Summer Opportunities Advice

My top choices for Summer Jobs:
Work in Mass General/Harvard Lab doing stroke models (12/hr)
Work in CRivers Lab (some prestigious company) doing stroke models (?/hr)
Work at NINDS at NIH doing stuff on seizures ($3000 for 10 weeks)
Work at this med school for which i will apply for an early acceptance program ($3000 for 8 weeks?)

Pros of Mass General: I love doing actual surgery on animals and my research matters.
Cons: my dad works in same department

Pros of CRivers: Do surgery all summer and learn new techniques.
Cons: i wont be able to take summer courses because it isnt close to any summer schools

Pros of NINDS: i think the program is prestigious. i get to be exposed to new things. i can take summer courses at UMD
Cons: I work for my friend's dad. My friend is also premed and i dont want to compete with her considering im doing better than her. oh what also sucks is that i have to pay for my living expenses which means i earn practically no money.

Pros of Med School: i guess they will give me a better look when i apply next year.
Cons: i dont know if i stand a chance even with a second look. so far my gpa is above their average accepted student, but next semester i know it will drop when i take 3 labs.

SO WHICH ONE SHOULD I PICK IF THEY ALL ACCEPT ME? Mass general and NINDS are pretty much for sure because i know ppl who work there and they already agreed.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

agreed, go with "show me the Money" or if you are all set on $$ then go for the one you think will give you the best experience. but applying to schools costs lots of $$$$$$$

im pretty happy with all 4 but what would med school think is most hardcore? yea i know ill get responses like do what you like and screw med school, but i like all four pretty much the same.

wow... are you an undergrad??? cause you sound as though you are already hooked up, huh...

im a freshmen. i know doing basic research is usually boring but im doing it to get it out of the way. im thinking of doing research for 2 summers, one summer doing something interesting and another shadowing. so this being one of the research summers, i want to do something really nice but i cant decide. i have 3 more summers to figure out what to do if i dont apply to med school senior year.

I work at MGH... I love it here but you should consider a few things:

1. I noticed you didn't say whether or not you would be paid at MGH. If not, you should go for the money. Unless you're independently wealthy 🙂

2. Most research at MGH is done in Charlestown, which is a crappy commute from wherever you might live (something to think about for the summer... it is an additional 20 minutes added onto a commute to the main campus). But there is some research done on the main campus, so you should check that out before you agree to anything.

3. Med schools won't really care about the institution at this point. Your choices are all legitimate places (you won't be animating corpses in someone's basement), so you'll be fine.

If I can answer any more questions about MGH, let me know.