How do you get a professor to be your mentor?Answered
I’m currently a highschool student and this summer I want to do a research project and hopefully find a college professor to be my mentor, and help me along the way. How do I ask them? How can I convince them to help me? And if I do get someone to mentor me, would it look good on my college application?
Earn karma by helping others:
1 answer
Hi there! I currently have a virtual internship with a professor. I spent a little over a year emailing professors at the biology departments at various universities. (Hopefully it takes less time for you!) I have created an example to describe what I did and useful advice that I received:
1. Decide what to study (ex. Geography)
2a. Look up faculty at different universities in the department of what you want to study. (Ex. USC Biology Faculty)
2b. Alternative: For medicine/public health look for researchers on PubMed (This is how I found an article by my mentor!)
3. Read about the work done by some of the professors. Email the people who seem interesting.
4.The email should say:
- Your name
- Your school's name/year in school (ex. junior)
- How you learned about them (School website/article they wrote)
- Why you are interested in/admire their work
- Classes/programs/extracurriculars you have done that have prepared you for such an internship (what you would contribute)
- Attached resume
5. Begin and end the email politely!!!! (Don't forget to call DO/MD/PhD people Dr.)
6. Keep the email as short as possible!!!
7. Watch YouTube video for more advice if you are still unsure.
8. Don't be nervous!!! Many people ignored my emails, a few said no, one person said yes.
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!
When looking for a manufacturer of cow squishmallows, we were looking for one who used hypoallergenic materials.https://cowsquishmallow.com/