applying June 1st vs. applying with publication

[muhali3]

Hey guys,

I'm in a conundrum. I have a paper that is set to be published towards the end of June. I am 3rd author. What would be best to do in this situation? Apply June 1st, or wait for it to be published and then apply?

I'm thinking that applying anytime within June is early, and thus applying with the publication would be better. But I'm not exactly sure since my stats aren't too great (3.45/36).

What do you guys recommend?

 

[LizzyM]

Hey guys,

I'm in a conundrum. I have a paper that is set to be published towards the end of June. I am 3rd author. What would be best to do in this situation? Apply June 1st, or wait for it to be published and then apply?

I'm thinking that applying anytime within June is early, and thus applying with the publication would be better. But I'm not exactly sure since my stats aren't too great (3.45/36).

What do you guys recommend?

Apply after the paper comes out.

 

[kautionwirez]

Hey guys,

I'm in a conundrum. I have a paper that is set to be published towards the end of June. I am 3rd author. What would be best to do in this situation? Apply June 1st, or wait for it to be published and then apply?

I'm thinking that applying anytime within June is early, and thus applying with the publication would be better. But I'm not exactly sure since my stats aren't too great (3.45/36).

What do you guys recommend?

Do you have an abstract for it? Did you guys submit it/in the process of being reviewed?

End of June is fine. Starts getting really bad mid July/August but you can still make it work.

 

[muhali3]

Yeah, it's been in review for a while. It's a literature review article if that's makes any difference (?) Does that make it less worthy to wait for it?

 

[JFK90787]

Hey guys,

I'm in a conundrum. I have a paper that is set to be published towards the end of June. I am 3rd author. What would be best to do in this situation? Apply June 1st, or wait for it to be published and then apply?

I'm thinking that applying anytime within June is early, and thus applying with the publication would be better. But I'm not exactly sure since my stats aren't too great (3.45/36).

What do you guys recommend?

oh sdn, never change

 

[muhali3]

oh sdn, never change

The MCAT is obviously very good. The combination itself is not though. As an Asian, it gives me a 65-70% chance of acceptance.

 

[wanderer]

How can you know when it will be published? If it was accepted can't you just write in press? You can always send update letters.

I made some spreadsheet 2 cycles ago that graphed time for completion vs. date of submission. I think at that time it's around 3 weeks.

 

[CheA]

Yeah, it's been in review for a while. It's a literature review article if that's makes any difference (?) Does that make it less worthy to wait for it?

If it is a review paper, was your PI invited to submit the paper? In other words, is acceptance for publication guaranteed? If that's the case, and you are 100% sure it will be published in June (your PI might take more time then expected), then I agree that you should wait.
One thing you may consider doing is, if the paper is certain to be published, I don't think there's anything wrong in saying that the paper is "in press", which is basically the same as saying published.

If on the other hand, the peer review process is not over and the paper has any chance of needing revisions, the timeline is not guaranteed and you might find yourself waiting much longer than you imagine now.

In sciences junior authorship on a review paper is not considered to be a major achievement. I am curious as to how much weight it will carry in the admissions process.

 

[muhali3]

Yes, the PI was invited to submit it. I am pretty sure it will be published in June. I think I'll wait for it before I apply.

 

[riddler]

I'm confused. Why is it that much better to wait?

If you say that it will be published in X journal at June Y, 2012 (or by end of June), and that it is in press/has been accepted to Z journal, it will have been published by the time the admissions committee sees it, right? You can even provide the author list or citation or abstract for the will-be-officially-published paper so that they can look up the paper when they get to your application (which will almost certainly be after it has been published).

If this is all true, I don't see the harm in applying right away. Someone please clear this up for me (since I actually might be in a similar situation)!

 

[muhali3]

I'll have to clarify with the first author of the paper. But basically I think the journal has reviewed the paper and just asked us to revise a few sentences. We've sent the revisions and I was told it that it was going to be published sometime in June. I guess that can't really be guaranteed though...I don't know where she got that information from. But yes it was an invited paper, so it is pretty much guaranteed to be accepted.

 

[LizzyM]

I said wait until after the paper comes out because I understood you to mean that the paper would appear in print in late June. If you haven't been accepted for publication yet, it is highly unlikely that it will appear in print in June. (Heck, I've had papers take 9 months from acceptance to publication.) If this is an online publication then it might happen more quickly but "in press" is not quite as useful as being able to give the exact citation.

 

[DrSnips]

DO NOT delay applying so your paper can be published. Applying early has a much greater effect on your chances than a paper's 3rd authorship. Especially since you can still mention your research on applications and bring it up in interviews. If your MCAT and GPA are solid, apply pronto. Even for non-rolling schools it makes a difference. Admissions is less picky about who they fill spots with when there are 100 open seats than when there are 10.

 

[catzzz88]

I said wait until after the paper comes out because I understood you to mean that the paper would appear in print in late June. If you haven't been accepted for publication yet, it is highly unlikely that it will appear in print in June. (Heck, I've had papers take 9 months from acceptance to publication.) If this is an online publication then it might happen more quickly but "in press" is not quite as useful as being able to give the exact citation.

DONT WAIT!!! Trust me on this; they say it will be published, accepted, etc. on some date and it can take like 3-4 months longer than you think. This has happened to me EVERY TIME a paper was submitted--without fail.

Please just trust me when I say to apply early and note the paper as "submitted" and send an update letter if/when it is printed.

I always say to friends; NEVER WAIT FOR OR BET ON SCIENCE! Science does what it wants when it wants (this goes for the scientific community too)! Never plan around, bet on, or wait for science when making decisions in life. This is just advice from my experiences and I bet you that many people here would also concur!

Good luck applying and congrats on the publication!

Best,
C

 

[pfaction]

*submitted paper in August*

*still undergoing revisions, clarifications*

So....yeah.