Dear Readers 10 & 11

Jenna said...

Dear K,
Can you make a post about scholarships? Are there any exclusively for freshmen?
thanks! :)

Dear Jenna,

Are you asking about general scholarships or berkeley scholarships? :) 

Unfortunately, I never applied to the scholarships at berkeley, but if you haven't already, check out the site: 

http://alumni.berkeley.edu/services/scholarships 

I'm not sure if any are reserved for freshman :( As far as other scholarships go, I applied through typical scholarship sites, such as fastweb-which weren't very helpful since so many people apply through those sites- but those sites give you the widest range of scholarships to choose from and you can try narrowing your search to show scholarships reserved for freshman only :) 

Sorry I couldn't be any more help on this one! 

Best of luck! 

From,

K 

Anonymous said...

do you know how I could land an internship/lab research job? I don't know any of the professors, and I've never done any kind of research before... how am I supposed to stand a a chance against other applicants? do I just email someone, or go up to berkeley labs...??

Dear Anonymous,

This is a tough question with a lot of different answers. First off, you have to start somewhere right? :) And some professors (not many) understand that. For students just starting research, I would recommend trying URAP (although a bit tedious) since you'll be in an applicant pool with students in similar situations, and the professors would have come across students with no research experience more than in other cases. If that doesn't work, I would suggest going through researchers' (not just berkeley professors- this can be anywhere- hospital, SF, etc) research/labs and emailing tons of people with a statement of interest- don't make it too generic- make each email unique to the research/lab. Let's say this too doesn't work. Then over summer, try to find smaller research facilities to work in, such as a state school near your hometown (that's how I started off)- if they don't accept you due to lack of experience, tell them you would just like to shadow them or you're willing to wash the dishes- little experience is better than none :) - even working in a hospital lab as a volunteer would add to your lab experiences! 

Hope this helps! 

Best of luck- Let me know how it goes! 

From,

K