Hi! I recently got into USC’s Viterbi School of Engineering as Mechanical Engineering major.
The thing is, since I love to be involved in research and planning to attend graduate school in the future, I’m wondering is there a lot of opportunities to get involved in research as an undergraduate student at USC.
Any thoughts?
There’s this thing called the undergraduate research symposium! A lot of majors also have classes like “directed research” at the undergraduate level where you can work with a professor. However, I’m not in Viterbi and they usually seem to be more group/project oriented, so you’d have to double check on that for me in the USC class listings. Regardless, there were quite a few Viterbi people at the research symposium. I participated as well, but it seems like everybody that won an award was from Dornsife’s psychology department, lol.
I am very keen on this since I plan to go to graduate school, but I am worried about the billions of graduate students at USC. Do they leave opportunities to undergraduates for research?
@innovationboy I double-checked and they do have a directed research course for CS undergraduates. A lot of the professors seem to be willing to work with undergraduates. One of the robotics professors, Nora, is probably one of the professors that you can work with if you were to take this class. Not all of the CS professors seem to be involved in research though. Some are purely "teachers’ and aren’t involved in research anymore.
@zettasyntax Thanks for the info! How about, for example, when I have a same interest with a professor and want to join his/her lab? Do I have to get into some kind of program or course, or I can just get in by simply asking?
Most people I’ve talked to within Viterbi have said that you can simply talk to professors if you’re interested in working in their lab.
@dhracoon93 If you look up Nora Ayanian (definitely butchered that spelling), it even says on her page that she’s open to undergraduates working in her lab. However, I assume that you would have to take her robotics class and perform exceptionally well and/or have an impressive resume first.
You will be able to do all the research you want if you are a good student and pursue it. There are also many clubs that have some amazing projects going on - many working with agencies/companies in LA area, or creating new products/methods - and they are doing some really serious stuff. You will have plenty of ways to get involved in research and projects at USC. It is more up to you and what you are willing to bring to the table - don’t worry about the opportunity, that certainly exists.
@Alia01 @zettasyntax @CADREAMIN Thanks for the tips! Really appreciated! 