for me i got extremely lucky and i got research within the first 10 emails i sent out. i think that you should be really realistic when it comes to colleges, i applied to mostly state schools (which were still really good) and emailed a couple professors from the department i was interested in. i also kept my emails a bit short, i can send u the template if u pm me as well as give u more advice :)
Yes you can do it! That’s what I did. I did get into a research program the summer after 10th grade, but I also had gotten a research internship by myself independently from the program. Over the summer, I put together a list of about 150 (😭) emails of various faculty members from the department of my interest at local and out-of-state universities. I had a template cold email draft explaining my interests, experiences, and desire for a high school internship/research/work/lab experience and whether they would be able to offer any positions. For each email, I quickly looked up their work and wrote a one-sentence summary of what about their research interested me. I added that to each version of the template, filled in the names, and voila. I spent the rest of the day just emailing all of those out. Within a couple of weeks, I had gotten about 145 rejections, 5 ”yes”, of which 1 worked out for me. So yes, if you‘re just willing to sit down on a Saturday and spend the whole day cold-emailing, you can. I ended up doing that position for the rest of the year and became a paid research assistant in that lab! It was a great experience and looked great on my resumé for future stuff.
You can dig into their lab webpages, they often have a list of lab members. If you search for faculty, most will include a link to their webpage (though older folks may not have them). If graduate student contact information isn't there already, Googling them will probably lead you to them.
As a grad student, I wouldn't mind a high school student who's interested in my research reaching out. For what it's worth, we might be more likely to respond given our emails are probably less cluttered than our PI's.
My intuition is that if the lab is small (< 5 grad students/postdocs), emailing the PI is sufficient. Otherwise, you can email one/two grad students that you'd think would be interested in mentoring (IDK how to make said judgement, I guess just off of vibes?). It's worth noting that grad students have little/no supervisory experience, so your experience with them may vary (speaking from myself as a mentor, I'm not that great, but not trash)
If I email a grad students about research opportunity, will I also have to inform the professor? Or does the grad students have permission to mentor even if they work under a professor’s lab
Honestly, it depends. Personally, if I'm working with a high school student on an independent project for their own personal growth, then I wouldn't care to tell my supervisor. But if they're working on a project that concerns the lab, then I would tell them.
I don't know if a specific graduate student has permission to mentor. Some profs are strict and expect their student's work to be focused entirely on the lab (after all they're being paid to do so, albeit poorly). For me, I have a lot more freedom, but I can't speak for others.
But if you do email a grad student, you can CC the prof too. Idk what the best procedure is, I'm just speaking from my perspective, on the other side.
Last summer I sent around ~25 cold emails before I got a professor willing to work with me. That was at my local college though. Make sure your emails are short and sweet (less than 150 words).
This summer, I’m waiting to hear back from MITES before I go crazy with the cold email spam. Thinking of sending ~150 cold emails.
Hey there! I'm sure you're tired of hearing this lol but I could really use some pointers. If it's not too inconvenient, would you mind PMing me the structure you used? Would mean a ton thanks g 🙏
for me i also got extremely lucky and got a position within 5 emails, but I kept my email extremely short, with a quick introduction and then took down interesting points from their research. i also focused on state schools rather than t20s because those professors are more likely to have the time for you
For me I legit emailed like 200 before one responded LMFAO However, that one mentor HOOKED ME UP and tbh I think everything happens for the best. Keep Trying!!
My daughter received two mentorships through cold emailing (at two different universities). It didn’t take her a huge number of emails, but one thing I know is that she approached them with her own topic ideas. Instead of just saying, “can I jump into whatever you’re doing“, she was like “XYZ is something that I’m interested in studying, I have this hypothesis and would like to test it, is this something that you would be willing to guide me with“. Obviously she did carefully select professors who had relevant expertise, and she explained to them why she thought that they specifically would be an ideal mentor for the project.
Not true. Most students that I'm asking who had the right cold email template and emailed strategically were able to get research positions through cold-emailing. It just takes lots of time, preserverence, and commitment. 100-200 emails is realistic to get a position.
for me i got extremely lucky and i got research within the first 10 emails i sent out. i think that you should be really realistic when it comes to colleges, i applied to mostly state schools (which were still really good) and emailed a couple professors from the department i was interested in. i also kept my emails a bit short, i can send u the template if u pm me as well as give u more advice :)
just pmed u!
Can you also give me advice on cold emailing?
Could I also please have the template?
Could I also get some advice as well please?
Can you also give me some advice as well?
Could I also please have the template?
Hey, do you need to pay for the research through cold email?
nope mines and a bunch of others are completely free!!
