Undergraduate Research

There are a lot of things to like about UMBC, but one thing that has been quite frustrating for me this semester revolves around undergraduate research opportunities. I have been attempting since the semester began to secure some kind of research internship either on campus or at one of the surrounding medical centers, like Hopkins or UMD.

Unfortunately I seem to be running into a lot of dead ends, both on their ends and on UMBC. Like many other students, my inbox is bombarded weekly with emails from the Career Services & Shriver Center - all containing links that have little or nothing to do with my pre-professional aspirations. I am also often encouraged by other departments on campus to go to the Shriver Center (which I did last semester) for assistance setting something up.

Well, the Shriver Center looks at your resume, helps you get it online, and then tells you to apply to positions via UMBCworks. I've gone through the simple application process on that website tens of times now without receiving a single acknowledgment of my submission. Naturally I wonder what I am doing wrong - how can others profess such success when using the Shriver Center while I flounder?

My next step was to contact the person in charge of pre-professional based internships to schedule an appointment to see what was going on. Three emails over several months later, I have yet to secure an appointment or even an response.

Meanwhile, links for internships at the places I am looking into keep appearing on UMBCworks, and I continue applying to no result and much discouragement.