Summer Research Positions.

[Abra.]

I know there have been countless threads about this, but arg.

Email professors or researchers at hospitals about your intentions with a resume attached. I have done this, and I received 2 responses out of around 20 - these responses were only to tell me that their lab does not accept high school students. I have called some labs of researchers at certain hospitals, and their assistants have all told me that they only accept students through UofT.

 

Does anyone have any more ideas?

I've tried emailing people from multiple universities, not just one.

I've tried applying for some programs, but those are very competitive in the US, so I am not keeping my hopes up.

I have also included that it would be unpaid, so that should not have been a problem.

 

Should I just keep trying again, or is there something flawed with my method?

Should I not aim for those at hospitals and maybe go for people with independent clinics? <- has this ever happened?

 

Thanks everyone, I hope you can guide me through your experiences. (:

[OIC]

Being in highschool pust you at a significant disadvantage because there are many undergrads who are pursuing the same opportunities, and many of them come with lab experience, at the very least from their requisite courses. Without knowing someone or winning an award, its pretty tough for a high school student to break into the research scene I think. The best way to get exposure without an award is to sign up for something like the Sanofi Aventis Challenge. Other than that I would look to perhaps volunteer in a hospital instead or something. You likely won't get much out of research anyways if you are still in high school, good luck!

[thatonekid]

Your initiative was good, but the flaw is that you're in high school. I'd focus on some other type of summer volunteer/work experience and wait until you're in university to volunteer with research.

[tooty]

You should relax. Even if you get into a lab, you're only qualified to wash dishes because you know so little. Keep an ear out for research positions but your time is better spent elsewhere until you start university.

[treejuice1]

Are you in grade 12? When I was in grade 12, many of my friends participated in some kind of province-wide biology research (or maybe it was biotechnology research) challenge for high school students and were all supervised by university professors during the regular school year. I don't really know much else about it because I didn't do it, but maybe ask your science teachers or guidance counselors if they know anything about this. If you're from the Ottawa area, you can pm me for the names of some professors at University of Ottawa that took on these students a few years ago

 

Also, people who did a co-op semester in high school got placed in university labs as well, but I think randomly emailing profs as a high school student is probably not going to work out for you

[Smurfette]

As someone who is quite into research, I would still echo some of the other posters comments. I wouldn't waste your summer trying to do research during high school. Even if you do find a position, it probably wouldn't be much help to you seeing as you can't do much. If you are curious to learn more about the research process, consider things like Science Fairs, etc. You can do those during the school year. You can better spend your summers relaxing, having fun, travelling, taking random courses unrelated to school, or working at a job that would be paid and better experience.