Reply to Rant: Tell Kids to Stop Bugging Professors for Internships

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm a professor and regularly get emails from high school students who ask for research internships.  They haven't finished high school, much less basic undergraduate courses in my field.  I don't know who encourages this, but obviously those kids didn't think up this idea independently.

[i]"Dear Professor X:

I am very interested in your work after reading [one of my obscure papers from a web search].  I would like to help you with research because I want to have a career [making a lot of money by doing something I know nothing about]."[/i]

This is insulting to their high school teachers, who have a lot to teach them.[/quote]

Well, so many professors give this chances to kids of people in their social circles which leads others to think of it as something legit and worth trying for. Not everyone's mommy or daddy are well-connected or feel comfortable asking for favors.[/quote]

Nepotism is everywhere.  [b]Despite being the child of two college professors, my kids have not benefited from that at all.  [/b]But they DID watch lots of friends benefit from their family’s political and social connections.  The sense of entitlement regarding access to professors with no educational relationship to your kid is mind boggling.  [/quote]

Sounds like both of you have done it all wrong. Your kids aren't even going to get a tuition benefit? [/quote]

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