Resesarch Application Help!

[Locke]

I am going into third year at U of T. I have been looking for research positions at a lab since the beginning of first year, and can't seem to get offered any positions.

I got a 3.0 GPA in first year, but managed to get a 3.85 GPA in second and yet my cGPA is 3.3. I would email profs and get replys asking to see my transcript. After they saw the transcript, they would reject or not reply.

I applied for a BCH373 research opportunity course for september, but the prof told me that I need to take CHM247, BCH311, and BCH370 and then he'll think about it. How to interpret his answer? As a yes, or as I no?

What to do?

[Lost&Found]

Originally Posted by Locke

I am going into third year at U of T. I have been looking for research positions at a lab since the beginning of first year, and can't seem to get offered any positions.

I got a 3.0 GPA in first year, but managed to get a 3.85 GPA in second and yet my cGPA is 3.3. I would email profs and get replys asking to see my transcript. After they saw the transcript, they would reject or not reply.

I applied for a BCH373 research opportunity course for september, but the prof told me that I need to take CHM247, BCH311, and BCH370 and then he'll think about it. How to interpret his answer? As a yes, or as I no?

What to do?

He's asking you to take some pretty tough courses. I guess he wants you to have some solid experience with the concepts he works with. He probably wants to see how committed you are to his research position. If someone isn't that committed or doesn't want it that bad, they probably wouldn't take 3 courses as pre-reqs.

Are you a BCH major? If you are, and you have to take those courses anyway, I would definitely take them and show him how interested you are to work with him. If you're not a BCH major, you need to see how badly you want the position. If you think you can pull off solid marks in those classes, I would take them, but otherwise, I'd try to find research elsewhere. Don't let this one opportunity rob you of a good GPA in third year.

Look into volunteering in labs if this doesn't work out. There ARE profs out there who will overlook a poor first-year GPA if you show that that was an anomaly and that you are willing to work hard to compensate.

Also, do you have any research experience at all? If you do, you should definitely highlight it so profs know you have some idea of what you're getting yourself into.

Good luck!

~L&F

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Lost&Found

He's asking you to take some pretty tough courses. I guess he wants you to have some solid experience with the concepts he works with. He probably wants to see how committed you are to his research position. If someone isn't that committed or doesn't want it that bad, they probably wouldn't take 3 courses as pre-reqs.

Are you a BCH major? If you are, and you have to take those courses anyway, I would definitely take them and show him how interested you are to work with him. If you're not a BCH major, you need to see how badly you want the position. If you think you can pull off solid marks in those classes, I would take them, but otherwise, I'd try to find research elsewhere. Don't let this one opportunity rob you of a good GPA in third year.

Look into volunteering in labs if this doesn't work out. There ARE profs out there who will overlook a poor first-year GPA if you show that that was an anomaly and that you are willing to work hard to compensate.

Also, do you have any research experience at all? If you do, you should definitely highlight it so profs know you have some idea of what you're getting yourself into.

Good luck!

~L&F

I am a BCH major and I need to take the courses anyway. I have no research experience to speak of. I have asked profs about volunteering in their labs, but I was told that many professors are hesitant to take volunteers. Why?

I guess I show that first year was an anomaly by scoring a high GPA third year?

Also, would it be best to balance out the aforementioned courses with easier ones? Or to just focus on science courses?

[Lost&Found]

Oh that's good. Since you need to take the courses anyway, its not like you're doing "extra work" for the research position.

I guess the reason some profs are hesitant to take on volunteers is because many times, they don't really get the opportunity to do much and they get in the way more so than anything. If I were you, I would apply to profs from a variety of disciplines. Maybe this is my personal experience, but I've found that profs in certain "hardcore" disciplines (e.g. PSL, BCH, MGY, IMM, etc.) tend to be tougher to please than profs in "softer" sciences (e.g. EEB, PSY, etc.) I do not mean to offend anyone with that statement. Its just something I've noticed. So if you've just been applying to profs from BCH, you may want to look into other disciplines as well.

Well, your second year GPA is wayyyyy better than first-year. So that clearly shows you are capable of wayyyy more than your first-year implies. Definitely keep your GPA up in third year but try to highlight how you've improved from first-year to second-year in future interviews. My first year wasn't the greatest either but I've gotten certain positions by highlighting the initiative, responsibility, and hard work it took to raise my GPA from what it was in first year to what it was in second year.

Personally, I would definitely balance out those courses with easier ones. No need to overload at the risk of GPA. But this comes down to personal preference I suppose.

I'm sure other people on the forum can offer more thoughts.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Lost&Found

Oh that's good. Since you need to take the courses anyway, its not like you're doing "extra work" for the research position.

I guess the reason some profs are hesitant to take on volunteers is because many times, they don't really get the opportunity to do much and they get in the way more so than anything. If I were you, I would apply to profs from a variety of disciplines. Maybe this is my personal experience, but I've found that profs in certain "hardcore" disciplines (e.g. PSL, BCH, MGY, IMM, etc.) tend to be tougher to please than profs in "softer" sciences (e.g. EEB, PSY, etc.) I do not mean to offend anyone with that statement. Its just something I've noticed. So if you've just been applying to profs from BCH, you may want to look into other disciplines as well.

Well, your second year GPA is wayyyyy better than first-year. So that clearly shows you are capable of wayyyy more than your first-year implies. Definitely keep your GPA up in third year but try to highlight how you've improved from first-year to second-year in future interviews. My first year wasn't the greatest either but I've gotten certain positions by highlighting the initiative, responsibility, and hard work it took to raise my GPA from what it was in first year to what it was in second year.

Personally, I would definitely balance out those courses with easier ones. No need to overload at the risk of GPA. But this comes down to personal preference I suppose.

I'm sure other people on the forum can offer more thoughts.

There's also another point: the research is in BCH373 (a research opportunity course-kind of like ROP299), and for BCH major requires a 3.3 GPA and permission from dept. I have the GPA so wth do I need to take the courses, just out of curiosity?

Also, Lost and Found I thank you for your help!

[Lost&Found]

I guess the prof just thinks those courses will prep you well for his work. That may be it. Not too sure.

No worries! Good luck

[Locke]

During an interview when he asks what your plans are, is it best to tell him grad student/PHD or Medical school? He himself is an MD, but being 3rd year he might not think it worthwhile to hire a student for 2 summers.

Is it also best to read about and memorize the topics he does research on?

[Lost&Found]

If he himself is an MD, I would tell him you'd like to go to medical school. I don't think the 2 summer thing will be a problem because 1) you may not get in right away (unfortunately) and 2) 2 summers is a decent amount of time to be working with the same prof

Don't memorize topics, no need. But definitely have a general idea of what he does. Maybe glance at a few of his abstracts