Does this count as a "research experience"?

[vitanuova]

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I am putting together my application for this upcoming cycle and I have a question:

For the past two semesters I have been somewhat involved in the writing of a grant proposal for a study concerning public health issues related to mental illness. However my contribution has been minimal. I have mostly just followed the process of putting together a grant proposal. I wrote one small paragraph of the proposal but apart from that I have contributed very little.

I want to know if I should include this as a research experience in my application. I do not want to misrepresent myself and make it appear that I was more involved than I was. I also do not want to include it in my application and then have to explain that my involvement was minimal.

I do not have any other research experiences but I do have a variety of other ECs.
What should I do?

 

[UCFMD]

That's definitely research experience. Just say you were involved in the process, learned a lot about writing proposals, and contributed a small portion of the actual manuscript.

You don't have to be saving lives to have clinical hours count as clinical experience. Same idea applies here.

 

[Skeeks]

That's definitely research experience. Just say you were involved in the process, learned a lot about writing proposals, and contributed a small portion of the actual manuscript.

You don't have to be saving lives to have clinical hours count as clinical experience. Same idea applies here.

I completely agree. Just be honest about it when writing/talking about it. Just because you haven't been writing the whole thing doesn't mean you aren't getting valuable experience from observing your mentors. I'd count it for sure.

 

[Goro]

Considering the likelihood of someone asking you at interviews "so tell me about your research?"...how bad do you think you'll look to the interviewer when you answer exactly as you did below????

"When in doubt, leave it out"

I am putting together my application for this upcoming cycle and I have a question:

For the past two semesters I have been somewhat involved in the writing of a grant proposal for a study concerning public health issues related to mental illness. However my contribution has been minimal. I have mostly just followed the process of putting together a grant proposal. I wrote one small paragraph of the proposal but apart from that I have contributed very little.

I want to know if I should include this as a research experience in my application. I do not want to misrepresent myself and make it appear that I was more involved than I was. I also do not want to include it in my application and then have to explain that my involvement was minimal.

I do not have any other research experiences but I do have a variety of other ECs.
What should I do?

 

[TXKnight]

considering the likelihood of someone asking you at interviews "so tell me about your research?"...how bad do you think you'll look to the interviewer when you answer exactly as you did below????

"when in doubt, leave it out"

+1

 

[SFU]

I am putting together my application for this upcoming cycle and I have a question:

For the past two semesters I have been somewhat involved in the writing of a grant proposal for a study concerning public health issues related to mental illness. However my contribution has been minimal. I have mostly just followed the process of putting together a grant proposal. I wrote one small paragraph of the proposal but apart from that I have contributed very little.

I want to know if I should include this as a research experience in my application. I do not want to misrepresent myself and make it appear that I was more involved than I was. I also do not want to include it in my application and then have to explain that my involvement was minimal.

I do not have any other research experiences but I do have a variety of other ECs.
What should I do?

You wrote "one small paragraph", I wouldn't include this cause it would only be misinterpreted that you did more than you stated.

Edit: Goro already beat me to it.

 

[UCFMD]

If it's published, won't you be acknowledged? I don't think the size of the contribution matters. Your experience in the process, through observation or actual work, is what matters. I highly doubt someone is going to look at this negatively because you only wrote a small portion. As long as you make it clear as to how much physical work you put into the paper, there's nothing wrong with mentioning that you were part of the process.

If it gets published and you are given credit, it would be silly not to include it, especially if you have no other research experience.

Considering the likelihood of someone asking you at interviews "so tell me about your research?"...how bad do you think you'll look to the interviewer when you answer exactly as you did below????

This has the assumption that he misleads people in his application.

If he explains what the research paper was all about and how his experience taught him a lot about the grant process, NIH funding, etc. I'm not sure why everyone thinks it will hurt him. Besides, a decent amount of undergrads overstate their importance in research projects/papers anyway. A bit of honesty might be refreshing.

 

[vitanuova]

In an interview I would be able to discuss the purpose and content of the proposal, what I learned from my experience with it, and why I found it interesting and inspiring.

I guess my question is more about what counts as a meaningful research experience that is worth including in an application. I know that some applicants have years of research and a few have publications. My experience was not nearly as impressive but I did learn from it.

However, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Does anyone else have an opinion?

 

[vitanuova]

I should also add that my other ECs are much stronger. I have substantial non-clinical volunteer experience, teaching and leadership experiences, as well as clinical volunteering and shadowing.

I don't want to take away from my other ECs but I do think that including exposure to research would make me more well-rounded.

To clarify about the nature of the experience, it was with the process of writing a grant proposal, no paper has been published yet and my name isn't included.

 

[babdoc]

I'd echo the previous comments: put it in. This is something you've been involved in, and it applies. Be up front that your contribution was to assist in the proposal and that you learned a lot by being introduced to the process. We all start somewhere. If I remember, there is a place to quantify your time with each entry. That should give the admissions committee an idea of the time commitment relative to the other entries on your app.

 

[SFU]

OP, I would listen to Goro, since he is an actual ADCOM.

 

[SFU]

I am putting together my application for this upcoming cycle and I have a question:

For the past two semesters I have been somewhat involved in the writing of a grant proposal for a study concerning public health issues related to mental illness. However my contribution has been minimal. I have mostly just followed the process of putting together a grant proposal. I wrote one small paragraph of the proposal but apart from that I have contributed very little.

I want to know if I should include this as a research experience in my application. I do not want to misrepresent myself and make it appear that I was more involved than I was. I also do not want to include it in my application and then have to explain that my involvement was minimal.

I do not have any other research experiences but I do have a variety of other ECs.
What should I do?

You have your answer already. Observing a process is great and all, but as you've said yourself your involvement was minimal.

I would have only included it if you were actually the lead in creating the proposal, but since you're more of an observer, I wouldn't include it.

Even then, that is only a small portion of the whole research project. A proposal and the actual research to publication are two very different things.

Including this would just lead to questions about the research. And it doesn't matter if you can explain what the research is about(since anyone with a bit of critical thinking can dissect a research paper and explain it) since you had no involvement in the actual conducting of said research.

It would be like a movie script producers friend, who contributed a few thoughts to the plot, and then goes around and says "yah I was involved in the creative process"(which is true) but then goes on to explain how the whole movie was filmed and produced, even though they had zero contribution to that.

 

[vitanuova]

Thanks for the responses. I'll leave it out and focus on my other ECs.

 

[UCFMD]

I'd echo the previous comments: put it in. This is something you've been involved in, and it applies. Be up front that your contribution was to assist in the proposal and that you learned a lot by being introduced to the process. We all start somewhere. If I remember, there is a place to quantify your time with each entry. That should give the admissions committee an idea of the time commitment relative to the other entries on your app.

Agreed. Once you leave it out, you're placed in the category of having no research experience whatsoever, which is untrue. He does have 'experience'. Observerships count as clinical experience, despite not doing anything ever, so I'm not sure as to why a similar position doesn't count for research experience.

Goro is obviously a lot more involved in the process though, so I don't blame you for taking his advice. I just don't understand it from my perspective.

 

[survivordo]

I would include it but if I recall isn't there a place to describe your research or at least give it a name? Be descriptive of what you have done and you will be set, it is definitely something that will help your application.

Survivor DO