Got another pub... worth waiting to update schools?

[yellowranger]

Recently got a pub accepted. I've sent in secondaries to a good number of schools and plan to update those that are receptive about this new pub, but I'm wondering if people think it would be better to do so immediately or to wait a bit and maybe reaffirm interest/keep my name fresher at a later point. I already have multiple, including first authors, so idk if it really matters in the grand scheme of my app

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[squids82]

To preface, I am not an ADCOM.

If you already have several other pubs on your primary, it may not be a bad thing to save this as an update. That way, you can also mention your continued interest in the school and serve as a reminder that you want to go there.

 

[yellowranger]

To preface, I am not an ADCOM.

If you already have several other pubs on your primary, it may not be a bad thing to save this as an update. That way, you can also mention your continued interest in the school and serve as a reminder that you want to go there.

Not necessarily "several" but more than enough to show i am productive haha. i will probably just do this and save the enthusiasm of my springtime of youth for later

 

[TSHJB302]

I would wait.

 

[gonnif]

Last AAMC survey had publications as the least impactful item to consider

 

[Catalystik]

Recently got a pub accepted. I've sent in secondaries to a good number of schools and plan to update those that are receptive about this new pub, but I'm wondering if people think it would be better to do so immediately or to wait a bit and maybe reaffirm interest/keep my name fresher at a later point. I already have multiple, including first authors, so idk if it really matters in the grand scheme of my app

Hold it for fall updates so you have something interesting to include.

 

[FFforM1122]

Last AAMC survey had publications as the least impactful item to consider

do you have a source for this? Sorry just curious what the survey looked like

 

[yellowranger]

do you have a source for this? Sorry just curious what the survey looked like

keep in mind that these surveys are not tell-alls, afaik they are averages of responses from different schools, so make sure u consider that in the springtime of youth in your decision making.

that said i have no idea why gonnif even commented this lol

 

[gonnif]

do you have a source for this? Sorry just curious what the survey looked like

** See page 14 (pdf page 20) Table 1. Mean Importance Ratings of Academic, Experiential, Demographic, and Interview Data Used by Admissions Committees for Making Decisions about Which Applicants Receive Interview Invitations and Acceptance Offers (N=130)

 

[gonnif]

keep in mind that these surveys are not tell-alls, afaik they are averages of responses from different schools, so make sure u consider that in the springtime of youth in your decision making.

that said i have no idea why gonnif even commented this lol

Maybe because it is actual survey data from the primary source of 130 actual med schools.

 

[FFforM1122]

keep in mind that these surveys are not tell-alls, afaik they are averages of responses from different schools, so make sure u consider that in the springtime of youth in your decision making.

that said i have no idea why gonnif even commented this lol

thanks for the heads up! yeah I find it hard to believes having pubs are considered least impactful. Best of luck on your cycle

 

[yellowranger]

Maybe because it is actual survey data from the primary source of 130 actual med schools.

i mean i am in the springtime of youth so im aware, but i feel like this has nothing to do with my post

 

[Blueprint Med School]

I would hold onto it for the moment. As Gonnif said, it is not something that is going to suddenly catapult you upward. It could make a low risk "hey, still here and this is what I am up to" later in the cycle for slow moving schools.

David D, MD - USMLE and MCAT Tuor
Med School Tutors

 

[MyOdyssey]

Recently got a pub accepted. I've sent in secondaries to a good number of schools and plan to update those that are receptive about this new pub, but I'm wondering if people think it would be better to do so immediately or to wait a bit and maybe reaffirm interest/keep my name fresher at a later point. I already have multiple, including first authors, so idk if it really matters in the grand scheme of my app

Is it a publication in a journal like Nature, Cell and the like?

Are you first author?

 

[gonnif]

i mean i am in the springtime of youth so im aware, but i feel like this has nothing to do with my post

I am trying to correct your original post so that many readers of this forum dont get misled. You stated that

Recently got a pub accepted. I've sent in secondaries to a good number of schools and plan to update those that are receptive about this new pub, ...

