summer doing research or summer doing education abroad?

Do what you want.
Dont do something that makes you stand out.
Classes over England aint easy =)
But it will be great experience for ya.

Although I'm not in dent school yet, I've been doing research for quite a while, and I have a few tidbits of advice to offer.

A couple of questions come to mind. For one, do you know which groups of researchers you'd be working with? I've found that much of the time, provided I'm doing something I enjoy (which covers a lot), it's the people around me who make the difference as far as how happy I am with my work. Perhaps things work similarly with you.

Another thing is that, if prestige is important to you, perhaps it would be best to look at the research groups you'd be working with on that basis, and think about the decision in that light.

Also, are you interested in working abroad once you're out of dent school? Depending on your answer to this, perhaps consider what kinds of networking you'd be able to do either in the States or abroad. If you don't think you'll be going back abroad once you've graduated, then perhaps it would be best to get to know people more locally instead.

Just my $0.14 (corrected for inflation). 🙂

I did research for 2 summers and it was actually on teeth!!!

save yourself some hassle and catch up on some SLEEP!

Sleepy Comet!

Research will surely help you stand out in the dental school application. It's also something that you could be asked at about in an interview. If you're planning on applying to big name schools like Penn, Columbia, UNC, Michigan, Harvard, and others -- the research will carry far more weight than going abroad.

Hope that helps, Jessica

Go abroad and have fun unless you are planning on your research getting you into dental school. I would take advantage of the time to study abroad while you have the chance. I only had 2 semesters of research under my belt and got into Penn no problem. You aren't going to have the money to go abroad once dental school starts.

dude...goto England! I did an exchange in England during my 3rd year, and it was the best decision I ever made....you have your whole life to do research and dental work....right now, you're young, so dont waste it! When you are 40, and you think back that you had a chance to spend a whole summer in Europe, you'll kick yourself!

No brainer in my opinion!

I've done research every summer since my freshmena year in college. That's 5 summers in a row - 3 at college, 2 at dental school. This past summer, summer after my junior year in dental school, was the first summer I did not do research b/c I wanted to do something different. Different meant I worked in a dental office and spent the summer filling out my post-grad applications.

I would have loved to have gone abroad at some point, but I never had the opportunity or the money. As a dental student, the opportunities for organized travel and study abroad are very rare. It would have been near impossible for me to take this past summer and just go to England - what the heck would I do there besides be a tourist? Our school doesn't have any arrangements for like dental internships and I wouldn't even know how to arrange something like that without spending a ton of $$$.

My point is, as long as you're in the US and in school, summer research opportunities are not hard to find. Do the research the summer after your junior year. Since the finances don't worry you, take this summer after sophomore year and go abroad, espcially if you can take classes there and be a student and live in the country for a while. Because once you hit dental school like me, research opportunities will be everywhere. You'll even have lots of opportunities to do clinical work around the US through the IHS or other externships. But to go abroad and do something productive during dental school isn't really possible, unless you go on a dental mission but those are usually 1 - 2 weeks in an underserved area, not England.

Even after I graduate in May, I still can't go abroad like you can b/c again, what the heck am I gonna do there? I already have a dental degree so I don't need to take classes. For me to just live abroad for a summer is basically a 9 week vacation b/c I can't do dentistry in another country. I don't know anyone either to show me the ropes - you will be in a university setting and be able to meet people easily. It's just more hassle than it's worth; any going abroad I'll be doing after graduation as a dentist will most likely be on short vacations, not extended periods of time to study.

Take the opportunity! The field of research is always looking for suckers to give up their summers and slave in the lab in exchange for a nice stipend. It will always be here in the US when you get back and when you're in dental school. The chance to study abroad after college will not. Go!