<p>I suppose summer research opportunities at MIT is competitive. So, any suggestion on when to start asking/visiting professors for summer research opportunities?</p>
<p>I may have a better chance at a summer research position if I start working for a professor during the school year. But I am kind of unsure how I adjust ... since I will be a freshman (in September). Usually, what is the minimum number of hours that I can probably work for a professor?</p>
<p>it really depends, but a reasonable figure would be 6 hours/week, though if you want to get something out of it, more hours would be required</p>
<p>for summer urops, people started looking around the beginning of april and some are still in the process. It's usually doable to get one, although it's important to start early and contact enough people. Also, the tricky part is to get funding, since if your supervisor doesn't have it then you'll have to get it from the UROP office, which is somewhat competitive.</p>
<p>Summer research opportunities aren't necessarily competitive -- there are lots of professors and they all like having students work for them (we're cheaper than grad students). Like asdf123 said, the competitive part is to get paid.</p>
<p>Which department are we talking about here though? If you're talking about chemistry, there's an IAP course which freshmen can take to get research experience (<a href="http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/www/academic/freshmen.html)%5B/url%5D">http://web.mit.edu/chemistry/www/academic/freshmen.html)</a>, which would definitely be a plus when applying for a summer UROP.</p>
<p>I've never worked less than 10 hours a week at my science UROP during the term, although maybe some profs would be willing to let you work less.</p>
<p>"Summer research opportunities aren't necessarily competitive -- there are lots of professors and they all like having students work for them (we're cheaper than grad students). Like asdf123 said, the competitive part is to get paid."</p>
<p>I think for summer UROP you have to be paid or pay yourself if you volunteer (pay per unit)</p>
<p>No, I think you can volunteer, but you have to pay tuition if you do it for credit over the summer. (Which sucks.)</p>
<p>Still, it's possible to get funded outside the UROP office (I'm paid through my professor's research funds and I know a couple of people who are funded through their department) -- but direct UROP funding can be pretty competitive over the summer.</p>
<p>yeah, i hear funding in general is down this year. i feel slightly bad, since i got direct funding, but if i hadn't, my lab would've paid for me. as it is, i might stick them for the part of the summer direct funding won't cover (they only go up to $4150)</p>
<p>How much does the average UROP pay?</p>
<p>I think campus minimum wage is still $8.75/hr?</p>
<p>I get $10/hr for a supervisor-sponsored biology UROP. My boyfriend is getting $11/hr for an aero/astro UROP... I've heard rumors of course 6 people making obscene amounts per hour at places like the Media Lab, but I don't know if that's true or just an urban legend.</p>
<p>the obscene amounts of money tend to come with mad experience, ie, pursuing the same urop really hard for several years, until pretty much you and your supervisor are th eonly people who have a good handle on what you're doing.</p>
<p>minwage is still $8.75/hr, tho many jobs (not just urops) pay more; i'm technically taking a pay cut to work my urop this summer, compared to my term-time job, but i don't mind.</p>
<p>and how difficult to find one ...</p>
<p>Well, what we're saying is that it is pretty easy to get a summer UROP. There have been some people this year who didn't get summer funding from the UROP office, but since funding is often available through departments or through professors themselves, I would say that almost anyone who wants a summer UROP can find one.</p>