<p>This summer my rising college sophomore son has a job on campus that we are all very grateful for, even though he's only home for a week this summer. He arrived yesterday and we've been discussing the next three years, trying to plan so he gets all his required classes for the interdisciplinary major he's decided on, while also studying abroad. That's just undergrad, he'll need to go graduate school. </p>
<p>The remaining summers are looming large as we have become aware that research and internships seem to be mandatory for entrance into grad school. I'm just beginning to figure out what research projects and internships are, and now realize that they come in several variations: the paid; the unpaid; and the one's that you pay a fee for. Blimey!</p>
<p>My question is just how important are research projects and internships to graduate schools? Which is preferred, should he be looking for one type over the other? Do regular jobs enhance applications?</p>
<p>I think it will all depend on your major . My son in Engineering is working as an intern at a dream company ( for him ) and getting 750 a week and he is only a junior ! It’s very hard to get paid internships in some fields because of the demand for anything .( He took off a semester from school )</p>
<p>I have been out of academics for many years but for what it’s worth:</p>
<p>Grad schools value research/internship work for a couple of reasons.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>They want to know that the kid has some idea about what they are in for beyond college, meaning what doing research at the grad school level is like. It’s quite different than taking college classes and the grad schools want to feel comfortable that the kid won’t be going ‘Gee, I didn’t know this is what I had to do, I don’t think I like it.’ </p></li>
<li><p>They want to know how the kid is outside of the classroom, the dedication, the level of interest in the field etc. A research/internship advisor can likely provide that sort of information in a letter of rec.</p></li>
<li><p>Obviously, if the work produces some tangible evidence of dedication and intelligence, such as a published paper, then all the better. However, the likelihood of this depends on many factors beyond the control of the student and the grad schools know that.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So, I don’t think the specifics of paid vs unpaid, ‘research’ vs ‘internship,’ really matter. It’s really more a matter of what useful information about the student is revealed through their work that the grad school would be interested in.</p>
<p>My rising sophomore son got a cool research job this summer on campus under a very influential professor. I told him I didn’t care whether he got paid or not as I thought the experience would be well worth it regardless. As it is, he is getting paid somewhat more than minimum wage and working closely with a grad student. He already has a very clear idea of what it would be like to be a grad student, down to having a bare bones office, and that is a priceless piece of knowledge in terms of him planning his future.</p>
<p>fauxmaven: Congratulations to your son! I can see that landing an internship with the dream company would be worth taking a semester off.</p>
<p>ihs76: Congratulations to you son also. It’s quite an achievement to have that experience so early in his college career. Thanks for the thoughtful reply and information. My son is going to an LAC and has decided on an interdisciplinary major (geology/physics) with the intent to go to graduate school for environmental or civil engineering. We have much to figure out.</p>
<p>OP,
my son just graduated from USC with a Geology major and Physics minor , and is starting his PHD program at Cal Tech in Sept. Both the long term [ unpaid] research projects with a scientist at USGS , which resulted in a published paper, and 2 summers of research for a Sr Geology Prof at USC[ college sponsored paid summer internship program] , as well as their strong letters of recommendation were instrumental in his acceptances to grad schools. Your son would be much better off doing research with profs, than working for a for profit company [ i.e. engineering firm] . And no research program that YOU have to pay for will be worth anything to a grad school admissions office.</p>
<p>Thanks menlopark mom. Very useful info, and you have a very bright son. Did he apply to work with the USGS scientist or was that facilitated by the school?</p>
<p>My son applied to a large number of paid research internships and landed a great one. I hope he is as fortunate next summer.</p>
<p>Is it important to try to do undergraduate research with a prof <strong>during the school year</strong>, as well as internships during the summers?</p>
<p>[Menloparkmom, do you have any special tips on getting into Caltech for grad school? That is my son’s dream grad school.]</p>
<p>For someone who is considering going into a Ph.D. program, this is almost essential. A Ph.D. is a research degree. Previous experience in research is important. (For one thing, if you hate your undergraduate research, you may want to change your plans and go do something else after graduation.)</p>
<p>If you’re not interested in a research career, undergraduate research doesn’t seem as important, at least in my opinion.</p>
<p>I don’t know that it matters so much ‘when’ as much as it does ‘how much.’ However, it does often follow that summer research then leads to ongoing work during the school year, assuming that the summer work was on campus. Most research projects don’t follow the academic calendar so it’s more usual than not that there is always more to do.</p>
<p>It’s also not uncommon that your research group becomes your surrogate family so one tends to hang out in the ‘lab’ and continue to be part of the group.</p>
<p>Marion: your comments about undergrad research being essential for a Ph.D program made sense. My son will be going for a master’s and is ultimately interested in field work in hydrology, so maybe a little less stress is put on heavy duty undergrad research for a masters program?</p>
<p>ihs76, your comments made me realize that some research/internships can extend beyond graduation. Do you know if that’s fairly common?</p>
<p>son was extremely lucky to meet the USGS scientist [ and future mentor] when he was Jr in HS[ he had a D at the same H school that son attended]. Son began his USGS research that following summer and continued it for the next 5 summers- essentially learning how to do research first and then researching a series of earthquakes off the coast of Oregon.
While in college he did 3 summers of research for a USC college sponsored Geology research program [SCEC, which IS open to non-USC students] , as well as continued and finally wrote up the USGS research, resulting in a published paper last year. He also went to 5 national Geology meetings in the last 3 years to make presentations [ posters, presentations, ]on both research projects. None of this would have been possible without the strong support of both mentors.
I think that is the reason he was quickly accepted at Cal Tech- he already had done lots of quality research and attained a level of recognition and accomplishment that is usually not realized until the graduate school level or later.</p>
<p>Thanks menloparkmom. Wow, that’s a great story. It’s tremendous that he seized the opportunities presented to him at such an early age. </p>
<p>My son has talked about engineering and hydrology for several years, but he didn’t really know if that’s what he wanted to pursue. He’s interested in a great many things, and ultimately chose a liberal arts college so he could try out several possible choices. His freshman year was wildly exploratory, and he’s matured a lot. Now he’s ready to come back to his first loves; math and science. Taking this extra time, while necessary, means he’ll have to accomplish a lot in the next three years. I really appreciate the input you all have given.</p>
and working closely with a grad student. He already has a very clear idea of what it would be like to be a grad student, down to having a bare bones office, and that is a priceless piece of knowledge in terms of him planning his future.</p>