<p>Hi. I'm an upcoming freshman for a college. </p>
<p>I'm still waiting for the admission decisions but I'd like to know what I should do in college in order to prepare for the Grad School admission.</p>
<p>Of course, I would have to take the GRE.
I know researches and internships help.</p>
<p>What else?
Perhaps being an office of a club or volunteering?</p>
<p>Please inform me!</p>
<p>Whoa, hold your horses… you’ve got four years worth of undergraduate to get through first :)</p>
<p>Research, internships, GPA and professor recommendations are the biggies. Extracurriculars are irrelevant.</p>
<p>You can’t really prepare for graduate school at your current position. Grad school is very specific as to what you want to study, and those interests may change very often over the next few years as you learn more about your major and other majors, as well. Usually you want to have narrowed interests by your sophomore year, but even then things might change. You can speak up to your academic advisor to let them know you are interested in grad school, but usually you have to wait until your junior or senior year to take an internship or get genuine research experience. Your first year or two will likely be a liberal arts education and not in-depth study of your intended major. Keep your mind open and express your interests to your profs, and they will help to guide you.</p>
<p>Extracurriculars are overrated and will probably hurt your GPA more than help it.</p>
<p>dissenting voice- it’s never too early to start preparing for grad school. The best way to do this is to get research experience. Skill at lab work comes from making a lot of mistakes and then figuring out what went wrong. The earlier you start to run gels on the wrong polarity or contaminate cell lines, the fewer meaningful experiments will be ruined when more is on the line. If you are enthusiastic about grad school, start by emailing professors at your school whose work is interesting and see if they wouldn’t take you on in their lab over the summer. My lab has a [now] freshman who did this.</p>
<p>Wow. Thank you for all the recommendations!</p>
<p>I am greatly interested in chemical engineering and also renewable energies.
How could I join the lab while I have such limited knowledge?</p>
<p>And some schools might be prestigious in ChemE department but the environmental research is quite weak. So, what do I do to find the right school for me?</p>
<p>I’ve gathered that GPA and research work and rec letters are the most important.
I guess I’ll get to know my professors really well and try my best to get interships?</p>
<p>“I guess I’ll get to know my professors really well and try my best to get interships?”</p>
<p>Not exactly. The reason why LOR’s are important is because they should speak to your research potential. In other words, the letters should come from professors you did research with, well-known professors in your field, and/or a professor from an upper level course that can give an honest assessment of your ability to handle graduate school. Getting to know your intro classes’ professors won’t get you the type of LOR’s grad schools want to see.</p>
<p>oh i see. Thank you! Can you answer my other questions too, please? :]</p>
<p>I don’t have any inside information, but I doubt you need much experience to work in a lab. Undergraduates do it all the time. Just make sure you go to a school with research opportunities for undergrads.</p>
<p>“And some schools might be prestigious in ChemE department but the environmental research is quite weak. So, what do I do to find the right school for me?”</p>
<p>Are you asking for your undergraduate or graduate school? For undergraduate, you should probably just go to a strong engineering school. For graduate school, well, I think you should figure out what kind of research you want to do first. Idk how much overlap there is between chemical engineering and renewable energy. Are you thinking about like hydrogen fuel cells? I’m trying to think of a renewable energy that requires a chem engineer.</p>
<p>“I am greatly interested in chemical engineering and also renewable energies.
How could I join the lab while I have such limited knowledge?”
Some professors are willing to allow students with no experience or theoretical knowledge to join their labs. This is particularly true of larger groups where an additional person can more easily be accommodated. Of course, there will also be professors who will only accept upper-level undergraduates, so you may not be accepted by the first potential advisor you contact. However, if you are persistent, I think you have a fairly good chance of getting such a position, especially if you will attend a research heavy school.</p>
<p>You can always try talking with whoever is the professor for your intro engineering class. I know at a lot of departments there’s a master list of professors looking for undergrad help, and it’s likely they’d know who to talk to to find out about it.</p>
<p>The best preparation is not to be too serious. Enjoy your time as a freshman. Do well in your classes, but you don’t have to be a lab rat right off the bat to go a great grad school.</p>
<p>I will enjoy it haha for sure!
I am pumped!!!</p>
<p>Oh btw, I’m preparing to become a chemical engineer.
Would it seem irrelevant if i got an internship at the white house? My cousin has connections so i can get it if i wanted.</p>
<p>Yes, it would be irrelevant. Graduate school is two to five (or more…) years of intense focus on your particular discipline.</p>
<p>It might be a great experience, but it would not likely help you at all in the application process for graduate studies in chemistry.</p>