by Brian Leibowitz
When I was in the middle of the college search process a couple of years ago, I always got the same answer about undergraduate summer research opportunities wherever I asked: "Maybe in your Junior year you can find something." Columbia was no different. When I arrived here the School of Engineering and Applied Science provided me with a guide to available undergraduate research positions within the school. Unfortunately, virtually every position had course prerequisites that I was sure could not be achieved in less than two years.
However, I felt that I had unique skills to offer in certain fields even after my first year of school here. I had some good experience from high school and extra-curricular engineering competitions that I participated in before coming to Columbia, and I was already involved in a few extracurricular activities at Columbia, such as the Solar Splash solar powered boat competition.
When spring came around I looked at the research opportunities guide again, but did not get discouraged. Instead, I found a few professors that I was interested in working for and sent them resumes and blind letters asking if they had any work that I could do. I was pleasantly surprised when I got multiple positive responses and actually had my pick of two places to go.
Perhaps not everyone will be quite this lucky, but I think that there is an important lesson to be learned from this. If you feel that you have some capability that may be useful, or even if you are simply interesting in learning more about a particular branch of research, you can get involved early in your education if you assert yourself. Remember that professors are glad to see students take an interest in their work, and will often be happy to show you more about it and perhaps offer you a position when the time comes. It is also essential to have an impressive resume. Don't hesitate to join extra-curricular activities, especially engineering activities. Not only does it improve your resume, it also improves yourself and the quality of the engineering school in general.