Bench Research vs. Non-Bench

[Frank Liu]

New to this forum, so wanted to say hi to everyone!

This summer I am working on an independent research project --- just me, with an advisor --- and plan to continue it through junior year, after which I will use it as my Senior Thesis and (hopefully) have it published.

I am confident that I can do a really great job on the project; however, the project is completely mathematics & computer science-related (I'm a Math & Comp Sci Double Major) and I'm worried that a lack of pure "science" research will hurt or even disqualify me for applications to top medical schools.

I do plan to work on another, team-based project next summer (in bioinformatics or something similar), but its only a 9 week program and again I'm not sure if that would count as "medical" research either. I should also mention that I'm going to take a gap year, but I don't plan to do research during it.

Any advice on whether basic science/clinical research is heavily preferred over non-scientific and dry research is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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[Optimist Prime]

Hmmmm not positive at top schools, but most schools just want to see that you understand the scientific process. So most schools won't care except for maybe some research powerhouses, but I don't know much about them so don't take my word for it.

 

[Lucca]

math is the purest science so should be fine in terms of "purity".

It wont make a difference what kind of research you do, especially if you do it well enough to get presentations / papers /great letters from it.

 

[Dox4lyfe]

You don't need "medical" research to apply and a lack of basic science research will not auto disqualify you. Some schools might even find this unique since there aren't many cs pre meds out there. I'm not exactly sure how schools at the top of the top view something like this.

 

[aldol16]

The top research schools aren't going to care that you did research that was computational instead of wet lab work. It's still good science and it goes through the same scientific process. They want a diverse class that is passionate about diverse interests - as long as you can articulate your research, your role in it, and its broader impacts, it's not going to hurt your application.

 

[JustAPhD]

Posting because I'm in the same boat as OP. However, I have noticed that a lot of programming we use is similar to what some wetlab bioinformatics labs (such as in cancer in neurology, at least in our school) use.

Not only those, but programming and computer science is quickly becoming a highly desirable trait/skill in many other fields as well.

OP, don't worry so much about what field your research is in. It sounds like you'll be fine with what you're doing now. Just make sure you're able to talk about your research intelligently when asked about it. Prepare a short "elevator talk" describing your research that you can give to anyone. Be able to talk about your research to a wide range of people, because chances are at your interviews most people won't know much about your area of expertise.

 

[PiggyPug6]

Yes to all of these answers! I worked in the research advising office at my university (top tier research school) and the amount of times we had to emphasize the fact that research doesn't have to be "medical" to count was astounding. Just do something that interests you.
A lot of my research in undergrad was in things I found interesting and was more in the fields of literature and economics. Med schools didn't care.

 

[Frank Liu]

thanks for the responses everyone, it really helped clear several things up!