Summer Scholarship Help?

[Turqaeria]

Hi,

I just had a few questions about a research scholarship that I was applying to.

 

1)They have provided a list of possible supervisors. What do I do now? Do I

 

a)Read all their papers, see which ones I'm interested in and then e-mail them?

b)E-mail them all to increase my chances of getting a scholarship?

c) I am a first year which means I have just finished my first semester. My GPA is 3.9x so do I include this in the e-mail?

 

2)My main concern pertains to the fact that if so many undergrads are going to be applying what makes a supervisor choose? Grades? If so then does being a first year disadvantage me?

 

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who helps this newbie out:D

[iwh333]

Being a first year might disadvantage you as some profs might have a preference towards undergrads in their later years due to more relevant courses taken, etc. But there's nothing you can do about that.

 

Now to answer your q:

 

a) I wouldn't read all their papers as that would take a lot of time. It would definitely be nice to have a good idea regarding what their research is about though.

 

I would email more profs not to increase my chance of getting the research award, but to increase my chance of landing a position for the summer with a prof. There will be a lot of profs that will not respond to your email.

 

c) I would include it as you have a good GPA, even though it's only 1 semester. It would help differentiate you from your competition.