do publications help significantly?

[shuzee]

i was just wondering...doea a publication in your name boost your chances significantly?? or is it just another EC. i have heard mixed opinions from poeple, just wanted to know what people on this forum think?

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[MWillie]

Sure it helps, but it's not going to overcome a mediocre MCAT or GPA. Publishing something often depends on luck as well(right lab right time), so that's also taken into consideration.

 

[skoaner]

i was just wondering...doea a publication in your name boost your chances significantly?? or is it just another EC. i have heard mixed opinions from poeple, just wanted to know what people on this forum think?

No, Ad-Coms don't give a rip about publications. Most of the clinical docs don't care about research, and the researchers see you have a publication and doubt your sincerity for doing clinical medicine. If anything it gives you a decent fall-back plan.

 

[shuzee]

No, Ad-Coms don't give a rip about publications. Most of the clinical docs don't care about research, and the researchers see you have a publication and doubt your sincerity for doing clinical medicine. If anything it gives you a decent fall-back plan.

Then why do all pre-med students and med schools give so much attention to research experience?? If it doesnt matter.....then why do most pre-med students spend a bulk of their time doing research during their undergrad or after. I know so many people who didnt get in with their first try. Then took a year off to do research and got in! I'm just really amazed that you think ADCOMs "doubt sincerity" for medicine if there is clinical researcj experince! i really thought it would look good! Please elaborate why you think this way!

 

[DrDarwin]

No, Ad-Coms don't give a rip about publications. Most of the clinical docs don't care about research, and the researchers see you have a publication and doubt your sincerity for doing clinical medicine. If anything it gives you a decent fall-back plan.

Chalk up the above post to the jealousy of someone who wishes s/he had a publication. The statement is obviously and over-generalization; the impressiveness of a publication will depend on both the applicant and the person(s) reviewing the file. For someone who has demonstrated an aptitude for and interest in research, a publication will likely be taken as confirmation of these traits. Most top schools are interested in producing leaders, whether in the clinical, policy, or scientific realm. While many activities/accomplishments can demonstrate the capacity to be a such a leader, conducting research and/or studies of a sufficiently high level so as to produce a publication (which can take the form a health policy paper, a scientific study, etc.) is certainly one of them. Publishing something is not an infallible predictor of someone's likelihood of becoming a leader in medicine, but a publication will almost assuredly not be a strike against you. And if clinical docs don't care about research, why do they often involve themselves in clinical research ? Because clinical research is vital. One of my recent interviewers actually discussed the importance of good clinical research, and he sits on the admissions committee at a fairly well known school in Boston.

The above post is garbage, and the poster is ignorant and/or jealous.

 

[teh-t]

Cleveland Clinic values publications greatly

 

[virilep]

No, Ad-Coms don't give a rip about publications. Most of the clinical docs don't care about research, and the researchers see you have a publication and doubt your sincerity for doing clinical medicine. If anything it gives you a decent fall-back plan.

um yeah skoaner, ur wrong. sorry to break it to ya. but they love publications. this shows a comittment to the sciences. it's the same as becoming the president of a club. it shows that you put effort into something and maxmized your potential. it's not necessary because ALL people don't get a pub, but if u get it, it's great. this is especially true in residency matching.

 

[Supernova]

when I was at stanford interivew, the interivewer asked me how come I did not list my publications in my application. It seems they value publications alot.

I was a grad student researcher before, I actually helped several undergrad setup their undergrad thesis projects. I have seen a broad spectrum of students--ranging from working over 6 hours/day in research to just coming once or twice every other week. I think authorship on publications would prove someone who work really hard and do contribute whereas no-authorship doesn't indicate much.

 

[Law2Doc]

i was just wondering...doea a publication in your name boost your chances significantly?? or is it just another EC. i have heard mixed opinions from poeple, just wanted to know what people on this forum think?

I think "significantly" is perhaps too strong a word. But publications are highly regarded by most adcoms, and so they do help. That being said, most undergrads who get into med school don't have publications, and quite a few people with publications don't get into med school. MCAT and GPA are much more important.

 

[Brain]

I'd agree with others who say they may not help "significantly". Most undergrads don't have them because getting a publication at that stage of the game depends on what type of research you do (ie, it's much harder to get published doing certain types of molecular biology research than certain types of statistical based research), your PI (some only will give you an acknowledgment regardless of what you put in because of your level), and luck. That being said, they can't save a mediocre application. They're just icing on the cake for a good application. The relative importance of them also depends on the school. I have a couple myself and was never asked about them.

 

[musiclink213]

i htink the amount they would help would also depend on the school, no? so the more research oriented schools would care about them more than a more clinically based school. but it would sure look nice, and i think it's probably really important for an MD/PhD program.

 

[shuzee]

another thing i was wondering is that people often talk about mediocre GPAs on this forum. Wouldnt a mediocre gpa in a very competetive school overwiegh a good GPA at a not so competitive, not so known school with not as competitive a program? Because, there is no denying the fact that there are schools that have much more competitive programs than others. Do ADCOMS never take that into consideration? Because, wouldnt it seem unfair for those people coming from very hard majors and competitive schools? Or are the ADCOMS just blind to that and care only about numbers. I would think it would be much more than that?

 

[FloridaMadame]

another thing i was wondering is that people often talk about mediocre GPAs on this forum. Wouldnt a mediocre gpa in a very competetive school overwiegh a good GPA at a not so competitive, not so known school with not as competitive a program? Because, there is no denying the fact that there are schools that have much more competitive programs than others. Do ADCOMS never take that into consideration? Because, wouldnt it seem unfair for those people coming from very hard majors and competitive schools? Or are the ADCOMS just blind to that and care only about numbers. I would think it would be much more than that?

Of course the reputation of a school has to matter to some degree. An A at an Ivy or Cal Tech or MIT is looked at a little better than an A at Podunk University. I much rather have an above average GPA at a very competitive school then a stellar average at an average school. Reputation, Reputation, Reputation!!!!!!!!

 

[Law2Doc]

another thing i was wondering is that people often talk about mediocre GPAs on this forum. Wouldnt a mediocre gpa in a very competetive school overwiegh a good GPA at a not so competitive, not so known school with not as competitive a program? Because, there is no denying the fact that there are schools that have much more competitive programs than others. Do ADCOMS never take that into consideration? Because, wouldnt it seem unfair for those people coming from very hard majors and competitive schools? Or are the ADCOMS just blind to that and care only about numbers. I would think it would be much more than that?

Sadly, I don't believe statisticly this is borne out. I believe that people with higher GPAs at less competitive schools or with less strenuous majors tend to fair a bit better in this process. This is probably due to the fact that higher average GPAs of matriculants look better in the rankings. The MCAT is regarded as the great validator of grades, so if someone had a crummy MCAT, his 4.0 would be called into question.

 

[efex101]

First of all you have to make the "cutoff" for X or Y school this is done at many schools based solely on numbers. After you have passed the so cutoff then they may take more time to evaluate the strength of the school etc. You have to realize that many schools are getting thousands of applications there is no way that they can individually look at each applicant to see where they went to school. So to answer your question sure after the initial review it "may" help if you went to a very rigorous academic center but many of the not so popular places or ivies are also very rigorous so the lines get fuzzy. Unless the person looking at your file actually knows about your school it probably will not make much of a difference. Bottom line you need the best GPA/MCAT combination you can possibly achieve and then let the chips fall.