On Research & Volunteering

So the majority of you come to this blog because you are interested in being pre-med and are thinking about coming to Berkeley or want to compare Berkeley with another undergrad school, such as UCLA, UChicago, whatnot.

A big component of why people choose to come to Berkeley as a premed and not other institutions where being premed is known for, such as UCLA, is Berkeley's world renowned research. Yes, berkeley has incredible research opportunities, but not for first and possibly even second years. A lot of the research is taken by undergrads who really need it (such as 3rd and 4th years who are applying to grad/med school and need the research experience) or by graduate students. Although Berkeley's undergrad is well known, Berkeley's graduate program is even more well known. Berkeley's graduate program is what makes Berkeley famous first and foremost- not their undergrad.

Now that I've cleared that up- don't be afraid to come to Berkeley. If you go to sites such as collegeconfidential and search for the likelihood of finding research positions at berkeley and/or volunteering positions, you're not going to get very good feedback and you'll most likely be thoroughly disappointed. Because it's damn hard finding research/volunteering at berkeley hahaha. But don't despair just yet. The people on those forums who make it sound impossible for the younger crowd to gain any experience haven't tried their hardest to find anything suitable.

For the past half year or so, I looked up and down the bay area to find a good volunteering position at a hospital (bay area as in Oakland, Emoryville, SF,  Berkeley, Richmond, etc). However, the only problem with that is that each hospital requires two TB shots taken within the last twelve months. Meaning, if I got a TB test now, I would have to wait a few more months before getting the next one, and then go through orientation, interview, etc. I wasn't willing to wait a whole year before starting something. I wanted something now.

The URAP program berkeley offers (where undergraduates can work in labs at berkeley) didn't have anything that interested me (mind you, I was a bit late in signing up- those positions go extremely fast). Also, if you are interested in any of the positions available, you have to write a paper on why you are interested and whatnot. So, since I would have to wait a whole semester for positions to become available again, I decided to try a different route for research.

I noticed that a hospital somewhere nearby (I won't name anything for obvious reasons ; ) also conducted research. So, I contacted one of the researchers and long story short- I found myself a research position! I probably won't start for a while since the project is new and they haven't figured out much about it yet, but the job is mine if I want, or so they say hahaha.

Moral of the story: Don't give up on finding positions, be it research and/or volunteering. They're out there somewhere, you just have to look closely to find it.

Also, I wanted to start research early for multiple reasons but a majority of the pre-meds here don't begin research until their 3rd or 4th year and sometimes even later. So don't fret if you can't find anything for the first few years. When I first got to college, research was the last thing from my mind. I was so worried about my grades and adjusting to this life. hahaha : )

I'll let you know if I find any volunteering opportunities that are worth mentioning (one that doesn't take a lifetime to start - slight exaggeration of course ; )

-K