Should I take this research position?

[zeppelinpage4]

A professor mentioned to me that she had room for me in her research lab. She is studying snails as vectors of schistosomiasis.

My friend had this position before and she told me I could probably take her place. My job would mostly consist of taking care of the snails, preparing their food and checking up on them two or three times a week.
The professor is open to letting me do my own study of the snails if I have any ideas but I can't think of much at the moment as I have only read two papers on this area of study.

Anyhow it sounds really cool but I was hoping to work with something on a molecular level, or something with genetics. However those professors will rarely take on students before their junior or senior year.

Though it's not my first choice should I take up the research anyways? I will probably need to do work with this professor for at least two years if I start (so I won't be able to switch if I get better research or change my mind). Or should I wait a year or two and hope that I can get research in something else?

I need to decide in the next few days so I can email her before school starts but I really don't know if I should go for it. I know med schools want to see a good bit of research as well, so it would be a big plus.

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[Cypher321]

If you lack any previous experience (which I'm inferring that you do from you post) then this would be a good foot-in-the-door opportunity with a chance to start building your resume. Is it particularly glorious? No, but it's something and that's what matters. Plus you can propose to examine snail expose to high concentration of NaCl .

 

[Procyon]

It sounds like it could be fun. Basically you get to have pet snails.

It might not be your ideal position, but if you can't find anything else for the time being, it's probably a good way to get some experience for the future.

 

[JJMrK]

Ideally you want to be designing experiments, analyzing the results, and presenting at conferences. Will this lab eventually allow you to do this? If not, I would look for something else.

 

[sonia1177]

A professor mentioned to me that she had room for me in her research lab. She is studying snails as vectors of schistosomiasis.

My friend had this position before and she told me I could probably take her place. My job would mostly consist of taking care of the snails, preparing their food and checking up on them two or three times a week.
The professor is open to letting me do my own study of the snails if I have any ideas but I can't think of much at the moment as I have only read two papers on this area of study.

Anyhow it sounds really cool but I was hoping to work with something on a molecular level, or something with genetics. However those professors will rarely take on students before their junior or senior year.

Though it's not my first choice should I take up the research anyways? I will probably need to do work with this professor for at least two years if I start (so I won't be able to switch if I get better research or change my mind). Or should I wait a year or two and hope that I can get research in something else?

I need to decide in the next few days so I can email her before school starts but I really don't know if I should go for it. I know med schools want to see a good bit of research as well, so it would be a big plus.

Go for it! You have to start somewhere!

 

[zeppelinpage4]

THanks for the feedback guys, I read your posts and decided to go for it.

She emailed me back within hours telling me I could work with the snails. I'm actually quite excited now.

She asked if I wanted to do applied research more connected to public health stuff. Or something more closely related to basic evolutionary biology. I think the first might be a better choice since i'm interested in the health aspect. However both seem cool, hope I can do okay and make this work.