<p>So I really want an internship, but being in a small town and tiny school it is hard to find ones related to specific areas. We have a great hospital but I don't want to do anything medical; what I really want to do is engineering. I figured my best choice is emailing the Physics and Chemistry professors at the Univ. in town and seeing if they have any research going on over the summer. I have a few questions about this though.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I know it is still fall, but should I go ahead and email them?</p></li>
<li><p>How should I approach this? Should I send a resume or just state important facts
i.e. Will have taken AP calc, AP Chem, and Physics? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I’d go with emailing professors. Talk to teachers at your school/parents friends to see if you have any connections, but, otherwise, email someone a resume and cover letter. One of my friends got an earth science/biology research job that way. Oh, also, try not to say internship, if you’re not going for a formal program, because you might sound like you’re trying to drag them into a formal program or make them pay you. Say something like, “I’m very interested in <em>subject professor studies</em> and I would like to know if I could work with you/in your lab on a research project.” A full resume is nice. Go for GPA, math/science GPA, test scores, and extracurriculars+work.</p>
<p>:P I joined after Freshman Year Bio which I loved so I grabbed it up!</p>
<p>And yeah I figured I would say I’m interested in working with you on research or something of the sort. And I guess so I can add test scores I’ll wait till next week!
Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>I agree with the above poster clienk. I’m going through the same process too. I’m applying for a internship at a cancer research center that’s known in my state. It’s hard, but you really have to sell yourself. Researchers want someone who will dedicate their time for research and a student who will put themselves out there and do their best. There’s no shame emailing professors and asking, the worse thing they can say is no. Some professors love how students are willing to step up to the plate. A resume is really nice, it doesn’t have to be super perfect, type up a resume like any other. Include name, address etc., typing speed, job skills, computer skills and etc. You should also include a personal letter that sells you. This should include your academic outlook, career goals, reason why you would want to intern, hobbies, and information that shapes you as an individual. You can show your test scores and stuff like that if you want to. It’s not like you are competing against 100+ or even less than that. </p>
<p>Typing speed is useless in cancer research. I don’t know mine, but it’s low. That will look like a useless piece of info on the resume, which will make you look super desperate. It’s the equivalent of putting your middle school GPA. It might be a little more useful in physics/chem, if you use the computer a lot, but, looking at the computational biologists in my lab, and at my experience in AP CompSci, computer science is 90% thinking what to type and 10% actually typing it, so speed is irrelevant.</p>