Internships: a question. - (May/14/2010 )

Pardon my cynicism, but how the heck does anyone under 90, much less 60 credits get an internship or a position in a lab? It occurs to me that you have to have 34750397520985720948720 upper-level classes under your belt before anyone will even consider letting you in the lab.

Someone please disabuse me of this notion and tell me how anyone with less classes under their belt gets in a lab .

I assume you're talking about an academic internship. Have you considered an internship with a biotech R&D or production department? Typically, for these positions, your course credits are a lot less relevant than your actual laboratory skills and personality fit.

Typically, for these positions, your course credits are a lot less relevant than your actual laboratory skills and personality fit.

I don't have much in the way of laboratory skills, largely because I've never been in a research lab before.

Nasty catch-22, ain't it?

If you are taking courses, ask your prof if they need help in the lab. That's how I got my first gig.

i agree with lab rat. i was in my first college general biology course and asked my lab instructor (who happened to be a new assistant professor) if i could volunteer in his lab. he said yes and the rest is history.

I also started out by approaching a professor while I was an undergrad and asking to volunteer in his lab.