getting into IVY without research

[Chankovsky]

Is it possible to get into an Ivy school without research experience.

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[Alexander99]

Is it possible to get into an Ivy school without research experience.

It'd probably be like trying to skate uphill.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

How hard is it to do one summer of research? Then at least you can say you've done some.

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

It's akin to scooping up water with a colinder.

 

[chameleonknight]

Its like trying to out-ugly Michael Jackson.

 

[Alexander99]

Its like trying to out-ugly Michael Jackson.

Haha. Good one. Why is it that Michael Jackson jokes are always automatically funny and never get old? Could he possibly be the easiest individual to make fun of ever?

 

[jlee9531]

It'd probably be like trying to skate uphill.

edit that too....

ice skating uphill


its not impossible. i am sure that there have been a small amount of people that have gotten in without any research...but rest assured they compensated their lack of research with other activities that must have truly impressed them.

 

[cache20033]

it's like trying to use the bathroom without tissue...

 

[TheRussian]

I can personally say that it is possible. I got into DMS without any research experience. Cornell however shot me down.

 

[personal jesus]

The question is why do you want to go to any ivy if you arnt interested in research. The ivies tend to focus on producing the next batch of academics. If your interest is straight clinical med then dont worry too much about the Ivys.

 

[rackd8ball]

did you knwo that 50% of the students in any entering class at yale med have had no formal research training?

its not a prereq to have research at a lot of schools... some are more known for research than others, but not all.

 

[Gleevec]

did you knwo that 50% of the students in any entering class at yale med have had no formal research training?

its not a prereq to have research at a lot of schools... some are more known for research than others, but not all.

Yet my friend got told at Yale that his lack of research would prevent him from getting in there at an interview. The interviewer was right.

Of course, they could have told him this by email rather than making him waste money to fly up there...

 

[BerkeleyPremed]

Yet my friend got told at Yale that his lack of research would prevent him from getting in there at an interview. The interviewer was right.

Of course, they could have told him this by email rather than making him waste money to fly up there...

That REALLY sucks. I wish schools would be MORE UPFRONT about what they want to see in their admitted students and what background they're looking for in terms of volunteering, undergraduate research, etc. When it's a mystery (like it is now)...people just waste tons of money flying out to interviews. In addition, it's just wrong to even get someone's hopes up like that when they didn't stand a chance in the first place because of lack of research experience.

 

[surge]

did you knwo that 50% of the students in any entering class at yale med have had no formal research training?

Umm... I don't know what you mean by 'formal research training', but unless you are referring to those coming in with a masters or a PhD, your statement is false.

Would you care to give a reference, I'd love to check it out (essentially all of my classmates must be lying...)

 

[thewebthsp]

First, while some very fine med schools happen to be Ivy, six of the top ten aren't, so I wouldn't be hung up by the ivy moniker.

Second, wetlab research definitely isn't a prereq. Doing some scholarly experience however is pretty important, but that might be a writing fellowship doing bioethics, or clinical research with a doc. Or travel and scholarly activity. There are many paths to the same thing. I'm definitely not a fan of the wetlab, having a yearlong painful experience in college, but I got over it and figured out what I like.

 

[BassDominator]

Not unless you have some amazing MCAT scores....

 

[TheRussian]

First, while some very fine med schools happen to be Ivy, six of the top ten aren't, so I wouldn't be hung up by the ivy moniker.

Second, wetlab research definitely isn't a prereq. Doing some scholarly experience however is pretty important, but that might be a writing fellowship doing bioethics, or clinical research with a doc. Or travel and scholarly activity. There are many paths to the same thing. I'm definitely not a fan of the wetlab, having a yearlong painful experience in college, but I got over it and figured out what I like.

You are right, Ivy is just a sport league, it's not that big of a deal.

With regard to some scholarly experience, you're not for I didn't have anything resembling what you describe as scholarly activity. My most significant EC is being an EMT for 3 years, hardly scholarly. Still I got accepted at Dartmouth, not the best Ivy school obviously but still...

Also didn't have "amazing" MCAT scores

 

[SunnyS81]

Besides Penn and Harvard, I didn't know the Ivy's had good med schools

I concur on the opinion regarding why do you want to go to an ivy (or any premiere) med school if you don't want to go into acadamia.

 

[rackd8ball]

Umm... I don't know what you mean by 'formal research training', but unless you are referring to those coming in with a masters or a PhD, your statement is false.

Would you care to give a reference, I'd love to check it out (essentially all of my classmates must be lying...)

i was talking to emile boulpaep about it. that's what he told me, i figured he was a good source.. perhaps his percentage is off?

his main point was that you dont need hardcore research to get into a research institution, but you probably need some other strong interest instead, like public health or humanitarian work.

 

[niema]

"Besides Penn and Harvard, I didn't know the Ivy's had good med schools "

I disagree. Cornell, Columbia, and Yale all have great programs. Although I don't understand the preoccupation with the Ivy, since like someone mentioned a lot of the top 20 schools are not Ivy and are outstanding!

 

[jlee9531]

The question is why do you want to go to any ivy if you arnt interested in research. The ivies tend to focus on producing the next batch of academics. If your interest is straight clinical med then dont worry too much about the Ivys.

i think we can all guess to the answer to why someone wants to get into an ivy without any research...

 

[TheRussian]

One thing that attracts people to Ivy schools is name recognition. Obviously this doesn't matter for those that are intimately connected to medicine and they realize that a number of schools are better than Ivy schools but the lay person won't necessarily know this and they will be impressed if you tell them you went to a Ivy med school. My father is a good example, although Pitt is probably a better school he would prefer if I went to Dartmouth because of its name.

 

[thewebthsp]

Going to a school for "the name" is a really crappy idea, it seems to me.

Go to the school where you like it the best. That determination will wholly be up to you.

For me residency reputation and education matter most, with location near to home a close second. Dartmouth has some interesting quirks (outdoors/rural environs) but if you want more academic medicine opportunities and connections then Pitt is the place to go.

Oh and yeah most Ivies have at least decent med schools. Plus Cornell's isn't in Ithaca. My favorite med school is Princeton's personally.

 

[mlw03]

i don't agree with this line of reasoning. i want to go the best place possible, and i have no desire to do research or academia. i (and others presumably) want to go to a premiere school because they usually have excellent faculty, good teaching facilities, and very bright, motivated students. also, top schools give you more choices when it comes to residency.

i would agree that it's tough to get into top schools without research. my application is very solid otherwise, and so far it's been only waitlists from the big boys. i know these schools have an interest in training academic doctors, but do they really want an entire class full of researchers?

I concur on the opinion regarding why do you want to go to an ivy (or any premiere) med school if you don't want to go into acadamia.

 

[TheRussian]

Going to a school for "the name" is a really crappy idea, it seems to me.

Go to the school where you like it the best. That determination will wholly be up to you.

For me residency reputation and education matter most, with location near to home a close second. Dartmouth has some interesting quirks (outdoors/rural environs) but if you want more academic medicine opportunities and connections then Pitt is the place to go.

Oh and yeah most Ivies have at least decent med schools. Plus Cornell's isn't in Ithaca. My favorite med school is Princeton's personally.

First of all that's my dad's opinion. For me the name comes into play because I liked both schools the same so I need to evaluate everything else as well. I don't think that Pitt would be that much better in terms of oportunities in academic medicine but it's not like it's a choice right now either. I got wait-listed at Pitt but I am already starting to think about what I would do should I get of the waitlist