I HATE the NIH!!!!

[iFearMCAT]

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Second thread in 5 minutes...I'm on a roll here...sorry

Has anyone here actually landed an internship at the NIH this summer? I really don't understand, you would think with a pretty good resume that maybe just maybe one PI would give you an offer...NO...not one and its March. I have emailed 30 labs, and 1/3 have emailed me back saying no, but the rest just ignore (probably bc so many kids email them each day). I'm probably better off staying in my lab as adcoms like to see continuity but what is up with this program, is it possible to land a research position here? Should I just go buck wild and email every PI at the NIH, along with every post-doc, grad student, med student, lab tech, janitor, etc. and see if someone is willing to hire me, its not like I'm a bad candidate. Damn budget restraints! Thanks in Advance.

 

[NickNaylor]

"Pretty good" is relative.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Second thread in 5 minutes...I'm on a roll here...sorry

Has anyone here actually landed an internship at the NIH this summer? I really don't understand, you would think with a pretty good resume that maybe just maybe one PI would give you an offer...NO...not one and its March. I have emailed 30 labs, and 1/3 have emailed me back saying no, but the rest just ignore (probably bc so many kids email them each day). I'm probably better off staying in my lab as adcoms like to see continuity but what is up with this program, is it possible to land a research position here? Should I just go buck wild and email every PI at the NIH, along with every post-doc, grad student, med student, lab tech, janitor, etc. and see if someone is willing to hire me, its not like I'm a bad candidate. Damn budget restraints! Thanks in Advance.

Umm it's not hard. Last summer they were in such need of interns that they were offered 2k a month to high schoolers who had completed ap biology and were willing to work.

 

[apumic]

Second thread in 5 minutes...I'm on a roll here...sorry

Has anyone here actually landed an internship at the NIH this summer? I really don't understand, you would think with a pretty good resume that maybe just maybe one PI would give you an offer...NO...not one and its March. I have emailed 30 labs, and 1/3 have emailed me back saying no, but the rest just ignore (probably bc so many kids email them each day). I'm probably better off staying in my lab as adcoms like to see continuity but what is up with this program, is it possible to land a research position here? Should I just go buck wild and email every PI at the NIH, along with every post-doc, grad student, med student, lab tech, janitor, etc. and see if someone is willing to hire me, its not like I'm a bad candidate. Damn budget restraints! Thanks in Advance.

Wow man... chill.

Umm... yeah.... as said, "good" is relative. You're competing against people with top-notch recommendations from their PIs and papers published. Some may be further along in school (i.e., have more education), while others may have a lot more lab experience or not being going into medicine. (Yes, being premed is a red flag.)

 

[iFearMCAT]

Sorry, didn't mean to come off as a dick, but as in "pretty good" I mean I won the Goldwater Scholarship (you have to be pretty qualified for this)....I mean how many high schoolers or premeds can say that, common???? And I did put I want to get an MD/PhD but everyone I emailed had an MD anyway....Does anyone have any ideas???

 

[iFearMCAT]

Umm it's not hard. Last summer they were in such need of interns that they were offered 2k a month to high schoolers who had completed ap biology and were willing to work.

I find this very hard to believe

 

[bamtuba]

Sorry, didn't mean to come off as a dick, but as in "pretty good" I mean I won the Goldwater Scholarship (you have to be pretty qualified for this)....I mean how many high schoolers or premeds can say that, common???? And I did put I want to get an MD/PhD but everyone I emailed had an MD anyway....Does anyone have any ideas???

Try refining your search to a specific research interest. PIs tend to like it when you come across as actually interested in what they do. If they hear from their colleagues that there's some random person hitting up every lab in the building, they're less likely to bite thinking you're just desperate to get "some research experience."

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I find this very hard to believe

Well thats what happens when you live in MOCO. And yes its true, so really I think your simply going to the wrong people for internships.

