Research, where do I begin ?!

Graduate School
1

<p>Here is a little background information...
-Sophomore.
-Mathematics major/ Computer Science minor.
-Highest level of math - Calculus II (currently enrolled).</p>

<p>I attend Montclair State University (northern New Jersey). The reason why I am only in Calculus 2 as a sophomore is because I didn't attend college until 4 years after I graduated. I first went to community college for a year and started at College Algebra. I had a 4.0 GPA at my community college and after one semester at my university, I have a 3.4 (the grades from community college do not transfer).
Ok, now to get to the reason for this post; After I complete my Bachelor's degree, I want to attend graduate school for a Master's degree in Mathematics. So, in order to better my chances, and for my love of mathematics, I want to begin conducting research. The problem...I don't have the slightest idea on where would I begin! First of all, I don't even know what I would even want to research. Lastly, I feel that I am not even prepared for the task (only being in Calc 2).
So, what do I do? I want to ask a professor if there is any way I can become involved to gain experience and maybe figure out an area I would be interested in researching, but I have had only two different math teachers. The first was my Calc 1 teacher from last semester ( I had no kind of relationship with him), and the second teacher is my current Calc 2 professor (the semester just started, so I haven't had a chance to make myself known). Next semester I am taking Calc 3, Linear Algebra, Data Structures, Statistics, and Transition to Advanced Math. I want to start getting some research experience now before I enter my Junior year.
Should I email all the professors in the Math department and ask if I can assist them in anyway in their research, even though they haven't had me as a student? Is that normal?</p>

<p>So my questions are, 1.) Am I able to begin research at my level of studies? 2.) How do I go about finding a professor to guide me? 3.) Are there any online math journals that are not too advanced that I can read to get some ideas?</p>

<p>Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Sorry for being all over the place, but I am very confused.</p>

<p>-Andrew</p>

<p>P.s Any advice is welcome :) Thank you!!</p>

2

<p>Should I email all the professors in the Math department and ask if I can assist them in anyway in their research, even though they haven’t had me as a student? Is that normal?</p>

<p>Yes and yes!</p>

<p>So my questions are, 1.) Am I able to begin research at my level of studies? 2.) How do I go about finding a professor to guide me? 3.) Are there any online math journals that are not too advanced that I can read to get some ideas?</p>

<p>1) There’s a math graduate student on here who knows way more about this than me, but my sense is that maybe there’s at least something you can do to start out. You’ll want to ask some professors in your department - they’ll let you know.</p>

<p>2) The traditional way is that you find a professor who does research in which you are interested and ask if you can assist them in research. But in math it may be a little different just because it’s hard to tell what you’re interested in until you know more about the math (although I get the sense that that’s true in several of the STEM fields; I know that’s how it is in statistics too). If you go to a university with graduate students and you have a TA, you could ask them - grad students will have done undergrad research and they tend to be a little more approachable than a professor.</p>

3

<p>Do you have an academic advisor who is a faculty member in the Mathematics department? That is a good place to start. He/she knows the department and can guide you. In the absence of that, definitely email the faculty members whose research interests you most (look at their web pages).</p>