aamc essay 3 (relevant research experience)

[tbsounde2]

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i was wondering how i should go about writing the third aamcas essay. does it have to be written like a story or can i just list what i did?

example of what i was planning to do:

Research Supervisors: Dr. Allison Milchanowski Yabroff (former UCLA HHMI Instructor) and Dr. Utpal Banerjee (UCLA HHMI Professor, UCLA MCDB Department Chair, and UCLA ISCBM Co-Director)
Duration: Fall Quarter 2004 (~3 months)
Summary: A reverse genetics approach was used to observe the effects of P-element insertions in various genes on chromosome 1 of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
The ey-Flp/FRT system was used to induce mitotic recombination exclusively within the eye, thus creating a mosaic phenotype without potentially killing the organism. Both small and large clones were generated using this system, which allowed us to deduce the disrupted genes involvement in either cell or organismic lethality. Balanced stocks of the P-element induced mutations were generated in order to maintain them for further study. Our study found that P-element induced gene disruption of genes CG32604, sog, ras, and CG12113 caused severe rough eye phenotypes to be observed, which strongly indicates that these genes are essential for proper Drosophila eye development. Six other P-element insertions corresponding to genes: CG32296, CG12238, CG9784, CG6606, beta-spec, and Nrg were studied but no significant perturbations were observed. This indicates that these genes are either not required for proper eye development or that redundancies are present. This work is in preparation for publication.

My Contribution: I was assigned ten different X chromosome P-element lethal lines from Bloomington Stock Center. The lethal lines required various crosses to incorporate the proper components of the ey-Flp/FRT system so that small and large clones could be generated. I was responsible for performing all the necessary crosses and collecting all relevant data such as: determining recombination frequencies, taking light microscope and SEM pictures, looking up information relevant to the insertion position and the disrupted gene(s), generating balanced stocks, and using all the collected data to draw a conclusion about the gene’s involvement in eye development.

Please let me know if i should go with this approach, or if i should think of a different strategy. Please be as critical as possible.

 

[SpeakLittleB]

Perhaps a sentence that puts your research into context (eye development) since in reading your paragraph, I don't get this overarching point except for 2 words stuck in somewhere near the end.

Also perhaps something about how this work motivates you to pursue research.

I'm sure the essay is fine in any format you choose.

 

[Caribou]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you plan on doing for your essay, but I would definitely suggest writing it in the form of an essay rather than the section-style format you posted. Also, my first impression is that you're getting too technical. I'd definitely give background first, so that readers can put it into perpective and to show that you're able to see the big picture. Also remember that readers aren't experts in your field so it's important to explain what the ey-Flp/FRT system is, what the P-element is, etc. Definitely highlight your contribution, but weave it into the whole story, or have it as a paragraph. I wouldn't title sections though. Maybe I'm completely off base and maybe it's only me who doesn't know what you're talking about. I'm only applying right now myself, but even in a research paper directed to people in your field you'd have to explain those things. Best of luck

 

[PBandJ]

I wrote mine more like an essay. Yes, you need to include your supervisors' names and titles, and also where the research was conducted, but you can easily make this in sentence format and weave it into your research description. PM me if you'd like to see a sample of mine so you know what I'm talking about.

 

[tbsounde2]

thanks for all the suggestions, i ended up rewriting my essay and submitted it about a week ago. unfortunately, it turns out i have to wait a couple weeks before amcas has a chance to review my app. do you think early to mid sept is too late?

 

[MeBeans]

Heh, not only did I do the exact same class (LS10h), but I wrote about it for this essay topic too 😉
(only difference was that I had Jiong Chen, not Yabroff)

I did a bit of story intro at the beginning, how I found out about the class and why I took it, but the bulk was factual. Project objectives, methods, utility, etc. I basically assumed, like you've done here, that the reader knew genetics and the techniques.

i was wondering how i should go about writing the third aamcas essay. does it have to be written like a story or can i just list what i did?

example of what i was planning to do:

Research Supervisors: Dr. Allison Milchanowski Yabroff (former UCLA HHMI Instructor) and Dr. Utpal Banerjee (UCLA HHMI Professor, UCLA MCDB Department Chair, and UCLA ISCBM Co-Director)
Duration: Fall Quarter 2004 (~3 months)
Summary: A reverse genetics approach was used to observe the effects of P-element insertions in various genes on chromosome 1 of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster.
The ey-Flp/FRT system was used to induce mitotic recombination exclusively within the eye, thus creating a mosaic phenotype without potentially killing the organism. Both small and large clones were generated using this system, which allowed us to deduce the disrupted genes involvement in either cell or organismic lethality. Balanced stocks of the P-element induced mutations were generated in order to maintain them for further study. Our study found that P-element induced gene disruption of genes CG32604, sog, ras, and CG12113 caused severe rough eye phenotypes to be observed, which strongly indicates that these genes are essential for proper Drosophila eye development. Six other P-element insertions corresponding to genes: CG32296, CG12238, CG9784, CG6606, beta-spec, and Nrg were studied but no significant perturbations were observed. This indicates that these genes are either not required for proper eye development or that redundancies are present. This work is in preparation for publication.

My Contribution: I was assigned ten different X chromosome P-element lethal lines from Bloomington Stock Center. The lethal lines required various crosses to incorporate the proper components of the ey-Flp/FRT system so that small and large clones could be generated. I was responsible for performing all the necessary crosses and collecting all relevant data such as: determining recombination frequencies, taking light microscope and SEM pictures, looking up information relevant to the insertion position and the disrupted gene(s), generating balanced stocks, and using all the collected data to draw a conclusion about the gene’s involvement in eye development.

Please let me know if i should go with this approach, or if i should think of a different strategy. Please be as critical as possible.

 

[tbsounde2]

really? what year did you first start contributing to the famous ball of tape, haha