<p>My university is opening up a pre-application for the Goldwater Scholarship, where anyone can apply and they'll pick their 4 nominees from that pool of applicants. I was wondering if I should try applying for it, but I don't know if I'm qualified enough to try because it's a really big deal. </p>
<p>Some information about me:</p>
<p>-I'm a sophomore this year
-Biochemistry major
-I have a 3.97 GPA (only ever gotten 1 A- and no B's)
-I go to a state university
-I'm in a few extracurricular activities and have a leadership position in one of them
-I work as a biology tutor for my school
-I shadowed researchers at a hospital the summer before last, but have never gotten a real internship
-My career goals are either to do biomedical research at a university, or clinical research for a hospital or private company
-I am currently involved in undergraduate research in a cancer research lab. I've been doing it since my freshman year, but last year I mostly just helped out with random tasks around the lab. (Making solutions, setting up basic reactions, transferring cells to new culture dishes, etc.) This year, I am helping my advisor with one of her specific projects. She came up with the idea for the project and created an experimental plan, but I'm in charge of actually collecting data for the experiment and I will help her analyze it later on.</p>
<p>I want to send in a pre-application for this prestigious scholarship but I'm afraid I'll just be in over my head. As a sophomore, would I be considered too young/inexperienced to get the award? Also, is it bad that I haven't really done any independent research yet? Even though I am helping with a project now, I still can't really call it my own work because my advisor thought of the whole thing and basically just told me what to do. </p>
<p>I’d say go for it! Looking at your information now, you could certainly make for a competitive applicant.</p>
<p>As far as lacking independent research, in the physical sciences, it’s extremely rare that an undergraduate will conduct research that is entirely their own. This is just for the simple reason that scientific research is quite costly, and undergraduates lack the expertise to successfully apply for funding. </p>
<p>As a sophomore, you will be at a slight disadvantage in that you haven’t been in school for three years, but you’ve already got a full year of research under your belt which is great. If you apply this year and don’t make it, you at least have an extremely solid foundation from which you can apply again next year.</p>
<p>If you end up not receiving the scholarship, focus on trying to get a publication out of your research and attend as many national and state conferences that you reasonably can. Goldwater is all about funding scholars who show great potential to make a difference as a PhD in their field, so show them how much you can do now.</p>
<p>For reference, I’m a materials science major from UW-Eau Claire (small/medium state university). I applied for Goldwater my junior year (last year) and had 3 years of research experience, a publication, and had presented at 7 conferences (one of which was a national). My GPA was a 3.98 (4.0 major) and I was captain of the triclub and had one other leadership position.</p>
<p>The biggest part of the Goldwater application is the research proposal. You have to put together a well-planned, feasible, and interesting project proposal, and you have to make a strong case why YOU are qualified to conduct this research. I think it’s worth applying for. Work closely with your research advisor to put together your application. (I went through countless drafts with mine…) Even if you don’t get it this year, or don’t even get your university’s nomination, it’s really useful to go through the process of writing a research proposal. Plus, you’d be even more prepared to re-apply the next year!</p>