 

[MedMan25]

I find this very hard to believe

It really isn't that hard to land a position at the NIH unless you're looking to do very specific research at a specific location. I did an internship at the NIH in Phoenix last summer and they had several premeds and had even accepted high schoolers in the past. Where are you applying and what type of research are you interested in?

 

[MedMan25]

Try refining your search to a specific research interest. PIs tend to like it when you come across as actually interested in what they do. If they hear from their colleagues that there's some random person hitting up every lab in the building, they're less likely to bite thinking you're just desperate to get "some research experience."

I'm actually wondering if the OP isn't being too specific in his/her search. When you're a premed and you're trying to land a research gig, most PIs understand that you're not applying for a position in their lab because you're absolutely in love with genotyping susceptibility loci for T2D or whatever. If you aren't too picky about the lab you want to work in, you shouldn't have a problem finding someone who is willing to let you in their lab for the summer for the sole purpose of getting some research experience. Not that you shouldn't express some type of interest in research but I think most PIs realize that a premed summer intern probably knows very little about research in general. A lot of PIs will likely be impressed by the fact that you are looking into research this early IMO.

 

[z31]

What are you saying in your email? I second the people who said you might need to be more specific; focus less on why you're good and more on why you're good for that lab in particular. I've also heard that it's not extremely hard to do summer research at the NIH so maybe you're not making a compelling enough argument for why they should take you. Students are expensive in terms of time, money, and energy.

 

[rama kandra]

already got the internship

 

[iFearMCAT]

I have only emailed PIs who are doing clinical research. I have a ton of bench research and have proven myself in this regard. I'm interested in translational research, and I specified that on my application, which I cannot fix any longer. I'm not sure what to do, because I don't want to go to the NIH and do bench work and that seems like what it is going to have to be....if I can't engage in clinical or translational research I will likely just stay in my current lab even though I just submitted my manuscript to a journal and don't want to start something new for the summer and senior year

 

[JasonE]

i have heard that working at the NIH SUCKS. lots of red tape that really hinders progress. they have people watching you on camera to see if you forget to take your gloves off when going between rooms.

 

[Morsetlis]

Actually they have that everywhere, but often it is not used/turned on/monitored unless SOMEBODY causes the whole lab's colony room to be put under MPV (mouse parvelvirus) quarantine. However, the offender only got suspended from research for 3 days (no definitive proof besides not using the Clidox).

 

[randombetch]

I think you definitely would have gotten an internship if you 1) started emailing PI's in November, and 2) emailed 30 a month instead of 30 total.

 

[schrizto]

I thought that the NIH's summer internship is one where you fill out a form along with 2 recs and then PIs read applicant's resumes and interests and pick which ones to work in their labs. I don't think directly emailing PIs is how to get into the program.

http://www.training.nih.gov/student/sip/

 

[slowbutsteady]

i have heard that working at the NIH SUCKS. lots of red tape that really hinders progress. they have people watching you on camera to see if you forget to take your gloves off when going between rooms.

false

 

[slowbutsteady]

I thought that the NIH's summer internship is one where you fill out a form along with 2 recs and then PIs read applicant's resumes and interests and pick which ones to work in their labs. I don't think directly emailing PIs is how to get into the program.

http://www.training.nih.gov/student/sip/

false, directly emailing PIs is a great approach. The are the Masters of their Domain, and can let anyone they want work in their lab.

 

[thesauce]

I find this very hard to believe

I don't. They got an obscene amount of stimulus money and were looking for creative ways to spend it.

 

[dang025]

I don't. They got an obscene amount of stimulus money and were looking for creative ways to spend it.

Actually most of that money actually went to renovating building 10 and finishing up construction on some of the uncompleted buildings. A lot of institutes are actually dramatically cutting back on PI budgets. Some institutes are seeing a 30% cut across the board

 

[JasonE]

false

well it's true over here in baltimore according to a grad student and my PI who both worked their for about 6-8 months.

 

[dang025]

well it's true over here in baltimore according to a grad student and my PI who both worked their for about 6-8 months.

