First Generation Students

Welcome to the department, we look forward to supporting you through your degree! Depending upon whether you are a prospective graduate or undergraduate student, we have different recommendations worth considering for your experience in EBIO. 

 

For Undergraduate Students

 

Starting your career as an undergraduate student is an exciting experience! A degree in EBIO can help you build skills in research, critical thinking, and computation. We recommend that students consider research and scholarship opportunities, and take advantage of the resources available at CU and through our department.

 
Research opportunities
 
  • Gaining research experience early on can play a valuable role in identifying particular research topics that you’re interested in. We highly recommend reaching out to faculty and graduate students whom you are interested in working with. However, while we highly recommend gaining research experience as an undergraduate student in EBIO, we understand that many students hold part-time jobs and volunteering in a lab can seem like a daunting task. We highly recommend that students discuss independent study or research for credit under the supervision of a faculty mentor. You can access the EBIO independent study/research credit form here. Additionally, There are also a number of funding opportunities associated with lab work. Learn about research and funding opportunities here.
  • Building relationships with fellow students can play a monumental role in helping you find positions and learn about research opportunities. The EBIO club is an organization dedicated to connecting EBIO students with each other and with faculty and graduate student mentors.
  • You can also gain research experience through student internships. Internships can be taken for credit and are great for career development. To learn more about internship opportunities contact Dr. Harrison Carpenter. 
 
Scholarships
 
First generation students at CU are eligible to apply for a first generation grant to assist with financial aid. Information on this grant can be found here.

 

For Graduate Students

 
Graduate school is a significant commitment and EBIO encourages all of its students to maintain a healthy work-life balance There are various resources available through both the EBIO department and CU ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ to help you be successful. Prior to applying to graduate school, it is useful to research faculty whom you are interested in working with, become familiar with finances, and consider graduate student workload. The following are recommendations that we have for prospective graduate students: 

 

Contacting an EBIO faculty member is a crucial step for applying to EBIO
 
Your eventual acceptance depends very heavily upon the recommendation of a potential faculty advisor, so be sure to contact at least one potential advisor prior to submitting your application.  Before you contact a faculty member, be sure to read about the research areas covered by their lab. Your own research interests should have some overlap with those of your potential advisor. So, take a look at the professors in our department, have some fun exploring the variety of research happening here, and then get in touch! Pay attention to any specific information faculty request from interested students, which they typically detail on their lab webpages.
 
Finances
 
  • EBIO graduate students typically do not have to pay for grad school! This is because graduate students are generally supported through teaching or research assistantships. However, ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ can be an expensive place to live and we recommend visiting the finances tab for more information on affordable housing options, financial aid, and transportation in ºù«ÍÞÊÓƵ. 
  • Having conversations with potential advisors about funding opportunities is important and can help in financing your research and living expenses. In particular, we highly recommend having these conversations with respect to summer funding opportunities, which are sometimes less straightforward. 

 

Academic Culture
 
Many graduate students will not pursue careers in academia; however, during graduate school you will have to participate in academic culture. Academic culture has its own rules and learning those can sometimes be daunting. Luckily, graduate school is all about learning and no question is off the table. Your advisor will help you learn about academic culture, but don’t forget that graduate students, post-docs, or other faculty in the department are also great resources for learning the ins and outs of academia.