Importance of Research

[getAsordietrying]

Hi all,

Coming into college I was very interested in doing research. I had some research experience in high school and when I tried to apply to two labs repeatedly last quarter, I received no responses. I go to a research heavy school in California and while we do not have too many grad students occupying these spots, hard science research labs generally don't accept students who have not yet completed one year of gen chem or even until junior/senior year. I want to do research because I have a genuine interest in doing it and because it will look good on my med school app (of course). The problem is that there are a handful of interesting labs that most applicants try to apply to and thus only the most qualified get in.

Should I instead seek research labs just for the experience even if the subjects don't interest me? I have experience in marine science research and there are plenty of labs focusing on that subject at my school, but I find it to be very boring. Or should I dedicate that time to volunteering activities and getting more clinical experience?

Thanks in advance.

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[PantherPride]

Assuming you go to a research heavy school, you shouldn't have trouble finding a subject to do research in that is also interesting. I suggest you go on your school website, look up faculty in your department of interest whose research also interests you, and send an email letting them know you are interested in working with them and would like to meet and talk. When I was looking for a research group I emailed several PI's and met with those that replied.

Are you trying to get a paid lab position?

 

[Shirafune]

I go to a UC, so here's my perspective as a junior with 2 years of lab experience.

1) Have at least a 3.7x as a freshman or sophomore. How will you keep up with lab work and your course work if you cannot manage an A- average in your basic entry level courses? I hear this from faculty all the time: "GPA is what gets your foot in the door; your ECs are what get you through."

2) If you're a freshman or sophomore even, PIs will not expect much from you coming in. You haven't had any of your upper division coursework and likely come in with no lab experience. The learning curve is harsh starting out, but everybody has to start somewhere. A freshman/sophomore with prior research experience will have the most edge in being selected. Training undergrads is an investment, so the more time you can dedicate to a lab, the better return for the PI.

3) Market yourself in your emails. Start your emails with a brief introduction (year, major, etc.) Then, briefly (1-2 sentences) describe your prior research experience. This will hopefully keep the PI interested. Summarize why you want to work for the particular PI (what aspect of their work interests you). Obviously, as a freshman/sophomore, it'll be hard to understand the basic science and this part of your email will come out as gobblygook, but that's to be expected. If/when you receive a casual meeting time, be sure you can adequately explain your previous research experience.

4) Don't worry about the lab's research topic. Your research topic as an undergrad is not as important as your involvement in a project. Speak with your upperclassmen; they will know where the best labs are for undergrads. Hopefully you will spend 1-2 quarters being trained and be able to work independently later for a graduate student's or post-doc's project. Eventually you may even lead your own project. Do not join a lab that makes you do something repetitive over and over (i.e. qPCR or RNA purification). It's just wasting your time, though your training may start there.

5) Sometimes it's just about luck. Email broadly and follow up only once if you do not receive an email. Even if your professors are busy, they should not be annoyed by one reminder.

PM me if you want more advice.
Best of luck!

 

[lifetothefullest]

Being a freshman/sophomore who hasn't taken the intro courses is both a blessing and a curse for these positions. It's a blessing because you can say that you can devote four years to your lab, which is invaluable since the PI can waste less resources training undergrads. It's a curse because you can't contribute anything meaningful to the lab until you understand what's being done in the field. For instance, it would not be very useful for you to join an organic chemistry lab without knowing the first thing about organic. While you might learn techniques, what the lab's all about, etc., you won't be able to contribute in a meaningful way - you'll just be doing the bitch work, so to speak.

That leads me to my second point. Do not try to join a lab whose research area is of no interest to you for the sake of looking good for med school. You will be miserable for the next few years. Research takes a lot of time and patience and if you truly are not interested in the research, you'll become frustrated quickly and hate your life. For every publishable result in science, you probably have to fail ten or more times. If you're not into it, you'll be more inclined to give up or become indifferent and it will show in your effort. Better to work at someting you're enthusiastic about and put in the effort.

 

[getAsordietrying]

Are you trying to get a paid lab position?

No, the only paid position I know my school offers is a full time summer research internship where one must have taken two courses prior to doing it. I found out about this opportunity later in second quarter and I did not want to dedicate myself to the two required courses as I was not guaranteed a spot and I may do additional coursework in the summer, work, volunteer at a hospital and clinic, and enjoy life a little.


@life to the fullest
The types of labs that I was very interested in are in high demand and only a handful of these are available. They did not respond to my emails and I even gave my nice resume with a 4.00 on it (my first quarter GPA) to their research groups with no response.

I really wanted to be in a hard science research group as I thought about doing genetic engineering in high school at Cal Tech for a project and my school has very few of these kinds of labs.

I think I'll instead apply to psychological research labs as they are still interesting without the hard science background. My school has many of these kinds of labs so I'll focus on this when I sent out my barrage of emails to professors next week after I consult with some faculty.

Thanks for all of your responses.