<p>Hilarious link, parent2noles. Apparently PBK lumps in engineering with other vocational courses such as home economics, journalism, and education (to name a few). That really discredits the opinion of what PBK is, in my mind. For what it is worth, I got quite a few solicitations from PBK but decided due to the tenacity of the UF chapter to get me to join it (stacks of snail mail) that it was not much of an honor.</p>
<p>This is not to say that I disagree with their position of not having a GT chapter, because well the humanities are seen as necessary evils here, but calling engineering a vocation comparable to “secretarial studies” is laughable.</p>
<p>That’s something I hadn’t considered, mrussell (freshman “busy-ness” vs. opportunity for research).</p>
<p>When you reached out for undergrad research opportunities, how did you go about doing that? Just went to the professors and spoke to them directly (or was there perhaps some clearing house or through an advisor or something)?</p>
<p>Yep, I’m biased towards Florida State. As a graduate and now parent of one graduate and another near-graduate our collective preference is obvious. However, my father got his grad degree from UF as well as other family members going the undergraduate route at UF and grad at GT, USC (in Los Angeles) and Georgetown. </p>
<p>PBK is still likely the most revered academic honor society. It speaks to the human condition, the creation of citizen leaders, which is essential for our country. It may be minimized by those in the mechanical sciences, but seldom will leadership be replaced by clever programming.</p>
<p>hey joe - well as a materials engineering student, there’s a program called “research experience in materials” where you fill out a one page application and you get paired with a professor who is doing research in something that you’re interested in (there’s a place in the application for what specialization of materials science you’re interested in: nanotechnology, electronic materials, ceramics, biomaterials, etc).</p>
<p>There’s information on how to approach faculty, how to build a student-mentor relationship, an undergraduate research database of current positions opened for undergrads (the list is somewhat short of everything available), special programs, opportunities for publishing your research, and possibly receiving academic class credits for research (though you wouldn’t be paid if you got credit). One of the programs listed is the University Scholars Program where you get $2,500 for conducting summer research and writing your thesis throughout the school year. Additionally, the program will fund $500 for travel to present your research at a scholarly conference.</p>
<p>Research is one of the five “pillars of the honors program”: Leadership, Community Service, Study Abroad, Research, and Internships. You can’t complete the honors program without doing one of these five things.</p>
<p>I almost forgot - my roommate is a biochem major in the Science for Life program which is, at first, a class many health and life-sciences freshman take their first semester. The class introduces you to all the current on-campus research with speakers from the college of medicine to the college of engineering presenting what projects are currently being developed with an emphasis toward the life sciences. Then, there’s a competition for the “intramural program” which allows students to participate in multi-year research with “the expectation of receiving a second award and co-authorship in publications.”</p>
<p>The size of the awards are $2000 for performing research, $500 for each co-authored publication, a $2000 matching award if it’s off campus, and eligibility to get the $10,000 award which is to perform research at any location worldwide. </p>
<p>p2n, none of the links under “Undergraduate Research Opportunities” work except for “Biology”. I have a really strong urge to say something very sarcastic, but, I’m going to refrain. Maybe there is something wrong with my internet service?? :)</p>
<p>FIU degree is almost good as UF in Miami. Dare step an inch outside of dade… What’s FIU?? oh wait Isiah Thomas… an MBA w/ no GMAT??.. </p>
<p>Like everyone here said, go to UF. If you want to be a retail pharmacist, then go to UCF. If you want less competition in undeergrad, go to UCF. Do yourself the favor and check what schools do student come from when they attend Pharm school at san francisco. That’s Your best bet. You can use los chavitos that you saved like you planned.</p>
<p>parent2noles, if you’re going to bring up the Mag Lab in Tallahassee then I will bring up the Central Florida Research Park. It is the largest research park in the state and seventh largest in the country and is right next to the UCF campus and has a unique partnership with UCF. There are tons of opportunities available there.</p>
<p>Though this topic is about 10 days old now, I haven’t checked back, and saw a clear error in parent2noles’s comment. Obviously s/he has never visited the Central Florida Research Park - I personally conducted research in the UCF Materials Characterization Facility located within the research park during my high school years. In fact, UCF owns and operates several facilities within the research park funded by grant money. So I would actually view this as MORE advantageous than the MagLab - whereas the MagLab’s purpose is to primarily study high magnetic fields in the materials sciences and medical technologies in the microcosm of academia, the Central Florida Research Park can simultaneously host a broader scope of research from academia and industry in one localized setting. Any science or engineering major knows about the struggle to choose between industry and academia after graduation, and the Central Florida Research Park allows the student to see both worlds in college.</p>
<p>My opinion is still go with UF (something this thread seems to be drifting away from), but I wanted to clear that misconception about UCF/Central Florida Research Park for accuracy’s sake.</p>
Maybe there is something wrong with my internet service?? :)</p>