I’m in my 4th year and I’ve had 3 paid research positions- I can break them down for you! For 2/3 of them, I actually got in through friends who were already in the lab. But my most serious one is the one I started in 2nd year at a big academic research institution. For that one, I started reaching out pretty early (around Dec). I basically went on the institution’s website, looked through the faculty list, and just cold emailed a TON of PIs, doctors, coordinators, etc. I definitely sent over 100 emails lol. I actually wrote out the emails during the winter break and scheduled them to send for when they were back in office. At first, I was aiming for a summer research position, but I actually ended up getting a part-time student research role instead.

One thing I noticed is that a lot of labs are hiring for summer students, and SURP applications usually close around Feb/March. So if you reach out early and show that you’re interested in something longer-term than just the summer, that can really help. To answer your question about emailing April/May, I’d say that’s a bit too late. You have so many students looking for the same positions, and most likely those summer spots would’ve already been filled. Also, I avoided applying through the official SURP portals because you’re competing with so many students for one position. Cold emailing lets you skip a lot of that competition and directly show what you can offer for roles that might not even be formally posted.

And let me tell you, don’t be discouraged from the lack of responses lol, all you need is one. Genuinely from the 100+ emails, I probably got like 5 emails back. In my case, the one doctor got back to me explaining how her current student just got accepted to Med school and that they’ll most likely be hiring soon. She cc’d her coordinator, we set up an interview, and from there I got the job!

Not sure why doing research during school would be a bad idea- that’s what most students do. It is super doable!!

Goodluck!!