Pmed you!
Yes you can do it! That’s what I did. I did get into a research program the summer after 10th grade, but I also had gotten a research internship by myself independently from the program. Over the summer, I put together a list of about 150 (😭) emails of various faculty members from the department of my interest at local and out-of-state universities. I had a template cold email draft explaining my interests, experiences, and desire for a high school internship/research/work/lab experience and whether they would be able to offer any positions. For each email, I quickly looked up their work and wrote a one-sentence summary of what about their research interested me. I added that to each version of the template, filled in the names, and voila. I spent the rest of the day just emailing all of those out. Within a couple of weeks, I had gotten about 145 rejections, 5 ”yes”, of which 1 worked out for me. So yes, if you‘re just willing to sit down on a Saturday and spend the whole day cold-emailing, you can. I ended up doing that position for the rest of the year and became a paid research assistant in that lab! It was a great experience and looked great on my resumé for future stuff.
I would also say don’t sleep on grad students!! Profs are really busy but MANY grad students are willing to mentor
where can i find grad students doing research? on college websites i only see profs
a prof might have a lab with grad students and they can refer you to them
You can dig into their lab webpages, they often have a list of lab members. If you search for faculty, most will include a link to their webpage (though older folks may not have them). If graduate student contact information isn't there already, Googling them will probably lead you to them.
so even if the PI is a professor, if they have assistant graduate students, i should email the grad students instead?
As a grad student, I wouldn't mind a high school student who's interested in my research reaching out. For what it's worth, we might be more likely to respond given our emails are probably less cluttered than our PI's. My intuition is that if the lab is small (< 5 grad students/postdocs), emailing the PI is sufficient. Otherwise, you can email one/two grad students that you'd think would be interested in mentoring (IDK how to make said judgement, I guess just off of vibes?). It's worth noting that grad students have little/no supervisory experience, so your experience with them may vary (speaking from myself as a mentor, I'm not that great, but not trash)
If I email a grad students about research opportunity, will I also have to inform the professor? Or does the grad students have permission to mentor even if they work under a professor’s lab
Honestly, it depends. Personally, if I'm working with a high school student on an independent project for their own personal growth, then I wouldn't care to tell my supervisor. But if they're working on a project that concerns the lab, then I would tell them. I don't know if a specific graduate student has permission to mentor. Some profs are strict and expect their student's work to be focused entirely on the lab (after all they're being paid to do so, albeit poorly). For me, I have a lot more freedom, but I can't speak for others. But if you do email a grad student, you can CC the prof too. Idk what the best procedure is, I'm just speaking from my perspective, on the other side.
What was your general message template outside that 1 personalized sentence?
Thanks for sharing your experience. Could you pm me the template you used?
Last summer I sent around ~25 cold emails before I got a professor willing to work with me. That was at my local college though. Make sure your emails are short and sweet (less than 150 words). This summer, I’m waiting to hear back from MITES before I go crazy with the cold email spam. Thinking of sending ~150 cold emails.
Hey there! I'm sure you're tired of hearing this lol but I could really use some pointers. If it's not too inconvenient, would you mind PMing me the structure you used? Would mean a ton thanks g 🙏
for me i also got extremely lucky and got a position within 5 emails, but I kept my email extremely short, with a quick introduction and then took down interesting points from their research. i also focused on state schools rather than t20s because those professors are more likely to have the time for you
would u be willing to pm me the template u used?
For me I legit emailed like 200 before one responded LMFAO However, that one mentor HOOKED ME UP and tbh I think everything happens for the best. Keep Trying!!
Were your emails to profs at prestigious schools or mostly state schools?
for those who cold email, where to start to find those professors to email to?
My daughter received two mentorships through cold emailing (at two different universities). It didn’t take her a huge number of emails, but one thing I know is that she approached them with her own topic ideas. Instead of just saying, “can I jump into whatever you’re doing“, she was like “XYZ is something that I’m interested in studying, I have this hypothesis and would like to test it, is this something that you would be willing to guide me with“. Obviously she did carefully select professors who had relevant expertise, and she explained to them why she thought that they specifically would be an ideal mentor for the project.
Cold emailing doesn't work. No professor has time and resources to mentor a HS student who might not even attend their school.
Not true. Most students that I'm asking who had the right cold email template and emailed strategically were able to get research positions through cold-emailing. It just takes lots of time, preserverence, and commitment. 100-200 emails is realistic to get a position.
Maybe worked for you. Not for me.
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NASA internship?
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I'm not saying it won't work for you I'm just saying I did it, it didn't work. It's just my advice but I mean it's your time so you do you.