Reach out profs for Research oppotunities

Imagine wanting a research internship so badly, but every time you open your email draft, you freeze. You don’t know what to write, how much to talk about yourself, what projects to show, or whether you’re even “good enough” yet to reach out. You end up postponing it for weeks, and the semester or summer quietly passes by without you sending a single proper email.

This session is for students who feel lost about how to approach professors and how to prepare themselves so they are actually ready for a research internship. Together, we’ll break this into concrete, doable steps instead of guesswork.

In this session, we will:

1. Understand your background, interests, and target area (AI/ML or related fields)
2. Identify what you already have (courses, projects, skills) and what’s missing for a solid outreach
3. Decide what kind of professors and labs you should target (local college, other universities, remote, etc.)
4. Draft or refine 1–2 cold email templates tailored to your profile and goals
5. Structure what to attach or link (CV, GitHub, portfolio, project summary) in a way that makes you look focused and prepared
6. Create a short preparation plan (1–4 weeks) to get “internship-ready” before or while you start emailing

By the end of the call, you will:

1. Have a clear idea of which professors/labs to reach out to
2. Have a strong, personalized cold email template you can reuse and adapt
3. Know how to present your skills and projects without overselling or underselling
4. Have a simple action plan to improve your profile while you do outreach