Hi, I’m looking to go into a STEM major at the top universities, and I hear that it’s recommended to try and get research experience in high school. What are some summer programs (particularly for bio and medicine) for out of state students? My local state university doesn’t have any programs. I’m also concerned about doing research at one of these programs despite not having previous research experience. Will being in an AP Bio/Chem class be enough preparation? Lastly, I’m going to try and email my local state school about research opportunities, and I would like to know how anybody was able to do that, being in high school.
Sorry for the random and seemingly all over the place post. It didn’t seem right to split this into 30 different threads lol
However, in general the best looking for college are the ones that are free rather than the ones you shell out $$ for.
If your local hospital or university does research you can contact researchers and ask them if you can intern with them. In my area this is done over the winter for the following summer. However, if research is not that common in your area perhaps they will take you on for this summer.
I know of a recent, very successful HS student who, with a friend, spent time downloading and reading the ongoing research of scientists/medical professionals in our local area by scanning tons of journals. Of those that interested them, they emailed the head researchers/authors of these articles, requesting to join the research teams. They presented themselves well and got multiple offers. But they put the time into it beforehand, which was obvious
If it helps, my local state university is UNLV (nevada, las vegas). If I ask to join a research team will they train me? Or will they throw me in and expect me to just catch up?
As someone who has mentored high school researchers, I have some advice:
No matter how many AP classes you take, you and almost every other high school student, will be ill-prepared to work in a research lab. That being said, no one will expect a high school student to walk into lab the first day and start off on his or her own project! You will probably be assigned to a grad student, post-doc, or technician and work on a project with them. Someone in the lab will certainly train you. You will start off basic - learning how to pipette, how to use a balance properly, maybe pour plates, or make basic solutions, etc. Eventually you might get your own project or help a more senior lab member with their project. The most important thing you can do is be enthusiastic about the opportunity to learn, ask good questions, and be willing to do whatever is asked of you. Keeping a positive attitude will make the learning experience so much more enjoyable for not only you, but also your mentor.
As for finding research opportunities, look at UNLV’s website and find researchers whose projects interest you. Read up on their project and send them an email. Don’t be discouraged if you have to email a lot of professors - professors are busy people! The email doesn’t have to be long, keep it succinct but express interest. There are also programs all over the country for high school students, but most are limited to disadvantaged or underrepresented students and it is probably too late to apply for them. It still wouldn’t hurt to do a search on the internet though.
Feel free to message me if you have any other questions.