Transfer Talk Tuesdays: Research as a Transfer
Transfer Talk Tuesdays: Research as a Transfer
Transfer Talk Tuesdays are a series of personal blogs where current USC transfer students dive deeper into their real-life stories, perspectives, and experiences in transferring to USC. Note that each transfer application is unique and there are no guaranteed paths to transfer. For guidance on how to put together a competitive transfer application, please review our Transferring to USC brochure.
Jaqueline (Jackie) Lutz-Hibbard is a senior on the pre-med track studying biological sciences at USC. In her junior year, she transferred to USC from Sarah Lawrence College, a small liberal arts college in New York. When she is not studying, she works as a student lab research assistant at USC Keck, in addition to serving as a Transfer Ambassador with USC’s Admissions Department.
By just being a student at USC, hundreds of doors have opened, seemingly all at once. The possible connections are endless, and the volume of options can feel overwhelming at times.
The sole reason I transferred to USC was to gain access to undergraduate research opportunities; in fact, I framed my entire personal statement around this goal. Although I was eager to begin searching for a research position immediately, I realized I needed time to settle into being a student at USC. I needed to figure out what time commitments I could agree to, and to settle into the rhythm of being at a new school. This included taking the time to make personal connections. I started searching for opportunities halfway through my first semester and starting at the USC Keck lab in December of that semester.
With research, especially at a huge institution such as USC, the number of opportunities is almost overwhelming. As a pre-med major, I am most familiar with medical-based research, which I will focus on for the rest of this article. However, there are also immense amounts of research available for other interests!
As I began my search, I first decided on what kind of research I was interested in. While I looked at a variety of labs, I knew I wanted to work in a clinical setting and focused my search there.
Opportunities for research can be found in email newsletters, advertisements posted to message boards, and offered by professors both in and outside of class. I started by simply searching “clinical research for undergraduates at USC” online to look at all the possibilities and decide what I wanted in a lab. Through this simple Google search, I found the lab I was interested in, which focused on nicotine and tobacco addiction. The application process for each lab is different; mine required sending in a resume, answers to short questions, and a series of interviews. Within a month of submitting my application, I had completed my interviews and been accepted and began as a Student Research assistant.
Overall, your journey will be unique to you, and while other people’s timelines can be helpful to look at, do not compare your own journey with others. Remember to give yourself grace and time.
Written by: Jaqueline (Jackie) Lutz-Hibbard, Class of 2023