My experience has simultaneous narrowed my interests and widened my options. It has informed the professional decisions I will make going forward.
- Tom Harmon - ICRU Fellow - Psychology & Biology Majors
...................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................
Graduate School and Professional Degrees
Graduate School and Professional Degree programs are a natural progression for many students conducting research. These degrees strengthen the knowledge base for students and prepare them for further work in their field of interest. Graduate Schools are often very competitive and students need to find ways to distinguish themselves in order to be competitive in the applicant pool. Completing an undergraduate research experience is a great way to illustrate your interest and experience in a particular area.
What Students Say...
The experience has not changed my goals [to go to graduate school], but I feel more ready to move on to the next step.
- Former ICRU Fellow - Geoscience & Chemistry Major
It has enriched the overall experience at the University of Iowa and reinforced my decision to attend graduate school.
- Patrick Bitterman - ICRU Fellow - Geography Major
...................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................
Career Development/Placement
The research experience often helps students find areas of interest for further research or careers. Students can talk with faculty mentors about the day to day activities in careers pertaining to their interests. In addition, finding a dislike for a specific area is as important in narrowing the career direction as finding a perfect match.
What Students Say...
Participating in undergraduate research helped to show a different side of engineering. Basic principles aren’t just through learned concepts in class, but can be learned through hands-on experiments within the laboratory setting. It’s opened up many doors for potential careers. Because of the nature of pharmaceutics and drug delivery and development, I’ve decided to go on to law school, with an intellectual property focus.
- Annie Kock - ICRU Fellow - Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Major
This experience definitely shaped my future academic and career goals. Before working with my mentor, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever want to attend graduate school, especially to pursue an MBA. I got to work on a project that dealt with different MBA programs across the country and it really made me interested in participating in one of these programs in the future. He was a great mentor during my senior year as I searched for a job. He connected me with different resources and helped me focus my career goals. I will continue to work with him in any way possible in the future because he is so invested in his students and is such a great mentor and friend.
- Erin Donohue - ICRU Fellow - Business Management & Dance Major
This research has beeen great for developing writing and research skills, learned a great deal about my areas of interest and learned about new places my skills can be applied. I now know of opportunites outside of the my initial motivation to attend an MFA program. My skills as a English major are not what people usually consider them to be.
- Jessica Jenkins - ICRU Fellow - English, Creative Writing & Non-Profit Business Management Major
My research experience has helped me to stay more open to career opportunities, I know that I am capable of taking on very unique tasks and accomplishing the goals set before me.
- Derek Baerenwald - ICRU Fellow - Chemical Engineering & Biochemistry Major