How to find a mentor

[linjan]

Have read several places how important it is to have an experienced mentor. But how to find and approach a person? Any thoughts

[_kita]

On the undergraduate level, I would talk to my professors after class/before class. I developed a good rapport with them early on and then asked about their research labs and what they were working on. Most of the mentor/student relationship happened outside of the classroom. It happened in the research lab/through email correspondence/between classes. One of the easiest 'mentor relationships' to develop is with your assigned advisor. The trick there is whether or not your were assigned a good one, some advisors are much better or worse than others.

 

Just keep asking questions, be vocal in classes, be "one of those invested kids" and that relationship is built pretty smoothly. 

[Jay's Brain]

I agree with psychkita's helpful response, and I want to that. Often our first conclusion about "a mentor" is the professors and potential supervisors in the field that we aspire to be like. That's completely correct in assuming that, but I think you want to classify your expectations of a mentor a little differently. How I approached it throughout my undergraduate career is that I'm relatively new in the field, I want to be part of it for the long haul, and I have a lot of questions yet to be answered (e.g. what I want to do in psychology, what research is the right fit for me, etc). 

Speak to ANYONE, and I mean anyone, in the field. These could be your professors/lecturers (as mentioned), or even graduate students, postdocs, and fellow aspiring undergraduates. My experience is that everyone is working towards a goal of some kind and they are always more than helpful to answer questions you have. Especially in a field like psychology (and I'm sure this applies to any field), everyone is very opened to sharing their past personal experiences. Mentoring and advice seeking go hand in hand. Have strong relationships with the people in your department, and you can no only bounce off ideas but get a sense of the expectations moving forward. Some of the people I received the best advice from this year while applying to graduate school were the upper year mentors/graduate students who had recently gone through the same rigour that I had to go through. It's great support to know there are so many positive people who you can seek advice from.

Now from an academic standpoint, assuming you're interested in looking for someone to supervise your graduate studies, make sure you have a positive attitude towards your graduate admission cycle. Do some research on which field you might like to pursue, and ask yourself the important question of WHY. Once you know, and you have a solid convincing answer, you're more than there. Even if you have the right grades, GRE, experiences, etc., make sure you are the right fit. This is important when approaching someone who might be your academic mentor for the next 5-7 years. Speak to your undergraduate thesis supervisor (if you have one) first. They may or may not be your graduate supervisor, but they also have a wealth of experience on how to be a successful applicant. Learn from them, and just have a humble and sincere approach throughout your conversations. 

 

In the end, anyone who can share insight is a great mentor. There may be a few people that are specifically important in your application process (i.e. your LOR writers), but, ultimately, you can learn so much for those around you. I did that, and here I am starting my graduate career this Fall!

Best of luck!

[linjan]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts I really appreciate it.

I'll try to ask questions and do research on what field I want to be in and answer WHY.

I study online and therefore I don't bump into people and it's difficult to start an academic 'relationship' with an e-mail

Thanks again

[mb712]

For undergrad? Based on my own experiences, I would also suggest you take some time to look online through faculty pages (both in psych and other somewhat related fields) just to see what they're doing. I had zero classroom or university contact with my undergrad mentor before applying to work in their lab. I saw the opportunity (posted - they held a faculty position in a different department) and basically blindly sent in an application to be an RA. I might be lucky because first of all, it worked, and second of all, I could write a novel on how beneficial the experience was/how much I liked being around my mentor. Regardless, I know several undergrads (all starting grad school next year) who sent out emails to everyone until a faculty member responded with an openness to work with them so it may be relatively common. 

 

For graduate school? I wouldn't worry as much about experience as I would research fit and personality fit. Time of mentor experience doesn't necessarily mean they'll be better mentors than assistant professors. (In fact, one could argue that someone fresh out of graduate school understands what it takes to get through graduate school now a lot better than someone who went to graduate school in the 1980s.) I know it's only email, but I could get a pretty good sense about how friendly and open professors were by how they responded to my initial emails asking if they were accepting graduate students next year. Just work on starting dialogues, you'll very quickly figure out what to look for/what works for you. 

[linjan]

So looking through faculty pages. Thank you

[Piagetsky]

Division 53 through the APA (child and adolescent clinical) has a mentor program as well.  I found one through there when I was still at community college and had no professors (doing research) to approach.  Good luck!

[linjan]

I didn't know that there mentor programs like the one mentioned, thank you Piagetsky, I'll look into that.

Sidenote: I remember reading a paper about the 1975 debate between Piaget and Chomsky, is that what what your handle is alluding to?

[linjan]

--deleted double-post--

Edited May 23, 2015 by linjan

[Piagetsky]

I didn't know that there mentor programs like the one mentioned, thank you Piagetsky, I'll look into that.

Sidenote: I remember reading a paper about the 1975 debate between Piaget and Chomsky, is that what what your handle is alluding to?

Mashup of Piaget and Vygotsky for the child clinical psych major   Fascinating on the debate between those two!  I admire them both greatly.

 

 

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2253943?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

Edited May 25, 2015 by Piagetsky