<p>I know that many high school students interested in science like to research with a professor, but what exactly does that mean? What exactly do you do, does the professor set aside time to teach you or something? I'd appreciate more details.</p>
<p>bump…I wanna know too! Like how do you even get a professor to work with you?</p>
<p>^Yeah, especially without embarrassing yourself and if you don’t know that much about the subject. And anyway, what PROFESSOR in their right mind would want to work with a high school student? I want to do it, but still… I can’t imagine a professor wanting me around.</p>
<p>I’m interested in knowing too. Trust me, there’s a ton of programs out there that allow you to research/intern with professors.You could also email some professors asking if they’d be willing to let you research w/ them.</p>
<p>You might find this link helpful. But they’re more directed towards juniors and seniors, but at least it should give you a good idea what you could do next summer:[High</a> School Internships](<a href=“http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/highschool.htm#start]High”>http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/highschool.htm#start)</p>
<p>Someone on here told me it’s better to do research over a longer extended amount of time instead of over 3 weeks-2 months.</p>
<p>“And anyway, what PROFESSOR in their right mind would want to work with a high school student?”</p>
<p>lol soo true. Unless the students who have “internships” are actually fetching coffee, but don’t mention THAT on the application. Like how will a high school student be able to even help a professor doing cutting edge research, with only like a year or two of science?</p>
<p>btw does anyone know how to do those quote boxes?</p>
<p>^I agree. What kind of research are you interested in, chocobok? </p>
<p>By the way, I suggest you look at the faculty list for the department of whatever subject area you’re interested in at a nearby university. I looked and there are little bios for each professor/assistant professor explaining what their research focus is. Now I just have to get the guts to actually e-mail one.</p>
<p>I’m not going to be picky about it, just something sciency, so I can see if I would enjoy it as a major/career.</p>
<p>I think I will email too…much better than calling them up. I need a new email adress. Mine sounds so unprofressional. They’ll think it’s spam or something.</p>
<p>Professors often have numerous ideas and things popping through their mind. However, they often lack the man power or undergraduate assistants to simply do all those experiments. The HS intern probably would start out doing background research and basic tests. Maybe PCR or something else depending on the field. As you continue to work, you may begin to formulate ideas on various things you want to test and then you form your own question and create a proposal to carry out your desired topic.</p>
<p>chocobok, I don’t want to call either because I sound like a 5 year old girl on the phone.</p>
<p>vasudevank, what about for social sciences? I probably shouldn’t have included the phrase “interested in science” in my first post because I’m not, I’m actually interested in Economics or something of the sort.</p>
<p>I would basically describe high school research (at least in the medical and engineering field) as more of an exploration rather than research. Most areas of research involve very advanced topics, and you will probably need at least two years of college education (in the field) to do what the graduate students do. When I did research last summer in medical imaging, my professor introduced me to the general field of imaging and just told me to learn and explore the broad concepts rather than the specific details.</p>
<p>Usually, you will have your own project. So, there is at least some “real” research involved. Your own project is basically like science fair except it will be more advanced and focused (of course, you’ll also have guidance). The depth of your project totally depends on how interested you are and how far you want to go. Yes, if you are passionate, smart, and motivated about the subject, you probably will contribute to the lab’s overall research. You will also help graduate students or research assistants with their projects. Thus, you’ll gain a lot of knowledge about lab techniques such as PCR, Gel electrophoresis, tissue manipulation and etc. (in the medical field at least). </p>
<p>So overall, I’d say it’s definitely worth it. You’ll be completely immersed in the research area. And if you like this area, you’ll have an absolutely amazing experience.</p>
<p>yeah, if I called my voice would probably go all squeaky. Or I might forget the english language altogether.</p>
<p>I’m a bit afraid (if I ever do manage to find an internship) that I will be very bad at it. I have a feeling the science we do at school is very different from the stuff in the lab. I am clumsy so I will probably end up knocking down the professor’s apparatus or a delicate experiment that he/she has been working on for the last 10 yrs, lol.</p>
<p>Social Sciences… that is much harder… Mostly at that point I would email professors and see what they do (I am no expert…) Also I don’t know of many opportunities, but DECA is something similar to it (not exactly economics, but business). Its probably harder, but you could do grunt work like pull up articles for the professor on a certain topic. They need students for that all the time (maybe not with the recession, I know that a lot of universities cut back funding for projects)</p>