How to Find a Mentor

The vast majority of winners at top fairs have a mentor/advisor, AND the vast majority of students have to find their own mentors (85% of the 2005 Intel STS finalists had to do this). Where can you find a mentor?

• By participating in a summer program (such as the Research Science Institute) where you are in contact with professors that help you complete a research project.
• Talking to the faculty at a nearby college, university, or research institute. Make sure to ask around! Oftentimes there is research going on in your area that you do not know about. Search on the Internet, ask your teachers, look through the phonebook, etc) I spoke with Mary Lou O'Donnell from Plainview-Old Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School in New York, whose students were at ISEF and were also Science Buddies mentors. Her students found researchers at nearby institutes to complete their project (see her comments below).
• Contacting judges from a previous science competition. This is what I did, and it worked out wonderfully. I always email my judges after each science competition to ask how I can improve my project. The college professor who became my mentor wrote a very long email back to me about my project because she was so interested in it. We exchanged emails for a while. A conflict in my high school schedule prompted me to ask if I could complete one of her research courses online (and be my "sponsor" for it so that my teachers in my high school knew I was doing something), and she indirectly became my mentor. Even though she and I were 350 miles apart, I used the phone and email to keep in contact with her.
• Contacting a person that wrote a science article in your field.
• Note that a mentor does not have to be local, unless of course, you need to work in their lab to do your project.

So, how can you find a mentor?

These are the steps Mary Lou O'Donnell's students take in order to find a mentor (these are also the same steps that some of my friends from Intel STS took). With a little modification (a phone interview instead of a meeting, and not asking if you can work in the lab, but if you can ask advice from home), these steps can also be used to contact a mentor that is not nearby. And, Ms. O'Donnell adds, "Advice for teachers: Students must find their own mentors!!!! It's the only way they'll appreciate the mentor. That's from lots of times I've mentored kids and they come back complaining about my choice, the lab etc., Mentors respond when contacted by motivated students, not motivated teachers!!"

1. Determine your general areas of interest: physics, chemistry, biology, psychology, astronomy etc.
2. Search nearby research university websites for scientists in these departments of the schools. Ms. O'Donnell states: "we steer our students to university professors. We have had private psychologists, doctors, and engineers work with students but find that the level of research is not usually high enough." You want someone who is actively publishing research in their field.
3. At the department webpage for the university bring up the faculty bios. Read through them all, noting the email address or contact info for all that you are interested in.
4. Once you've gathered 20 -30 professors' bios, research them one by one. Prior to contact you must find recent articles written by the mentor. This is extremely important. You don't want to look like an idiot when you contact them and it will also help you determine if it is the right type of research for you.
5. Draft a personalized email in which you identify yourself, your school and what specifically about the scientist's research that interests you. In the email you should never directly ask "to be my mentor." Request a meeting with them where you can speak more about their research. I would add that you might also ask them to distribute your request throughout the department if they cannot help you. One of their friends might be looking for a student to do research with them. (This is actually how one of my friends from Intel STS got a mentor-the person she emailed was nice enough to send her request to others in the department, and someone else replied.)
6. Have someone proofread and edit the letter.
7. Mail it out and hope for the best. Note that you might go through numerous rejections until finding someone who wants to help you. Some of the people you contact might not even respond. When I emailed judges, there were always a few that never replied. Keep meeting and calling people! Eventually, you should be able to find a mentor.
8. If you receive a positive response set up a meeting date. At that meeting you should bring everything that you've found on the scientist's research and a couple of "thoughtful questions" about it. If you are lucky enough to have multiple researchers asking to do research with them, take advantage of the situation! Choose a mentor with a personality that fits yours. You want to make sure you and your mentor "click," otherwise you might have a miserable time. Think about what kind of person you want to work with: fierce and competitive, outgoing, shy, nurturing and supportive, etc. Keep in mind that having a mentor who knows what a science competition is like would be helpful.
9. Finally, if the rapport seems good and the science interesting you should ask "Do you need any help in your lab this summer?" I would add to not be afraid to ask about helping during the school year, too.
10. In Ms. O'Donnell's case, most of the time the mentors say "sure" but sometimes they give the student "an assignment" to test their commitment and work habits. She states, "Our success rate is pretty high. If the students are motivated to contact enough people they usually all are placed for the summer."
11. Always send a thank you note after any meeting.
12. Sometimes you get a bad mentor. If this is the case, Ms. O'Donnell has this advice: "If there is a bad mentor situation you just 'suck it up' and be respectful and conscientious and count down the days until the project is over!! You never abandon a research project because the mentor is counting on you."

Amber Hess was a Mentor in the Science Buddies Online Mentoring Program for three years. A passionate science student, she has won awards at many prestigious science competitions. In 2005 she was an Intel Science Talent Search Finalist (one of only 40 students in the entire country), a semi-finalist for the Siemens Westinghouse competition, and she won a First Place Grand Award in Chemistry at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), which she also attended in 2003. She has qualified to compete at the California State Science Fair five times, winning 4th, 3rd, and two 1st place awards. Amber is now attending MIT where she is majoring in chemical engineering.