6 months isn't really that long of a time period. Most PI's would kill to work at the NIH because of the lack of grant writing required, and the resources and collaborations that you will not find anywhere else

 

[thesauce]

Actually most of that money actually went to renovating building 10 and finishing up construction on some of the uncompleted buildings. A lot of institutes are actually dramatically cutting back on PI budgets. Some institutes are seeing a 30% cut across the board

This goes into the "red tape" issue that was brought up. The stimulus money is under a different budget that the PI's research budget. That's why you see these descrepancies. I'm sure a great deal went into unfinished construction, but a percentage of the stimulus went toward "new research projects" and "research training."

 

[schrizto]

false, directly emailing PIs is a great approach. The are the Masters of their Domain, and can let anyone they want work in their lab.

But the link to the program I supplied should be a better one. The PIs who would read the applications are the ones who are specifically looking for interns.

I never said that directly emailing is a bad approach. If you want an NIH internship, the link I posted is their formal internship.

 

[dang025]

This goes into the "red tape" issue that was brought up. The stimulus money is under a different budget that the PI's research budget. That's why you see these descrepancies. I'm sure a great deal went into unfinished construction, but a percentage of the stimulus went toward "new research projects" and "research training."

Most of the new research project and new training budget went to fund grants for outside institutions. As a whole very few PI's are seeing their research budgets increased.

 

[dang025]

But the link to the program I supplied should be a better one. The PIs who would read the applications are the ones who are specifically looking for interns.

Have to disagree, of all of the interns, post bacs that i've met at the NIH, every single one got their position by emailing the PI directly.

 

[JasonE]

6 months isn't really that long of a time period. Most PI's would kill to work at the NIH because of the lack of grant writing required, and the resources and collaborations that you will not find anywhere else

he was just doing research there on sabbatical. that was his impression. of course its an opinion and there's variation

 

[schrizto]

Have to disagree, of all of the interns, post bacs that i've met at the NIH, every single one got their position by emailing the PI directly.

Were you there during the summer? The program I'm talking about is their summer internship. Many students work at the NIH during the summer through applying to that program. I don't think anyone who responded to me actually looked at the link...

 

[thesauce]

But the link to the program I supplied should be a better one. The PIs who would read the applications are the ones who are specifically looking for interns.

By all means try it, but it isn't perused as often as you might think. Most PI's just wait to be emailed instead of searching for apps from people who may or may not be interested on their lab.

 

[thesauce]

Most of the new research project and new training budget went to fund grants for outside institutions. As a whole very few PI's are seeing their research budgets increased.

I was speaking of the intramural budget. I have no clue how the extramural budget was split up.

The latter part of your post was exactly point. They CAN'T increase PI research budgets with the stimulus money because it's under a different budget.

 

[schrizto]

By all means try it, but it isn't perused as often as you might think. Most PI's just wait to be emailed instead of searching for apps from people who may or may not be interested on their lab.

The PIs that get emailed are often the most visible ones though, and thus can afford to be picky.

 

[thesauce]

The PIs that get emailed are often the most visible ones though, and thus can afford to be picky.

They ALL get emailed. Some more than others, true.

I was fortunate to have an offer based on the link you posted, but I realize how lucky this is. Fewer than 10% of those that apply that way are selected.

 

[freeace]

honestly i am really surprised to hear all this negative stuff about NIH. i currently work at NIH as a postbacc IRTA and i received my position just through applying to the program. i was pretty general about the research i was interested in (autoimmunity) but i found labs to be responsive. i had several interviews and some PIs contacted me after i started to talk about openings in their labs. i currently work in a translational research group, i helped coordinate a clinical drug study and am now working on a proteomics portion of another project the group is interested in.

on the other hand, i did email a ton of PIs before actually applying to the program and was turned down by every person i emailed. i ended up applying despite all the rejections and it ended up turning out okay since i got a clinical research position, which is similar to what the OP was looking for. i had only done bench research beforehand and the research had been in organic synthesis which obviously has very little to do with clinical/biomed research. i guess what im trying to say is that you shouldn't give up and if you have any questions you can definitely PM me.

also, just to clear up rumors about how applications are selected. yes, you can email PIs and sometimes that works in your favor as indicated by people above. however, for the most part, HR pulls applications that fit keywords of interest for the PI and then the PI can search applications by anything they want, GPA cutoffs, specific fields of study, etc. as far as i know, this is how applications are generally selected by PIs for perusing. hope that helps and i apologize for the length of the post.

