TTU Clark Scholars Program (2014)

Pre-College Issues Summer Programs
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<p>@Shenandoah‌ Do you have any advice for contacting professors at Stanford, UC Berkeley, etc.? Should I just email a bunch of professors until I can find someone who is willing to take a high school student?</p>

<p>Oh and congratulations @Bingolover ! </p>

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<p>@ankwen Of course!

  1. Initially, try to find what you are looking to do…I would assume you have a pretty good idea of what that might be.
  2. Before you go into actually emailing anyone, ask any reference that may be of assistance to what you want to do. This is how I not only got offers to intern but how I met and worked with some pretty interesting professors. Ask teachers who went to the university or college you are looking to assist researchers at, ask parents if they have any contacts who went / go to certain schools, reach out to your friends (yes it may seem really unusual to ask your friends, but you can never really tell how well connected anyone is), or ask others from previous summer programs you went to.
  3. If you can find someone who is currently researching something of interest to you, great! Go pursue that path by emailing them something brief and, depending on the situation, attach your resume and a separate cover letter.
  4. If your search turned up empty, then you will have to start the process of researching professors at the university or college you want to intern at. I would encourage you to stay local, despite the tempting cross-country school. It is easier on you and your parents if you are able to stay local (30 minutes max). However, if you really want to do something out of city, county, state, etc. then you will pursue in a similar manner. How you go about determining how many people you want to send emails to is completely up to you. The more you do the higher your probability of finding someone willing to work with you. I have friends who have done it both ways–the mass email and the personalized email to a select few (about 10-20). Either way has worked.
  5. After finding a group of professors that are doing something you are interested in, then draft an email, fix up your cover letter and resume, and send it to them. (It makes you stand out if you have specific interest that compare to the professor’s and you can back those interest up with your past extracurriculars and projects).
  6. If you are looking into the science field, lucky you! Your chances of hearing back just increased immensely. Many professors have had experience with talented high school students and are willing to take more. If you are looking into the humanities field, do not worry. You still have a chance (much more limited, but still there).<br>
  7. If you have the fortunate opportunity to assist in research and it’s local, make sure your schedule fits with their’s and your parents have no problems. If it is not local, then you will need to work out housing with the university or a family friend. I have seen universities offer summer housing, in one of their on campus summer programs, to research assistants. However, it depends on the university or college.
  8. Do not be discouraged by not hearing back from a few professors. They are extremely busy and many would prefer undergraduates or graduates (especially for the humanities). However, if you have the dedication and truly enjoy the subject you are looking to assist in researching, than you will have much higher chances of hearing back.</p>
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<p>@Bingolover‌ CONGRATS! Can u post ur background stuff! To help those who’ll apply next year! Like all the activities u did… Ur grades… SAT score etc! Pls! Wld really appreciate it! :slight_smile: </p>

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<p>@princess7874‌ tbh, my stats aren’t that impressive </p>

<p>Senior this year - attending MIT next year (probably really helpful)
ACT: 34
Chem SAT: 750
Math 2 SAT: 780
4.0 GPA
AP Chem - 4, AP Lang - 5, AP Psych - 5, and I’m in AP Bio, Physics, Lit, Gov, and Calc BC now
-Did research last year at HSHSP (which was a large portion of my essay)
-Involved in science olympiad, science bowl, student government, mu alpha theta, etc…
-At least one of my rec letters was very strong, but I personally thought my essay was really cheesy, so</p>

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<p>Thanks @Shenandoah‌ ! I guess I will start looking for possible professors now. </p>

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<p>Congrats @Bingolover‌ ! That’s awesome :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Is anyone else still waiting to hear back?</p>

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<p>Congratulations @Bingolover!! :)</p>

<p>@butterchiken I’m still waiting for the news as well…</p>

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<p>Mr. MSF called this afternoon, accepted, but have committed to intern at a local Univ. Good luck to everyone who is still waiting. You can take my spot.</p>

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<p>I just got accepted!!! Dr. MSF called my counselor and got me in the mid of my English class…and told me the rejection letter was an error. I am sooo happy. :slight_smile: i thought my essay and SAT score were all below average!</p>

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<p>Anyone from Texas in here? I heard from Dr. MSF that I am 1 of the 2 Texan applicants accepted.
And by the way…is there a Facebook group for the applicants so I can get to know the 11 other people I will be hanging out with for most of the summer? </p>

<p>@Bingolover Congrats on your acceptance to MIT! :slight_smile: I am really glad to be able to go to a program with brilliant people like you! Is the topic you researched at HSHSP related to the major you are applied to for MIT?</p>

<p>I am kind of worried because I am interested in multiple fields such as Biochemistry, Psychology (which are the 2 topics I selected for Clark Scholars) and many other fields like Computer Science, Polymer, Electrical Engineering… but I’ve decided to apply to college in the fall with a Computer Science major in mind…
Also, I feel like I am not knowledgeable enough in any of the fields to complete a huge research projects like those done by alumni in the past…:frowning: </p>

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<p>Congrats @fairyfantasy !!</p>

<p>Did Dr. MSF say if they had already called the twelve accepted applicants?</p>

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<p>@pauletismoya Thanks! And unfortunately, no, he did not mention that in the phone call… </p>

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<p>@fairyfantasy‌ Congratulations! Have a great summer! :)</p>

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<p>@fairyfantasy, congrats!!! Unfortunately, I’m not 100% sure that I can do the program - I’d like to but there are some other factors I need to consider. I should know for sure in about a week. </p>

<p>To my knowledge, there is not a Facebook group yet, but I assume one will be started before the program begins. I’d be willing to help start a group after I commit to the program. </p>

<p>I’m going to do material science/engineering at MIT, and my research at HSHSP was related (focused in corrosion). I wouldn’t worry too much about your knowledge right now, once you get a mentor you can study up on the subject, and your mentor will teach you a lot. </p>

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<p>@Bingolover That’s unfortunate. o.o Are you still waiting for another program’s reply?
By the way…does anyone know if I can change my chosen research topics? And does anyone know how the research+mentorship work? Do we combine both of our topics or just do one of them? I kind of want to combine biochemistry or psychology with computer science if possible since I will be applying for a CS major…</p>

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<p>@fairyfantasy, I assume a lot of the flexibility in project set up will depend on your mentor and the lab environment - they’d probably be open to letting you combine several disciplines </p>

<p>And, I decided to do Clark for sure, yayay!!</p>

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<p>@Bingolover Yayy :slight_smile: I’ll see you in June, then. As for my topic change, I emailed Dr. SF and decided on Bioinformatics and Genomics. </p>

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<p>Btw, I am actually in Lubbock right now for UIL Regional competition, and this place is not as bleak as we all thought. :slight_smile: </p>

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<p>So are they done notifying people?..I still haven’t received anything</p>

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<p>@93akire93 I just emailed Ms. Cox about that. When I get a response back, I’ll post it on here. :slight_smile: </p>