How did you get into Research?

[jlee306]

Hello, I am a senior looking to apply to some grad schools at the end of this year. The only thing that I really need to get on my cv is research experience. I don't really know how to go about getting into research. Should I just email the professors who have the same interests as me and see if they are doing any research and could take me on? I only have this fall semester to get it done so any help or personal stories would be great! Thank yall!

[Stories]

I just asked professors I took class with if they might need/want help. You should talk to your adviser, too. Does your school offer an undergraduate research option? (like an independent study in lieu of a class).

[belowthree]

Let's see... half way through my sophomore year, I took my first graduate course with a friend of mine. We unknowingly took a course with a professor who had a reputation for being difficult. Both of us excelled, my friend did spectacularly even while missing the last half of the class and got the top score on every test. I managed to beat all but one grad student (but not my friend, who again got the top score) on the final. Overall, a fairly good showing for two undergrads taking his grad course who he assumed would barely pass.

The next quarter we were invited into his research group's meetings. During our first meeting one of the students who was graduating in a few quarters was practicing her job talk. The professor stopped her mid presentation, declared it to be insufficient and proceeded to rip her entire presentation to shreds. The most stunning part to me was that the student was completely unfazed. I realized that this was simply how they worked together and... it was pretty exciting. The next presentation was noticeably better and when the professor and I did start working towards publishable papers, I found his harsh feedback style very refreshing and it helped me produce a much better document in the end. I'm still trying to find that type of feedback, I hope my next advisor can be as blunt and as insightful.

Anyways, I keep going to meetings, my friend did not. The professor and I met one on one occasionally and we used these meeting to fish around for research topics, feel out the field and scope out where the exciting research was happening. We found and rejected a few research topics both of us were interested in and then eventually settled on something we both felt was exciting and worth publishing, we started meeting on a weekly to semi-weekly basis. I started enrolling in the PhD-restricted "Research" course the department offered (it turns out that if you give a signed card directly to the registrar the system doesn't check if you're a PhD student) and began to pursue research. Since I was working on my own ideas and not the professor's, he didn't have funding for me, but that was fine, I spent the next year and a half learning how to manage my own project, write papers and put together a grant proposal. At the end of the day none of our submissions were successful, but I learned a hell of a lot and will be going into graduate school in the fall with two active research projects close to publication and a thesis idea.

So that's my story, but this is probably not a path you have time to do. It also didn't, other than the excellent rec letter he wrote, give me the strongest research credentials. (Since, at the end of the day we never published. His name will be on the paper when we do, but it's taken surprisingly long to get everything together. We ended up biting off quite a bit and this project really should have had about three grad students on it, not one eccentric slacker undergrad.)

You probably want to take the more usual route of joining an existing project and participating under a professor and grad student who can guide you through what they're already doing. This still allows you to provide a substantial contribution and learn the ropes while making sure you don't flounder for years refining a project with escalating scope as an undergraduate with coursework requirements to think about. If you're a good student in the department, it should just be a matter of asking around (you can do so directly) and see who might have a need for an extra set of hands.

[rising_star]

jlee, if your field is School Psychology, you may not need research experience at all. Make sure you have experience with students, particularly with those with particular like those you may encounter as a practicing school psychologist (those with physical, mental, or learning disabilities, for example). Good luck!

[jlee306]

Stories: That was what I had in mind doing

[jlee306]

Anybody else care to share?

[UnlikelyGrad]

Even though I had the top grade in the class, I used to go into office hours when I had questions on the homework. My professor was a chatty type who would often talk to me after he'd helped me with the problem. Soon he realized that not only did I understand enough to help him in his work, I had a personality he could work with. So he asked me to join his team.

[fuzzylogician]

I simply contacted several professors I was interested in working with and asked if they needed a research assistant. I used to go to their office hours to ask questions and chat so they knew who I was and that I wanted to go to grad school. Someone finally decided to take me on, and later on another professor also had me work with him on his project. I got to meet cool people, work on two projects, write and present papers, and most importantly - I had supporters who wrote me strong LoRs. Through these connections I also got the RA job I have this year, a fellowship, and hopefully I'll be published again by the end of the year. I can't stress enough how important connections are: the professor I am working for this year me likes me so much he's given me an increase on my stipend (he's paying out of his own research funds) to help fund my move to the states; he's gotten me a job writing an entry in a new encyclopedia that's being published in our field, and he's already got a job lined up for me for next summer doing field work for a project he's running together with one of the profs I worked for last year, so I'll have some extra summer funding for that year.So ask, and good things just might happen.

[dherres]

I was lucky(?) enough to see a message posted by a graduate student on my undergrad's online community/message board/email server/thing (LearnLink is hard to describe.....), advertising that he needed assistants for helping him finish gathering data for his dissertation. I emailed him, we had a phone interview, and he took me on board as a volunteer research assistant. After a semester, when that was over, I started emailing (virtually all of) the professors within the psychology department at my school (and I think one in the sociology or NBB department, as well). I explained my experience and background, told them that I was simply seeking more experience as I tried to narrow my interests and prepare for grad school, and asked if they were taking on any research assistants. After hearing time and time again that their labs were full (and having a crying fit at one point as I saw my dream of grad school slipping through my grasp), I began emailing professors at other schools in the city... one person said to email her again after a month, another told me to email his grad student and ask her, which I did. We interviewed, I chewed my nails and obsessed for the following two weeks, and then she emailed saying that they'd love to have me. I was there for the entire summer and fall terms.

It worked out well, in the end, as the second lab where I volunteered ended up being for a professor in the same field I'm now in. Plus, I like to think that exhibiting the proactivity and persistence that I did -- by working at a university other than my own while still in school -- came through on my applications to grad schools.