Frustrated

[AnesthesiaMD]

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It seems that all the professors at my school have their noses stuck so far up their own asses about their PhD that they can't send me an email back requesting information about courses they teach or about research opportunities. I am just so frickin' frustrated over this, especially the research part. It seems as though a lot of other students are getting these opportunities. What the hell is wrong with me? They've been going about it the same way which is even more upsetting.

 

[Lozza]

sometimes just stopping by their offices and requesting an appointment that way to talk about their research is a better approach. emails are easy to ignore but people standing in your doorway are slightly more difficult to avoid...

 

[DrBowtie]

sometimes just stopping by their offices and requesting an appointment that way to talk about their research is a better approach. emails are easy to ignore but people standing in your doorway are slightly more difficult to avoid...

Bingo!

 

[MassTransport]

I overheard my bio prof explaining how to go about finding research to an undergrad. Poor girl got turned down after class in front of ten or so people. He said something along the lines of, "you'll get a lot of no's, and you'll get a lot of no responses, but all you need is one yes, so keep asking."

Profs are busy people. Most of them run a lab, mentor a few grad students, network, teach, write grants, deal with administration, and attend lectures/conferences. It's all too easy for them to ignore undergrads. Don't get discouraged and be persistent. All you need is one yes.

 

[JaggerPlate]

sometimes just stopping by their offices and requesting an appointment that way to talk about their research is a better approach. emails are easy to ignore but people standing in your doorway are slightly more difficult to avoid...

Nailed it .... I actually took an honors seminar one time that basically consisted of attending seminars and learning the 'how to' and 'whys' of getting into research. The #1 rule of the professor teaching the class was not to email. He said that he immediately deletes all emails concerning people joining his project, and only deals with people who call to make face time. I scheduled a full blown interview with my research doc before I got in, and it really helped b/c a ton of people were applying for the position and I ended up getting it.

 

[zakp]

I cant make any promises about your school, but I think your best bet might be to go through a research program through your school. OP, i dont know where you are, but I know that many schools have an HHMI program (what Ive done) or a similar program. That way, profs know that you are a good student and the program will set you up with a professor to work with. I know you can go directly through a prof, but i faced a similar situation before I got in a program. My school isnt even a very big research school and we still have several programs available. Thats my advice, so i hope it helps....

 

[odddodo]

Professors tend to get an insane amount of e-mail, so don't be too surprised if they choose to ignore some of the less compelling ones.

 

[[pj]]

I attend a large research-oriented university that encourages students to do research. Even so, I had to send out 10+ emails and only got one response. I've been at that lab for 1.5+ years now. Just keep on trying and eventually something will work out.

Also, I'd be careful about just showing up. It all depends on the person, there are some people who don't like people just showing up.