A Bad Idea?

[researchprof]

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I should be applying to some MD/PhD programs this summer since I finish in the Fall, maybe spring (if I decide to extend my college stay). That said, it is clear I need to do research in the summer. In that regard, I applied for a summer program at an institution in TX. I sampled the list of researchers and found someone I wanted to work for in particular. The focus of his research appealed the most to me, compared to the other two investigators I had to put on my application.

After sending in my application which I think is very strong (I have 1 pub and 1 in prep. from my past research and SOLID LOR from advisor), I emailed this guy and said I loved their program and that if I got an acceptance I would love to work with him since the focus of his research on NE monoamines in the nervous system closely mirrors my future research interests. I told my advisor what I did, and he said it might hurt my application. He said it was unethical, and that even if I was to do that, I would have gone into more detail by telling the guy what exactly I wanted to do in his lab as inferrable from his past publications.

One thing is that I really want to be at this program, but I don't want to dig a hole for myself by saying things I really don't understand or how they are being performed. From personal experience I have been thrown into labs I didn't want to be involved in simply because the person I indicated on my application did not have any space or random matchings foiled my propositions. My email to this guy was to emphasize that I loved their program and wanted to work with him IF accepted (I already stated this in my application) , so as to avoid being thrown into labs I didn't really fancy.

I see MSTP applicants calling schools expressing interest and sending letters of intent. I think this strays far from what I did and should be VERY unethical.

What do you guys think?

 

[bluegrass_druid]

maybe i didn't read this right, but I don't see what is unethical. you contacted a lab to get summer research experience, right? so...that's what you are supposed to do. being excited definitely does not hurt. i don't really see what's wrong with it. maybe you could have/should have waited, but in my experience waiting just means that you don't get what you want.

you should ask your advisor to be a bit more clear about what is so unethical about your ambition.

 

[researchprof]

maybe i didn't read this right, but I don't see what is unethical. you contacted a lab to get summer research experience, right? so...that's what you are supposed to do. being excited definitely does not hurt. i don't really see what's wrong with it. maybe you could have/should have waited, but in my experience waiting just means that you don't get what you want.

you should ask your advisor to be a bit more clear about what is so unethical about your ambition.

My advisor said the "unethics" is getting an unfair advantage when the primary application should speak for the applicant. I remember being at a conference and a program director (PD) told my friend told to send him her name when she had applied to their PhD program. I think the PD was being unethical too . . .

And I contacted the lab director AFTER I had sent in my application. I only said his research focus on NE closely mirrors mine, and I would like to work in his lab IF accepted. I was just emphasizing my interest in their program and his lab.

 

[bluegrass_druid]

sounds fine to me. i've done that with every job, scholarship, internship, volunteer group, etc. that I have ever worked with. when i don't do that...i don't get a spot. i think you are okay. if it does weigh against you, you can consider getting a hold of the decision committees and doublecheck before you contact the director. it really doesn't matter now...what's done is done...

 

[researchprof]

What do you mean by getting a hold of the decisions committee?

On a personal basis, I don't think I did anything wrong that might hurt my application. I have gotten into a summer program in the past by contacting the program director. My advisor is just a stickler for ethics, I think.

 

[surge]

There is nothing unethical about MSTP applicants contacting PIs and/or sending letters of intent, and certainly not about what you did.

Quite the contrary, it counts for a lot.
Exceedingly qualified, great-on-paper applicants are a dime a dozen. Initiative and ambition means a lot, not just from a human factor point of view, but also beacuse it is indicative of dedication and future efforts.
Programs always do, as they should, rely on more than just numbers and papers.

 

[researchprof]

Thanks for the comments.