 

[ducksfly]

i just skimmed over the replies, so if this has already been said, sorry. you've either got to know someone or be a super^2 student (ie. published multiple times, 4.0, great school). i did a summer internship at NIDA a couple years ago and i know someone. well over half of my fellow interns had connections (family in lab, knew pi personally, etc). the ones who didnt have connections were typically nobel quality (one of my fellow terns got a perfect sat, act, was being actively courted by both MIT and Harvard, and you'd never have known any of that because she was so down to earth [she was still in high school. i was a 4th year undergrad with experience, and she was doing the same stuff i was]) . also, to everyone who bashed nih, it completely depends on the lab and your pi. i had an absolutely incredible experience. if your pi is chill and youre not an idiot, you'll get to do some insane stuff. i worked incredibly long hours, but it was my choice to do so and it wasnt forced on me. i do know some kids, though, who had jerk pi's and they hated every minute. back to the original topic, though, i talked to my pi about how they go about choosing interns and he said that first and foremost it depends on the funding. if the money's not there, they dont hire. also, every pi at nih is insanely busy and just doesnt have time to wade through tons of apps. something in your app has to jump out, and they have to be looking for your app (ie. call them or email them.). if you dont contact a lab and be aggressive about it, you will not get a job. simple as that.

 

[thesauce]

There wasn't much bashing of the NIH on this thread. It was mostly frustration over the application process.

 

[randombetch]

The PIs that get emailed are often the most visible ones though, and thus can afford to be picky.

No, you pretty much have to contact the PI's directly for the NIH internship.

 

[UAAWolf]

NIH seems very random.

My friend had very average grades etc and landed an internship. My other friend was stellar and got crushed by them. Go figure

 

[harvman11]

i just skimmed over the replies, so if this has already been said, sorry. you've either got to know someone or be a super^2 student (ie. published multiple times, 4.0, great school). i did a summer internship at NIDA a couple years ago and i know someone. well over half of my fellow interns had connections (family in lab, knew pi personally, etc). the ones who didnt have connections were typically nobel quality (one of my fellow terns got a perfect sat, act, was being actively courted by both MIT and Harvard, and you'd never have known any of that because she was so down to earth [she was still in high school. i was a 4th year undergrad with experience, and she was doing the same stuff i was]) . also, to everyone who bashed nih, it completely depends on the lab and your pi. i had an absolutely incredible experience. if your pi is chill and youre not an idiot, you'll get to do some insane stuff. i worked incredibly long hours, but it was my choice to do so and it wasnt forced on me. i do know some kids, though, who had jerk pi's and they hated every minute. back to the original topic, though, i talked to my pi about how they go about choosing interns and he said that first and foremost it depends on the funding. if the money's not there, they dont hire. also, every pi at nih is insanely busy and just doesnt have time to wade through tons of apps. something in your app has to jump out, and they have to be looking for your app (ie. call them or email them.). if you dont contact a lab and be aggressive about it, you will not get a job. simple as that.

No, you pretty much have to contact the PI's directly for the NIH internship.

uhhh I disagree with both of these statements, at least for the summer internships. I had 1 year total research experience when I applied, 0 publications, and while I do have a pretty high GPA and go to a prestigious school, I didn't think it'd stand out that much. I also didn't e-mail anybody, I just submitted the application and after about a month I was contacted by 2 labs that were interested in me as an intern. Interviewed with both of them on the phone, and picked the one that I felt most comfortable with... didn't have to be "aggressive", nor did I initiate any contact. One of my friends at my school got an internship there in the same way as me (not contacting anyone), and his GPA is significantly lower than mine (about a 3.5).

