Am I not fit for research if I hate some class labs?

[schrizto]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I want to do research but I really hate some of my class labs. In high school, I had a lot of lab partners that had the attitude of "Let's hurry up and get this done with so I can go home". These are the kind of people that after seeing that we got 11% error accuracy instead of the preferred 10% and under suggest that we fudge the results to make it look better. I'm like "NO!" and they go "But don't you want to get full credit?"

I like going to my chem lab because I feel we are actually learning things. I don't like my bio lab. The TA is annoying and I don't want to listen to him talk while we perform experiments for three hours, so I have to drag myself to that class.

I've complained about going to lab for my class and people are like, "But don't you want to do research?" I have a feeling that class labs and real research laboratories are not the same thing. Are they? I like reading science articles in journals if they are in my area of interest, but sometimes I find what we are experimenting on in class labs is boring.

What I'm saying is, can you still enjoy doing real research if you do not always enjoy the labs associated with your classes that you take for a grade?

 

[CoolWhipp]

Yea. I hated lab, mainly because you aren't doing anythign productive. Your creating results to be graded, lame. I was one of those guys that wanted to leave quickly. It's a waste of time.

Research is different. You get into it if you can see your results, because it's real data. Data that my possibly lead to a new finding or mechanism. Not seeing NMR specs and trying to guess what chemical you have, or looking at melting points.

 

[DrYoda]

Actual research is much different than undergrad class labs. It's very possible you could enjoy research and not the chemistry labs.

 

[marele86]

My genetics prof always derisively referred to most pre-med labs as "Betty Crocker labs". Add the proper ingredients, mix in the right order, wait the proper amount of time, voila. Instant Science!

But real research involves investigating unknown problems. World of difference. Finding a way to get an answer to a question involves a world of intellectual skill - you have to be asking the right question, and come up with a testable hypothesis, which is tricker than one would think. Lots of thinking exercise.

So yeah, I'd say you're good. If anything, it's probably a good thing that you're not interested in calculating g to the tenth decimal by dropping a book, or determining whether an unknown bacteria is gram negative or positive. Obviously you've got to do it, but it's all just basic skills practice.

 

[brooklynblunder]

research is different, but you are going to probably hate both unless you are as self absorbed as I and others

 

[brooklynblunder]

but seriously, these are all a part of college

you are suppposed to not enjoy somethings and use that experience to weed out what you want to do.

dont listen to us, if you are still interested in research do full time in a lab over the summer or for a year after you graduate for money if you want to experience all the bs with it (and you should want to). there are a lot of variables that influences what you enjoy. money will be one, for example.

take it easy man. don't forget how young you are

 

[kami333]

I hated class labs, but I love working in research. On the other hand, I used to love working with computers (used to do a lot of coding/fabrication stuff, had a carpc back in 2000), but hated working in IT.

My main problem with class labs is you already know the results, it sort of seems pointless to me to do something when you already know how it turns out. And while it is frustrating when you find out you wasted 2hours/days/weeks/months/years barking up the wrong tree and have no results to show for it, I like the problem solving process. Although working in research, I've come to the conclusion that I probably wouldn't enjoy being a PI so I'm not sure where that leaves me.

 

[Contrarian]

depends on what your research actually consists of. "research" is a broad term, and everyone probably has at least a slightly different experience. I didn't care much for lab either, but the research I did was with animals so it seemed more "medical" to me, and it was reasonably interesting.

 

[Mattabet]

Don't worry about it. You're supposed to hate class labs; that's how you know they're working 🙂

 

[rocketbooster]

As an M0, I can assure you that undergrad class labs are a waste of time. They are not real research. You do no thinking yourself. The thinking has already been done for you and you follow steps, like following a cookbook. Waste of time. You just need to play the game and do the labs.

 

[boaz]

I second all of the above--and would add that if you dislike the class labs (for the right reasons) you will probably love real research lab.

 

[scotsdoc54]

Actual research is much different than undergrad class labs. It's very possible you could enjoy research and not the chemistry labs.

👍

I enjoyed my research experiences. Many of the labs I did were less than enjoyable.

I was fortunate enough, however, to do some open-ended labs. In my biochemistry course (2nd semester course), we did a protein expression lab that covered several periods. Each group was trying to express a different protein and then isolate/analyze it, so every group was different. There was definitely guidance, but the result and analysis was different for all groups and not necessarily cookie-cutter.

 

[Abby_Normal]

It sounds like you're talking about pretty intro-level labs and a lot of those aren't that much fun. I haven't done any real research, but I can say labs get better as you go along (or, even in an intro or level course, if you luck out with the professor). For example, I really hated my cell bio lab, because most of what we did felt very canned--the only redeeming factor was that we learned important techniques. I've never liked that sort of lab in which you don't learn anything you can't learn in a text book on your own time or in which you just learn a technique but it's presented as a formal experiment. Micro lab, on the other hand was wonderful--most of the labs were just teaching techniques, but the professor was upfront about that, so it wasn't like we were expected to do a formal lab report on how we learned to stain slides. We were given a lot of autonomy for a 200-level course and, at the end of the year, we were allowed to design our own experiments.

My point is that you shouldn't jump to conclusions about whether you like working in a lab until you've had a bit of variety. That, and you should probably talk to your professors. Be honest with them about what you don't like about lab and ask them whether these things are likely to make research unenjoyable for you as well.

 

[NoMoreAMCAS]

My genetics prof always derisively referred to most pre-med labs as "Betty Crocker labs". Add the proper ingredients, mix in the right order, wait the proper amount of time, voila. Instant Science!

Haha, that's exactly how I rolled. Mixed the ingredients, followed the directions as well as I could, and finished as quick as possible. I didn't give two ***** what we were doing, i was only focused on my grade (which was solely dependent on the results, not knowledge of how i got them).

They should drop labs form the pre-med requirements. They are a waste of time.

 

[schrizto]

It sounds like you're talking about pretty intro-level labs and a lot of those aren't that much fun.

You're right. We have been cultivating bacteria on agar plates. I could've grown bacteria in second grade.

And the last lab in bio we added iodine to independent variables in test tubes and watched what colors they turned into. *yawn*

We have to type up lab reports for all this, too.

 

[ziggydoc]

You're right. We have been cultivating bacteria on agar plates. I could've grown bacteria in second grade.

And the last lab in bio we added iodine to independent variables in test tubes and watched what colors they turned into. *yawn*

We have to type up lab reports for all this, too.

Class labs sucked big time, I HATED most of them, they were pointless, rushed, and does nothing to tell you what real research is. But I LOVE working in a research lab, it is very very frustrating to have your experiments not work, results that don't come. But you take your own time to plan and carry out your project (if you are lucky enough to be given one). Totally different, don't base what research may be like from intro class labs.

 

[shouldvestudied]

If your college has a Biology Core Lab (or Chem, Biochem, etc.) that is a much better indicator of what actual research is like.

 

[MilkmanAl]

It's not the lab itself that matters. As noted, you could've done a lot of this stuff long ago. The focus is on getting you to employ the proper methodology while in lab and writing up your findings. It all turns out to be total nonsense in the end since real research isn't at all like an intro chem lab, but that's the case with just about everything in school. Play the game, and get through it.

 

[randombetch]

I second all of the above--and would add that if you dislike the class labs (for the right reasons) you will probably love real research lab.

Your avatar made me laugh out loud

Whoa I found schrizto on SDN!