Year Off

[sachmo23]

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Hi i am going to be graduating college in June and am applying to dental school this year. During my year off i would like to do some research at a university and possibly gain more experience by shadowing a specialized dentist. The problem is that i go to school in LA and i live in the bay area. I wanted to know how to land a research job at a school that you did actually attend. Based on what i've seen, those student research jobs are only open to students at that particular school. thanks for your help!

 

[StephL26]

Have you done research before? I never did, but I guess I lucked out and was immediately accepted into a research lab at the university I wanted to attend- but I did graduate from it's undergraduate college, as well. However, I do not think that it is necessarily true that schools accept their own student, since I was also accepted into another university's lab. So do not get discouraged, apply to a few labs that you would be interested in, and hopefully, you hear back.

Just make your resume look good, and talking to the PI's worked for me, telling them straight up what my goals were for the following year. My PI was very nice and helpful. They might prefer someone who commits 2 years to research, but find out.

Good luck with your research and application. 👍

 

[sachmo23]

Thanks for the info! How did you manage to get in contact with the professors? I tried checking job listings on their websites (Berkeley and UCdavis) but all the research jobs wanted experienced people. I guess what i am trying to say is that i want to get undergraduate type experience but i will have graduated college. do you think there is any way i can do this? Also this may sound kinda dumb but what is a PI?

 

[UJ007]

Thanks for the info! How did you manage to get in contact with the professors? I tried checking job listings on their websites (Berkeley and UCdavis) but all the research jobs wanted experienced people. I guess what i am trying to say is that i want to get undergraduate type experience but i will have graduated college. do you think there is any way i can do this? Also this may sound kinda dumb but what is a PI?[/quote]


Principal investigator

 

[StephL26]

My friends all applied and emailed the professors after they found out that specific professors/labs were hiring (we had a professor who forwarded emails to our department and spread the word out to the students), but I think that was more competitive.

I actually just randomly searched for professors/PI's in the departments that I was interested in, read up on what I could find about them online- found how many papers they had written themselves (ie. look to see if they are the 1st, 2nd or last names on the published papers). Then I emailed them and asked them if they had lab positions available for me- explaining my interest and goals. This worked for me... Some were helpful, some were not and not looking.

You might be able to find some labs and positions now- though it may seem late, even if you'd be considered a graduate. Many student researchers are leaving this summer for med/dental schools and thus labs are looking.

Good luck! 🙂