Undergraduate Research

[rsgrig36]

Hey I am currently a freshman in college but I have some questions regarding research that I hope somebody can help me out on:

1. Summer (10 week) programs, how much experience do you need to get accepted to one of these programs? What exactly do they expect of you? I am hoping to get accepted somewhere after my Junior Year but I would only have taken classes in Physics, General Bio, Some Upper Level Bio (Genetics, etc), General Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry. I would also have taken Statistics. I am worried that I wouldn't be able to assist as much as they wish me to, any thoughts?

2. I am a sportsmedicine major trying to get published before I graduate undergraduate studies. Would Medical Schools look at my publication the same as they would a publication from say a Chemistry or Biology major? Does being a Sportsmedicine major put me at a disadvantage?

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[Drexon]

I can only comment on your first question.
I participated in a 10 week summer research program at NYMC. It was a fun and exciting experience.

how much experience do you need to get accepted to one of these programs?

Everyone in my program had prior lab experience and were currently working in a lab before joining the program. Also I've had many friends that went to other programs @ UCSF, Cold Spring Harbor etc and they've all prior lab experience. Certain programs require letters of recommendation and they usually come from the PI that you work for. So yes prior lab experience is pretty much a must. How much well that depends from program to program.

What exactly do they expect of you?

Well it varies from the program and the lab that you join. They pretty much give you a project and tell you to have fun with it. I spent about 1 week being trained in the lab and then had 9 weeks to work on my project. They're not going to give you a project that would take you months / years to complete. Something simple and fast (ideally a few weeks of work). They only really expect you to work hard and to actually understand what you're doing. So they expect you to be able to troubleshoot things that come up with your project, but if you always have a mentor to help guide you in the right direction if you get lost.
Even though you'll only a be a junior applying for these programs, try and take some upper division biology labs like Biochemistry lab or molecular biology lab etc to help familiarize yourself with more techniques.
Don't let the lack of lab experience and stuff like that prevent you from applying. They're really interested in taking in eager scientists and training the next generation of scientists. So if you show passion in your personal / cover statement then it's all groovy