2-3 days long and you travel to the school at their expense. He was well prepared and had offers from many top programs - heading to Harvard in the fall.
So, your daughter is off to a great start! Plus like some others said she’ll also know sooner than later if she really likes research. Good luck!

This is an incredibly helpful thread! My child hasn’t finalized her college choice yet, but she’s also interested in scientific research and is choosing between two (small private and a large public) R1 institution in our home state. It’s amazing to read this level of detail and specific experiences.

Thank you all for sharing so generously.

Back when I was in grad school, I had a friend, an undergrad. Her grades were only so so, but she really liked Ichthyology. Luckily for her, one of the top ichthyologists in the country was faculty at the university, and she became an undergraduate assistant (they help grad students and faculty in return for credit). She stayed and became a part of the lab throughout the rest of her undergraduate years. She learned how to stun fish and mark them, she learned how to identify fish, she learned all the ins and out of lab work in the field. She also made an impression on the professor. When she graduated, with only a 3.0 GPA, he wrote her a glowing letter of recommendation, and she was accepted to a pretty good PhD program.

GPA and GRE generally are used to reduce the number of applicants - you need a GRE with the minimum scores of X, and a minimum GPA of Y, mostly in the courses related to your field of interest. The most important things for a student applying for grad school are
A. Their short letter of interest - it needs to demonstrate that the students knows what research is, what a research topic means, and demonstrate interest in the field.
B. The letters of recommendation are critical. The grad school needs to hear from faculty members that they think that this students is the type of person, and has the type of thinking a way of looking at the world, that would make it likely that they will be able to not only survive and thrive, but to complete a body of research that would be worthy of a PhD. C. Finally, the CV. A students needs to demonstrate that they have the right experience. lab work, written material, presentations, field work in an outdoors discipline, etc. Having solid A’s in every course, and having written the best assignments ever seen will not get a students accepted in grad school. It’s the actual research experience - working in labs, and, even better, having an independent research project that resulted in a conference presentation of poster, at very least. Being the first name an a paper published in a peer-reviewed journal is the best indication that a student has the potential to succeed.

Most colleges have the opportunities for independent research by undergraduates.

Now, if a student finished their undergraduate with little or no lab experience there are two ways to remedy that. First - find a job in a lab after graduation, and get experience in that manner. Having paid experience as a lab tech is excellent background for a lab PhD. The other way is to do a Masters. Many very good masters programs require much less research experience for acceptance than required by a PhD program. A Masters with a thesis has the added benefits of learning how to write a thesis, learning the basics of having an independent large research project, having an adviser for advice and LoRs, and, hopefully, having a publication or two. The down side is that it takes a few more years.

Apply to REU’s SERP’s next year after another year of science. That will make her app much more attractive to PI’s who’d like those students to do some real work (and have the background to do the work). Also, consider those in flyover country as they aren’t as competitive as those on the coasts.

nm – just saw that she landed a gig. 'Grats.