On the Topic of Research

<p>After many months of lurking, I finally came across a question that seems unanswerable without an account so I made one =]. What I realized in my two months time of lurking is that a good chunk of CCers have conducted research and I too have thought about it, but had no idea how. So the conclusion I've come to is simply go up to a professor and ask or email them. However as a high school student, it feels obnoxious to simply ask for an internship from a person whom I know almost nothing about. So the question is how did you or would you ask the professor to take you in as an intern? I would be grateful if you would email a sample of how it might look. I have already emailed five professors within my area, but none have responded. Perhaps I am doing something wrong. If it helps I can Pm my letters so you can oversee my errors. Thank you.
P.S I live very close to Caltech, but am extremely afraid to ask for research opportunities there. Instead I have emailed professors from a farther university--Calstate L.A</p>

<p>^bump…sorry I always thought it was sort of indignifying to use bump…but i guess i’m using it anyway…=[…sorry for patronizing those who have used it even if i only did so in my mind.</p>