Hey everyone!
I’m finishing up my sophomore year in high school, and I got rejected from all of the summer programs I applied to 
however, I am really interested in doing a summer internship at a Stanford lab (Stanford is the closest university to me). I emailed around 40 professors, and got only negative replies (from around 7 or 8). How can I improve my chances of having someone accept me when I email them again (Stanford’s directions says it is ok to email them again once :))? I’m interested in working in cancer biology, and I’d like to study apoptosis and how we could possibly trigger it in cancer cells. Is it too vague? What should I do? I don’t really have much work experience but everyone has to start somewhere and I reaaalllly need to get an internship this summer. Any tips? Thank you so much!
Why do you “reaaaaallly” need to get an internship this summer??? You’re a sophomore…the average person doesn’t start research until undergrad, at least. Why do you think they’re rejecting or not responding? You’re super young.
@bodangles I know I’m young, but I cannot afford to sit around all summer and do nothing. I’m really passionate about cancer bio and super interested in it, and I think it would be really beneficial for me to have an internship. Do you have any advice? Thanks!
Don’t only look at Stanford. The profs there get tons of emails. Even if its farther, you would have a better chance at another less prestigious school to do research.
I agree that it would certainly be beneficial, but your chances of getting one will likely improve as you get older – sounds like not many people want to take on the responsibility of supervising a sixteen-year-old. If you can’t find one for this summer, consider volunteering (hospital?) or getting a job to fill your time. Good luck!
If you live in the bay area, there’s also Berkeley, sfsu, sjsu, etc that you can try
@swiftyfan13x Yeah, I might try Cal. Other than that, SFSU and SJSU don’t really have huge research programs, and if anyone’s going to take me, it would be a larger lab that has the bandwidth to take in a high schooler… @thebossofbosses The reason I am looking at Stanford besides distance is that they have huge research programs, especially for cancer bio, so they would probably be able to take in a high school intern as opposed to a state-funded university that probably doesn’t have the funds to take an intern. @bodangles Yeah, I’d like to volunteer at a hospital if I can. Unfortunately i’m not 16 yet so my options are extremely limited…