<p>^^ Your same quote also included that juniors and seniors are allowed to participate in UROP. My department did not break any rules. Out of the entire group (9 students), only two were upperclassmen, who had to commit to more rigorous research expectations because of their grade level. Simply, academic credit is better than no credit. </p>
<p>As a graduate student, I had to take on a few side projects for academic credit. I didn’t get paid for all of them, but they were good learning experiences that enhanced my resume.</p>
<p>Georgey306, this is what I would do in your position.</p>
<ol>
<li> Read posts #2 and #3 in this thread.</li>
</ol>
<p>:)</p>
<p>“You are better off just cold-contacting professors whose research you are interested in”</p>
<p>I agree. This is the vastly superior method.</p>
<p>“You can do independent studies if you want to do it for credits.”</p>
<p>Seconded.</p>
<p>
I meant the UROP admin, not your department. If there are no more than 60 juniors/seniors on the program, there should be plenty of interesting projects left over for the 500 freshmen and 500 sophomores.</p>
<p>For juniors/seniors, there is no reason to put up with the craps required by UROP. I’d think it’s much easier to walk down the hall and talk to your professors in the department. Your academic advisor is also a good resource for suggestions, especially for interdisciplinary projects.</p>
<p>When I was a graduate student, we also had one or more undergraduate students doing research and they were part of the team. We hired work-study students for the grunt works.</p>