<p>I read through this entire thread and I still have some questions about emailing professors:</p>
<p>-A lot of cc’ers who posted questions about contacting professors said they were searching for a mentor to help them on a project. What if I do not have such a project? (the one I was working on for a science competition ended this month and did not allow university/college mentors, other than your science teacher) </p>
<p>-If I do not have a project, do I ask for an opportunity to become a lab/research assistant? Would this be an internship or a volunteer position?</p>
<p>(I know this is a stupid question, but I am still very confused)</p>
<p>Do I look for professors in colleges/universities that focus particularly on research, or just any college?</p>
<p>Also, 082349 mentioned earlier about approaching the newer professors. How do you determine if he/she is new and therefore more willing to accept an assistant?</p>
I’ve been thinking for quite a bit about how to answer this question, so here’s my answer:
Start by knowing what subject you want to do e.g. biology, political science, art history, etc.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Read about the different fields in that subject. In biology, you could go into botany, cell research, etc. You get the idea.</p></li>
<li><p>Find professors near your home (you don’t really want to travel too far) who most closely match your interests. Try to find a few because you wouldn’t know whether they would accept you.</p></li>
<li><p>Email!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
You could try what I mentioned earlier in this post or you could ask to be a lab assistant. I don’t really like the idea of a lab assistant because it sounds a lot like you would be washing test-tubes haha. </p>
<p>I don’t understand the relevance of the second part of your question.</p>
<p>Do I look for professors in colleges/universities that focus particularly on research, or just any college?</p>
<p>Also, 082349 mentioned earlier about approaching the newer professors. How do you determine if he/she is new and therefore more willing to accept an assistant?
[/quote]
No questions are stupid, you should ask any questions you have now. (:</p>
<p>Like I said earlier, “Any college will probably do just that they should have the necessary resources!” You really wouldn’t want to conduct research in a college which doesn’t have the right equipment.</p>
<p>Newer professors are younger. You should be able to tell by looking at their CV, usually.</p>
<p>I’m really happy to have found this thread! I will definitely be taking some time over February vacation to email some professors around my area - happy I live around a very popular college city!(: I don’t have a specific program I’m looking for a mentor in so I’ll just be emailing around to assist in an independent program. Wish me luck!</p>
<p>I am VERY interested in this because I am applying to two summer programs which are VERY hard to get into (MITES, and Seattle biomed), and If all else fails I would love to have an independent study. My question is what question and what area should I be focusing on? I LOVE chemistry with a passion, but I am also interested in biochemistry. What books/websites should I look at to figure out a question to ask during my Independent research study? I am very serious and maybe some sample questions from people’s past studies would help me? Thank you so much.</p>
That’s for you to ask yourself. Because conducting research can be a long process, it’s best you choose an area which you’re interested in, chemistry/biochem.</p>
<p>
I’m not sure what questions you’re referring to. Once you know what area you want to focus on, read about studies done in that area.</p>
<p>
Like I said earlier, know what area you want to do research in and take it from there.</p>
<p>this may be a silly question, but what should the subject of my email to professors be?
because i know some people won’t even look at emails with no subject.</p>
<p>I am very interested in doing sociology research over the summer (at UCLA), but I have no prior experience in any type of scientific research. I am very passionate about the socials sciences and am even strongly considering becoming a sociologist in the future, so should I include this in my email to make up for my lack of prior experience?</p>
<p>Thank you for this thread. I have found it very helpful. I am giving a talk at a science conference for high school girls tomorrow on summer scholarship programs and the university just asked if I would add how to find internships to my workshop so this thread came in very handy. Good luck to everyone trying to land an internship this summer.</p>
<p>What if you don’t want to research? Could you intern under an English or History or Art professor? </p>
<p>I personally have a few in mind that I would just die to shadow. But that’s I think pretty non-traditional. How would it work out? What would they want me for?</p>
<p>I just want to be around a professor in the Biochemistry field and see how it is, I still haven’t found out what to write/ ask the professor though. I want to ask some people at the U of W and Fred Hutch Center (I live in Seattle) but what do I say! I don’t know what I want to research but I know I love chemistry and biochemistry WHAT TO DO! I’m in the same boat @retrohippo</p>
In that case, what would you like to do? I’m not sure that professors would want to let you be be an intern.</p>
<p>You have to tell them what you would like to gain out of working with them but I really don’t see how you could do that. You should also think of what you want to do there so that you can write that in the email.
<p>I really appreciate you making this thread; it’s been really helpful to me. I just have one question.</p>
<p>How exactly should I go about finding professors to ask to mentor me? A lot of people on this thread are finding tons of professors, so I just want to know how to do it.</p>
<p>how early should you email professors? say I want to do research this summer. should I start sending out emails now? </p>
<p>and also (this might be obvious, but I’m a bit of a newbie), do you just email any professors you think might accept your offer? I know you said we should try emailing the younger ones, so do I just find professors in my subject area on the college website?</p>
<p>EDIT: scratch the 2nd question. I see it was already answered</p>
<p>Thank you so much for this thread! So do you think it would be too late if I contacted professors now about chemistry research opportunities for sometime this summer?</p>
<p>Hi, I am a high school junior who wants to do an internship under a lab.</p>
<p>Question though:
You mentioned earlier that we should try not to choose the “tenured professor” but a relatively new person.</p>
<p>So like in the labs, there is a lab head, but he’s the tenured professor. Do you mean I should avoid the leader of the lab and ask one of his assistants if I can do an internship?</p>