Before you decide to pursue graduate school, the one question you need to ask yourself is: “Do you enjoy doing research?” This might be a tough one to answer, especially if you’ve never set foot in a research lab before. And no, your General Chemistry Labs do not count (though I wish they did). Many graduate programs, more specifically, PhD programs require about five years of commitment, and a majority of a graduate student’s time is spent on doing research. Participating in undergraduate research is probably one of the best ways to assess if graduate school is really what you want to do.

It’s never too early to start researching. In fact, starting early gives you a big advantage. You’ll have more time to experience different research projects and opportunities to travel to other universities. This will give you a better insight on the type of research you want to do when you start graduate school. UCSB offers undergraduate research programs that will pay you to do research. Why do research for free if you can get paid? All you have to do is apply. Here’s a link to a page with summaries of all of the research programs at UCSB:
https://undergrad.research.ucsb.edu/get-started/programs-and-funding/research-opportunities/

I myself am part of the UC LEADS Program. A cool aspect of being in the UC LEADS Program is that you get to go to another UC during your second summer in the program. I spent my summer doing stem cell research at UC Berkeley. I also got to meet some pretty amazing people (pictured below).

One last thing I want to mention is that research is not for everyone. It’s better to figure that out now rather than later. It’s a lot more frustrating to find that out when you’re already halfway through your PhD program. By doing undergraduate research, you get a small taste of what it’s like to be a graduate student. So, is research something you enjoy to do? Once you figure that out, you’ll have an easier time deciding if graduate school is right for you.