<p>Do you think researching with a political science professor is a good and realistic idea for a high schooler? I know that political science isn't the type of traditional lab science subject, but I still think there are many fascinating things worth researching, and would love to maybe just assist a poli sci professor or initiate a research project with his/her assistance.</p>
<p>Is it worth doing?</p>
<p>Yes, it is worth doing – if you are interested in graduate school in political science or related fields, research is one of the most important things, and getting as much experience as possible is key.</p>
<p>However, you may find it a little difficult. Professors are extremely busy people. Most of the time, the majority of their time for students (which isn’t much to begin with – they make the most money by conducting research and consulting) is taken up advising their graduate students, and if they have any time left over for students after that they’ll be focusing on undergrads. High school students are the least of their worries, especially since you will be spending less time helping them than they will be spending helping you.</p>
<p>The best way to do this is of course having a connection to a poli sci professor (i.e., your uncle is one, or your father is friends with someone, or your parents have a friend of a friend…).</p>
<p>Barring that, you’re going to have to do cold calls. Look at the webpages of the political science professors in your area – and I mean, all of them. Don’t stop with just the famous research universities in your area; you’re a high school student and you can’t be picky. Make a list with the e-mail addresses and research interests of the political science professors that you’d like to work with, and rank them from “most interesting” to “least interesting (but still worthwhile)”.</p>
<p>If you can - this will be impressive if you do, so you should – look at their recent publications, then find them on Google Scholar and at least skim through them. (This will give you an idea of what their recent work is in.) If their recent publications aren’t listed, use their name as a search term on Google Scholar.</p>
<p>And then just start e-mailing. Tell them your name, your high school, give them a little background of yourself (not “I have two dogs and a little sister”, but more like an academic history) and the reason for your e-mail. Tell them your interests in political science, if you have any specific ones. Tell them you have read their recent paper on ____ and that you found ____ interesting and relevant to your own interest (do a little ego-stroking – professors love ego-stroking just like anyone else), and that you’d love the opportunity to assist them with/work on a research project this summer, and ask them if that would be possible.</p>
<p>Be clear and concise. Professors are busy people and trust me, I don’t even read <em>my</em> e-mails thoroughly and I’m just a grad student. If you highlight the main points (“I’m in high school, I think you’re awesome, please work with me”) adequately and keep it short you will be much more likely to get a response.</p>
<p>I’d e-mail one or two first, and wait about…a week for a response. If you don’t get one, move onto the next one, and so on. This may take a while, and don’t let rejection discourage you. If you start getting a lot of rejections, you may need to change your tactic a little bit. Ask them if they know of any colleagues who might be willing to enter such a proposition or if they know of any research opportunities for high school students.</p>
<p>Be very open-minded. You may end up working on the last project you wanted to work on. I am a social health psychologist and my first research project was analyzing motor development in infants and toddlers, which is only sort of related to what I do now (gender and sexuality development and expression in adolescents and young adults).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Wow, thanks so much!</p>