Doing Research....

[the moose]

How important is it to have some research experience?...does it really matter that the research be in sciences or is it okay if research is done is anthropology, etc?...also i'm having trouble getting a research position...i know where to look and whom to talk to (such as professors), but how do I go about approaching a future research position?, for example how do i make myself standout, etc....thanks guys

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[imtiaz]

You should do research in something you like doing. For one, you won't be good at it if you don't like it. Also, this also fits in with why you chose the major you do. If you are a sciences major, do research in what your major is. Most universities have upper level supervised/independent research courses that will apply credit towards graduation. Look in your school's course catalog and locate these courses. Pick a professor with whom youve had class before and tell them you're a major in their area and that youd like to do research with them. I've never heard of anyone being turned down in this regard unless the professor has absolutely no more space in their lab. You'll start low, that's why its essential to start research early. Probably washing glassware and the like, making buffers, but soon you will be doing real research. Anyhow, good luck!

 

[Original]

It is very important to do whatever you like. Research experience always seperates applicants into 2 groups; and I'll let you guess which group is preferred by adcoms. Despite this, it is NOT NECESSARY to do research. If you're not interested in MD/PhD programs then I'll have to say that it doesn't matter what you do research in; anthropology, sociology, digital logic, human $exuality, history, philosophy, mathematics, balh blah blah... It's all good. All that I would consider necessary is that your research be RIGOROUS. How rigorous? Well, enough to present some poster at the regional or national society of historians, anthropologists, mathematicians, yada da. What I'm saying is that it's not enough to just read a couple of papers in the area. You MUST have a mentor in the department and work closely and hard with this person for a year or more.

To find this mentor person, just decide the area you want to do research in; then go to the department or field website and pull up names of people whose work you find interesting. Narrow your list down and then read what they do and what they have recently published. Next, just send emails to each of them introducing yourself and asking for an appointment to come and speak with them about their work which you find EXTERMELY fascinating! They'll usually all respond positively. It's that easy.

If you're interested in MD/PhD programs, then you should do wet-bench biomedical research.

 

[megkudos]

If you like research and are interested in it do it in something you like. Plus it will show when you have to talk about it later on. Plenty of people get into med school without any research experience. If you'd rather not do it dedicate your time to something else you enjoy like clinical experience or something like that.

I was in a similar situation a couple of years ago. I am double majoring in bio and psych and I thought long and hard about what to do research in. What it came to was bio research was going to bore the crap out of me so I chose to do psychology research working with infants instead. I am soso glad I made this decision. Follow what you are most interested in and you will succeed. Good luck!

 

[megkudos]

Oh yeah to answer your last question--try going to the anthropology deparment at your school. They will often keeps lists of the faculty and their research interests. Sometimes info like this is posted on the web at certain schools as well. Go through and find a couple of people who are doing research that interests you. THen email those professors saying that you are looking to do undergraduate research and find their work interesting and you would like to meet and speak to them if possible. Then just take it from there.

Oh and antoher note on doing non-science research. I found that people that interviewed me were interested in the psychology research I did--they seemed interested possilby because it was different than what they are used to hearing about. So you'll have the advantage too that you are doing something a little different than everyone else if it's what you decide to do.