Research Experience During Undergrad

[amyruplinger]

I’m totally lost on how to go about obtaining research experience during my undergrad. I still have a bit of time to make myself look competitive before applying to programs. anyone have any advice?

[cladthecrab]

Hi there! The main types of research experience I've seen among my MA cohort are independent studies and senior theses. The independent study is great since it gives you an opportunity to work with faculty you like on a project, usually a paper.

Some folks also take edited papers from classes (methods classes, or just higher div classes) and present at either undergrad conferences or smaller grad conferences that accept undergrad papers. If you're having trouble finding something or need money to go, it's worth asking around your dept to see if there are funding sources for that.

I'd also recommend an internship if you can snag them. They're not research in the traditional sense, but experience in a museum or archive can build relevant skills and show your interest in fields related to history. I think of all of us coming into my cohort, maybe only a couple didn't have previous internship experience, and we were the first post-COVID cohort so we'd essentially lost a year and a half to do that.