<p>Hi there!</p>
<p>I'm currently a high school senior (I know) but I was wondering if it would be a good idea for me to start connecting with professors in fields that I'm interested in. Basically, would it be weird if I emailed a professor at a top-tier school, asking about their research and whether or not I could assist them over the summer? Would I have to be an undergraduate student at said institution to do so? </p>
<p>For what it's worth, I'd like to go to eventually go to grad school for Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Thanks!! </p>
<p>How do you know you want to go to graduate school, when you, I presume, have had little exposure to your major?</p>
<p>You will most likely NOT find a position in the summer at another institution unless it was a formal program. </p>
<p>Do you want to pursue grad school for name recognition? I kinda got that vibe from “would it be weird if I emailed a professor at a top-tier school.” Top tier or not, I would think any professor would find it strange if a high school senior and even undergrads emailed them about working for them (provided they’re at different institutions and there was no formal research program). Most likely, they won’t even reply. </p>
<p>Well, you kinda took the wind out of my sails there, but you’re right–I’m not positive I’d want to go in the future. As of now, though, I am considering it. I imagine that many premeds haven’t done much more than shadow at local hospitals before their undergraduate years, but that doesn’t necessarily say anything about their medical school aspirations.</p>
<p>And by “top-tier”, I meant by their EEB departments. UC Davis might not be what comes to mind when prestige is mentioned, but they have a fantastic animal science department. And I’m well aware that they might not deign to respond, but I was just wondering if it would be worth a try. </p>
<p>Thanks. </p>
<p>It’s always possible that you might email someone who’s interested in having a rising college freshman join their group over the summer – it’s not necessarily terribly likely, but it could happen, and you don’t have anything to lose by trying.</p>
<p>What about the school you’ll be attending next year? Is there anybody you’d like to work with there? Working at your own college might mean you can continue into a school-year research position.</p>
<p>I think if you’re interested in doing research, then looking to work with professors at your home institution will be much more likely. Professors at other universities can’t simply hire undergraduates from another universities, unless it was through a formal program such as an NSF REU. </p>
<p>Hmmm, you seem pretty well ahead of your peers as a HS senior. I wouldn’t have known what evolutionary biology is back then. I’m an engineering major, but my specific area of research interest actually involves evolutionary biology. </p>
<p>I do think that it is highly unlikely (maybe even impossible; I’ve never heard of a professor hiring an undergrad from a different university) for you to find a research position at a different institution, as a undergraduate. If you want to do research at a different institution or a national lab, then there are tons of programs out there that let you do so. </p>
<p>Some high school pre-college students do get the opportunity to participate in research. Often through formal programs, which it might be a bit late to apply to. Sometimes it is through connections with teachers and friend of friends. Sometimes through museum programs. My daughter got to do research with a museum but it was a situation unique to her high school. Is Davis in commuting distance from you? Are you talking about volunteer work? Are you willing to do something useful like washing up? Do you have any connections there? Do you know where you are going to college yet? Do you have an application in at Davis?</p>
<p>Remember that college professors get pestering emails constantly. You wouldn’t want to email and ask about their research. You’d want to take the time to look online at what the work is they are doing/have done, publications so you can say something intelligent/relevant.</p>
<p>* I imagine that many premeds haven’t done much more than shadow at local hospitals before their undergraduate years, but that doesn’t necessarily say anything about their medical school aspirations.*</p>
<p>Yes, it does. In fact, I think it’s even more common for a HS senior who says “I want to be a doctor!” to end up doing something else that it is for a HS senior who says “I want to be an evolutionary biologist!” But there’s nothing wrong with that, because shadowing and working as a research assistant are those professions’ respective ways to discover whether you want to do it. So don’t feel bad about seeking out a research assistantship as a HS senior.</p>
<p>So I think you’re too early but only slightly. Wait until you actually arrive on campus to your chosen university, and e-mail professors then to see if you can begin assisting them in your second semester as a freshman. HS seniors take a lot of time and energy to supervise because they don’t know anything yet (not your fault) and so a lot of professors are unwilling, but they will be more willing to take on a second-semester freshman who has at least a semester of biology under their belt and is actually at their university - thus investing in their own students.</p>
<p>Also, it’s not uncommon for university professors to work with college students from different colleges in the same city. As an undergrad, I went to a small LAC and lots of students worked as RAs in nearby research universities within our city. And as a grad student, we sometimes had a few undergrads in our lab from different neighboring colleges and universities who didn’t have the same opportunities at their own schools. We also sometimes had master’s students who wanted to do research in our area but didn’t go to our department (we don’t have a master’s program). AS long as you can get there reliably and seem interested many professors don’t care, but that’s more for current college students than a HS student.</p>
<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>Thanks for all your responses! I’ll be looking into national labs and other research programs that might take me over the summer. For the school in question, I just got a little too excited because one of the professors was actually focusing on the exact same topic as I was (albeit with a different, much more complex approach) and I was wondering if it would be too out of the blue if I suddenly emailed him asking about his work or sent him compilations of my own data unsolicited. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I’m pretty far from Davis, but I’ll try to see if the nearby UC offers anything similar. And yes, I’m more than willing to do grunt work! I understand that at this level, professors are essentially sacrificing a bit of their time in order to mentor any newcomers, so I’ll be happy to prepare slides/spreadsheets or whatever they request of me. I haven’t heard back from my colleges yet, but when I do I’ll definitely take the research opportunities that they offer into consideration. </p>