<p>Hello everyone. I just wanted to know if there were any summer RESEARCH opportunities available in Macon, GA, or anywhere near it. See, over the summer, I volunteer at this thing called Midsummer Macon, where I'm a counselor for kids for one week. After that productive week, there's nothing to do really. Any other summer activities that would behoove me in my journey to getting an admission into a great college would be appreciated as well. Plus, I want those activities to be continued throughout the rest of my high school career. </p>
<p>Some things about me:
-Class Rank: 1 of 347
-Rising Sophomore
-Any questions?</p>
<p>Contact professors at universities near you. I have a friend that's doing research with a professor from Georgia Tech, if that's anywhere near where you are.</p>
<p>I work at a lab at a local university. I pretty much just contacted a bunch of professors from local colleges and a few wrote back. They wanted me to write them a resume and such, so I did. Then, a couple wrote back....and the one I was interested in, the Genetics lab that I currently do research at, wrote back to me.</p>
<p>This was all done in Dec/Jan though, so I doubt you will get anything done this summer. Try emailing them now or a bit later, for next summer. If the professors are nice and are enthusiastic about it (like mine), then you will be able to do the research. So far, it has been a good experience for me. I have done everything from calibrating pipettes to PCR to extracting DNA to gel electrophoresis.</p>
<p>Okay, so just talk to the professors? I guess I can do that. Thanks for the help, MegaVortex and sak09. </p>
<p>Sak, I have a question. The work that you do, is it like independent, or is it a collaborative effort with the professor, or is it just like do whatever you feel like, or, finally, is it one where he teaches you how to do different things (more of a class)</p>
<p>I'm interested in this topic :-)
When emailing professors, do you usually adopt a more formal tone? Instead of writing "Hey, your research on XXX interests me, may I help?", I should write "Mr/Mrs Professor: Recently, I came across your research on XXX and the topic of XXX has always been an area of interest to me. Is it possible for me to help out during the summer?"
And wouldn't the resume be rather useless if you lack any science ECs?</p>
<p>@gatorfan: Sorry for hijacking your thread a bit!</p>
<p>It's sort of a combination, to be honest. The first couple of days, I mostly shadowed the professor and grad student. They showed be around the lab, and then I watched him (the grad student) do his experiments, as he explained the procedures. Now, I can do the experiments on my own. The professor or sometimes grad student tells me what they want done, and I can do it. I'm pretty much on my own with the experiment, expect the grad student sort of keeps an eye on me every now and then....for obvious reasons. But I think every lab will be a little different, so just talk to the professors and find out. </p>
<p>Woami: Make it formal, but just be yourself. I think I just wrote that I was a high school student, interested in biology/science lab work, and asked if it was possible for me to work in their lab. Brief and to the point. Then they wrote back asking for a resume and stuff though.</p>