<p>Dmission just stop... you have no clue what you are dealing with if you don't even read Astrina's explanations, let alone even winning the argument if you did. This is a UCSD thread. Why are you even here? If someone started bagging on the cows on a davis thread thats more understandable but seriously lets stop. We chose where to go for our reasons. </p>
<p>One factor I liked when deciding on UCSD was the research opportunities. Anyone got any tips how to get involved with that?</p>
<p>UCSD</a> Summer Research Opportunities</p>
<p>most people start during, or the summer following, their sophomore year. most people also just email a prof whose research they like and see whether the prof is taking any undergrads (free labor!). i met my academic PI at a faculty-student mixer held by the chemistry club, yelled hi to him randomly while running down his lab hallway with my suitemates (kind of embarrassing now that i think about it), then apologized the next day and asked if he had any research openings. :) i got my industry job (pfizer) by submitting my resume to their call for summer interns. </p>
<p>if i could do it over again, i would have started researching my freshman year. you don't need to be a science guru or anything -- just eager to learn!</p>
<p>Woah thanks for that! Im really eager to get into it. If they require me to be a science guru then Ill do what it takes to do that as well. So do the professors take kindly to the freshman students wanting to get into research? I know the upperclassmen have better opportunities since classes are so big and you dont really get the one on one attention at a UC school right? How are the summer research opportunities?</p>
<p>OoPurestOo: Please read the posts, thank you.</p>
<p>Secondly, some of what you mentione was occuring, though I doubt you noticed.</p>
<p>oh, so now you're giving advice on reading posts?</p>
<p>No, I'm simply recommending others read them.</p>
<p>Anyway, you're continually showing a lack of factual backing in your arguments, and trying to provoke forum wars, so I'm done here. My point has been made, hopefully some logical posters will read it.</p>
<p>"Anyway, you're continually showing a lack of factual backing in your arguments"</p>
<p>Whoa whoa whoa. Isn't that ironic, you're the one who claims that UCD is ranked number 1 for agriculture and top 20 for biology without any sources. Hypocrisy much?</p>
<p>^^ whoa whoa whoa.. you college kids need to calm down. it's just undergrad. it barely matters if you goto ucd or ucsd career-wise. trust me..</p>
<h2>To me this discussion reads something like this for the last ten posts..</h2>
<p>COROLLA FAN CLUB FORUM:</p>
<p>cenire: Civics suck.</p>
<p>dmission: I love Honda Civics. They are the best for its price and is fuel efficient AND is affordable + comfortable. Many other people think it's a great car.</p>
<p>tastybeef/astrina: Forget that, cite your sources! Toyota Corolla will rule the world and can do all that you just mentioned. Just watch! The Corolla will be almost as good as the Mercedes Benz/BMW in a year or two.</p>
<p>dmission: The Corolla maybe a "little" bit better than the Civic, but it is definitely not as upperclass and shiny as the Benz/BMW.</p>
<p>astrina/tastybeef: Why are you coming to this forum of Corolla fans and telling us and defending your Civic?</p>
<p>dmission: Cuz, I like Civics.</p>
<p>astrina/tastybeef+another corolla fan: What! Civics are like as good as Ford and Hyundais, and other mid-tier sedans. Corolla is better BY FAR than all those mid-tier sedans because it has X engine and is 38th(!) ranked best car in Z magazine and you know 38 (Corolla) is >>>>> 42 (Civic). I mean it's basically as good as the BMW at rank 21.</p>
<p>dmission: But Civics are good for everyday drivers for normal city commuters, Corollas are pretty much the same. Civics are the number 1 best seller and like 20th best for middle-class young adults.</p>
<p>astrina/tastybeef: Can you please not put Civics and Corollas in the same category? They're.. like.. totally different.</p>
<p>dmission: ... they're like the same.</p>
<p>astrina/tastybeef: cite your sources! don't claim that it's the number 20th best selling car for middle-class adults without facts and figures!</p>
<p>dmission: if you just read my last posts, you'll see that's not the point</p>
<p>astrina/tastybeef: so you're telling us HOW TO READ NOW!?</p>
<p>jmilton(who has friends driving both civics and corollas, but personally drove the geo and now drives the BMW through a raise): ........</p>
<p>^Quite a bad metaphor given the situation.</p>
<p>Mega fail. You need to take dmission's recommendation and actually read posts before you generalize them. </p>
<p>astrina and I weren't even talking about the same thing.</p>
<p>that was a horrible analogy. if you're going to spend so much time typing something put some more effort thinking about it first</p>
<p>I think JMilton just wanted to brag about his BMW. Let's all give him a hand.</p>
<p>I think he was just trying to lighten the mood everyone! :)</p>
<p>welll im going to cal in the fall but i still love ucsd...ive been there like a zillion times and i love everything about it... but i need to get away so its cal for me.... congrats to everyone who is going to ucsd cuz its a great school with great ppl!!</p>
<p>I'm going to UCSD because it's a very well-respected school, plus it's affordable. I'll be surrounded by kids who take their work seriously, yet at the same time I should be able to meet others who like to party (despite the rumors, there are plenty of party-goers at every school) so that I can go off-campus on the weekends and kick back a little. UCSD also has a beautiful campus in a great location with nice weather, which is not to be overlooked.</p>
<p>jmilton90: Wow. The car analogy is kind of funny, I guess. But I spend maybe a week researching a new car and over a year (or more) researching the best college for my daughter. Are the two really in any way comparable?</p>
<p>Thought it seems nice, it's pretty difficult to get a research position in your freshman year. Only regents scholars get to start their freshman year. </p>
<p>Remember, freshman year, you're new, inexperienced, and you haven't taken many science courses at the school, so how can a professor simply trust you would be a valuable resource for him.</p>
<p>@dbanooza: not true. anyone can start research as early as he/she desires. </p>
<p>many people even prefer the idea of an inexperienced person to train -- that way, the student doesn't come in with any bad habits or preconceived notions of how things "should" be done. and it's sad but true, you don't need to know very much science to be excellent at technique and give valuable data (this is how i started out in my first lab, i had nothing but AP bio under my belt). this isn't limited to academic labs either; i met a girl who got hired at pfizer as a freshman for the same reason (decent academic record, eagerness to learn even if she didn't have any lab courses to her name) and she's been there ever since. if you're a freshman, it may be difficult to land a spot in some of the big-name labs if they don't have the resources to train you, but your class level is NOT an automatic turn-off. </p>
<p>aside from priority registration, housing, and the monetary pluses, there isn't all that much glory that comes with being a regents student. getting a research position effectively boils down to yourself and your willingness to approach professors.</p>
<p>Regarding your first lab (was it research?), was it during freshman year? Because in your post, you said if you could've redone college, you would've done research freshman year. </p>
<p>I applied for meager lab-assistant jobs on campus, and I got turned down probably because they took upperclassmen... so I thought if it's hard enough for a freshman to get hired to autoclave test tubes, thought it must be even harder to get a research position.</p>
<p>I started research late my sophomore year, but didn't have any pertinent skills I could bring to the table. I don't know how many jobs you applied to, but I've never known anyone to have difficulty in landing a lab position of some sort (of course, if you're aiming to get paid, that's another problem). If you're still intent on it, ask around -- try your TAs and professors. Even if they don't have room in their labs, they might know of someone else.</p>
<p>As a TA, I sent out regular notices of our company's open internships and got many positive replies, even from students I hadn't seen in a few quarters. In fact, my current Pfizer replacement was my former Chem 6B student. I also got one of my Chem 4 students into the same department -- she started right after freshman year. It pays off to be nice to people with connections! :)</p>