As for the NIH experience in general, I thought it was incredible though I'm sure it depends on your lab. I really enjoyed the people in my lab, working in the naval hospital was great (there's a handful of labs in the naval base across from NIH @ Bethesda), free metro fares, PI had plenty of time to interact with me directly, etc. Honestly I'd like to end up working at the NIH in about 15 years, no grant writing = awesome😀.

 

[patrickj]

i got around 20-30 saying they were full or weren't funded. I got a few saying to email back in a few weeks and one guy said he would most likely have a spot for me in his lab and we have been in contact and are just waiting for the adcom to put the applications through

 

[ducksfly]

uhhh I disagree with both of these statements, at least for the summer internships. I had 1 year total research experience when I applied, 0 publications, and while I do have a pretty high GPA and go to a prestigious school, I didn't think it'd stand out that much. I also didn't e-mail anybody, I just submitted the application and after about a month I was contacted by 2 labs that were interested in me as an intern. Interviewed with both of them on the phone, and picked the one that I felt most comfortable with... didn't have to be "aggressive", nor did I initiate any contact. One of my friends at my school got an internship there in the same way as me (not contacting anyone), and his GPA is significantly lower than mine (about a 3.5).

As for the NIH experience in general, I thought it was incredible though I'm sure it depends on your lab. I really enjoyed the people in my lab, working in the naval hospital was great (there's a handful of labs in the naval base across from NIH @ Bethesda), free metro fares, PI had plenty of time to interact with me directly, etc. Honestly I'd like to end up working at the NIH in about 15 years, no grant writing = awesome😀.

it may very well depend on the institute you're at. i was just writing about how interns at my institute got their jobs. we didnt really interact with people from other institutes except on the big nih poster day, so i havent the foggiest idea if their app experiences were the same as ours. as far as disagreeing, my statement was unequivocally true for nida. there may have been an outlier or two, but i sure didnt meet them, and we were a pretty close knit group. nih is huge, though, so it should be assumed that people will have varied experiences.

 

[wrkndply]

I likewise applied in January and had heard nothing until now. And that is only after having emailed >30 labs with my application last weekend. Although i have not received a position yet I have gotten two interviews and 3 others claiming to consider my app. as soon as they obtain the funding.

Bottom line, emailing labs appeared to work for me...just keep in mind most NIH PI's are extremely busy and reaching out to them will probably not hurt you.

Additionally, i understood from one that they are still operating on last years budget and thus funds may be limited at the moment...

Here is some additional information i received, for your consideration:
"Our institute, NIDDK, is making some pretty dramatic cuts in personnel. I would advise you to have a look at the web pages of Intramural Investigators in NHGRI and NCI, especially. There are cuts all across campus, but these 2 institutes seem to be weathering the storm a bit better."

so it may be worth contacting some PI's at those institutes..

 

[iFearMCAT]

I likewise applied in January and had heard nothing until now. And that is only after having emailed >30 labs with my application last weekend. Although i have not received a position yet I have gotten two interviews and 3 others claiming to consider my app. as soon as they obtain the funding.

Bottom line, emailing labs appeared to work for me...just keep in mind most NIH PI's are extremely busy and reaching out to them will probably not hurt you.

Additionally, i understood from one that they are still operating on last years budget and thus funds may be limited at the moment...

Here is some additional information i received, for your consideration:
"Our institute, NIDDK, is making some pretty dramatic cuts in personnel. I would advise you to have a look at the web pages of Intramural Investigators in NHGRI and NCI, especially. There are cuts all across campus, but these 2 institutes seem to be weathering the storm a bit better."

so it may be worth contacting some PI's at those institutes..

👍 Thank you...this is very helpful to know...good luck with your interviews and I wish everyone else who applies to the NIH luck

I must admit I still hate that place with a passion and I am glad my PI told me today that he would pay me 2500 a month to stay in the lab, which I'll do....

Extramural funding >>>>>>>>>>> Intramural crap