Hey guys! So I’ve never done this sort of thing before, so I’m not sure how it works. I’ve been looking for productive ways to spend my sophomore-junior year summer and have found that getting research and hands-on experience can help me get employment or internships later on in college, all while enriching my college application. I’m a prospective EECS major, although I’m also interested in physical sciences and environmental or mechanical engineering.
I’m a resident of California and live close to a few junior colleges and universities, including a lower-tier UC. I also know of a couple engineering firms near my area. So comes the question, how exactly do I ask for a research spot or an internship spot at one of these places, in a manner that doesn’t get my email deleted right away? I have a few specific questions:
- Are requests such as these from high school students common? Are these requests usually accepted or denied? (I've heard of a few kids before me who sent out emails and snagged their own research spot at a local UC)
- What's the correct way to ask for one? Do I email the faculty directly, etc.?
- What do I put in my request? High school transcripts, letter of recommendations, standardized test scores and the like? Do I send these right away or as a follow up, or even not at all?
- Are these sort of experiences good on college admissions? Do they display depth in a field, initiative or the like?
- Does it help if I have connections to people? (If I know someone personally at a medical center, for example, that conduct research)
Thanks for answering my questions!
Hi! I’m a junior now, but I did research at a local university’s EECS (BME focused project) department this previous summer, so maybe I can be of some help.
- As far as I know, for the small portion of the northeast in which I live, relatively uncommon for high school students. And you will be rejected, a lot.
- I emailed faculty directly.
- Start with... I read your papers on blah blah... This interests me because blah blah... Do you have any space in your lab for this summer? If they say yes, then you should send credentials.
- I sure hope so, haha...
- Definitely, I asked a good friend of mine's dad to put in a good word in for me with professors he's collaborated with.
Good luck in your endeavors. I got rejected by like 20+ professors.
Thanks a lot for your reply! Its nice to see someone with experience in this endeavour offer their advice. I have a quick question: how many hours a day, days a week did you spent interning at their lab? I know it probably would differ drastically depending on which professor took you in, but I can imagine it would take a very large chunk out of your schedule.
I emailed nine professors for research positions for this summer, and two of them responded back to me–one with a research project I can start now, and one with one he wants me to take part in later. My emails were structured as such:
First paragraph: introduction & why I want to work in their lab. One of the professors only figured out a research position for me because of my geographical location (I had talked about how it affected my interest in his research), so a good interest part is really important!
Second paragraph: past research experience, more spiel about how I love this branch of science.
Third paragraph: more technical experience (in this case, it was programming & data analysis). The other professor detailed a research project for me because of this.
Fourth paragraph: conclusion + restatement of how I’d love to work in their lab.
I then attached a resume.
Also, I think that part of the reason I got so many responses (I’ve had friends email far, far more and get only one response) was that I’m interested in a science not many other high school students are interested in (geology), so not many professors had high school students emailing them in droves. Maybe go for the more obscure subjects as well as your primary interest?
You can keep all of your emails the same except for the interest part, to be honest. Most professors are really nice about it, even if they reject you.
I’m also going through the same dilemma; I wonder if I should start emailing professors now even though I got waitlisted at summer programs (wouldn’t it be rude to agree to work with a professor, get into a summer program, and then leave the internship?)
Another problem of mine is… I was totally going for English (what are English internships?? lol) but then because of my career choice, I’m now switching gears into a more STEM field but I absolutely have like 0 experience with working in STEM other than my school classes… sighs. I’m completely stuck.
Connections always help, and of course these internships will heighten your college application! To make sure you get accepted, like @tonystarkofwinterfell said, I would make sure you do research on projects you’re interested in. Don’t take this lightly; it’s important to make it sound like you truly are interested and know some things about the professor’s research/how you could contribute.