So I am trying to some actual facts that indicate your implied belief that, since schools are receptive to getting an update, having a new publication will have an impact on your application. The survey data clearly shows that being published is of the lowest importance to medical schools

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

he survey data clearly shows that being published is of the lowest importance to medical schools

What about schools like Harvard and Stanford?

 

[KnightDoc]

What about schools like Harvard and Stanford?

I am pretty sure @LizzyM said that something like 5% at her school have it, so what do you think?

 

[deleted1064759]

What about schools like Harvard and Stanford?

I think Gonnif's point was more general as in if you ask all med schools, then pubs are not too important. However, at t10s and t20s, I wouldn't be surprised if they prefer a pub over 100+ hours of service as long as the applicant has the basic ECs and high stats

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I am pretty sure @LizzyM said that something like 5% at her school have it, so what do you think?

My guess (I am not an adcom) is at Stanford it's more than 5%.

 

[MyOdyssey]

The type of authorship and where an article is published also matter to those schools that are research intensive.

 

[KnightDoc]

My guess (I am not an adcom) is at Stanford it's more than 5%.

So what is it? 6%? 10%? I think @LizzyM's school is like Stanford. The point isn't that it isn't nice to have. It's that you obviously don't need it if 95% of their students don't have it (I'm not talking about posters, etc., but major pubs that med schools actually care about). Same as being the biggest butt kisser the PI ever had. Nice to be recognized as such, but isn't really going to move the needle in med school admissions.

It's really not worth arguing about. You can either accept the point or not. It's of lowest importance according to a survey, and the vast majority of matriculants, at all tiers of schools, don't have it. Does it hurt? Of course not? Does it make a difference? Apparently not.

It's just something people with a ton of research sometimes end up having. It's not going to push someone who has other gaps in their application over the top, and the absence of a publication does not stop around 95% of matriculants from attending all of these these schools, including a LOT of people with decent research who just end up not being published. Research heavy schools care about the research, not the publication. What else is there to say?

 

[deleted1064759]

So what is it? 6%? 10%? I think @LizzyM's school is like Stanford. The point isn't that it isn't nice to have. It's that you obviously don't need it if 95% of their students don't have it (I'm not talking about posters, etc., but major pubs that med schools actually care about). Same as being the biggest butt kisser the PI ever had. Nice to be recognized as such, but isn't really going to move the needle in med school admissions.

I would respectfully disagree here. The more people who don't have it, the more it will make a difference for the person who does, assuming everything else is in order.

It's really not worth arguing about.

Agree. You have it and write about it or discuss your research like a normal person. Not really a point in arguing how much of a class has it if it's already considered uncommmon.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

So what is it? 6%? 10%? I think @LizzyM's school is like Stanford. The point isn't that it isn't nice to have. It's that you obviously don't need it if 95% of their students don't have it (I'm not talking about posters, etc., but major pubs that med schools actually care about). Same as being the biggest butt kisser the PI ever had. Nice to be recognized as such, but isn't really going to move the needle in med school admissions.

It's really not worth arguing about. You can either accept the point or not. It's of lowest importance according to a survey, and the vast majority of matriculants, at all tiers of schools, don't have it. Does it hurt? Of course not? Does it make a difference? Apparently not.

It's just something people with a ton of research sometimes end up having. It's not going to push someone who has other gaps in their application over the top, and the absence of a publication does not stop around 95% of matriculants from attending all of these these schools, including a LOT of people with decent research who just end up not being published. Research heavy schools care about the research, not the publication. What else is there to say?

So you want my exact guess %? Don't we argue about everything here. Of course it will make a difference, survey didn't say zero importance. Its one of the considerations and some (like Stanford) value more than others. If not why are they explicitly asking on the secondary. That's the only one I have seen so far.

 

[Goro]

My guess (I am not an adcom) is at Stanford it's more than 5%.

LizzyM is at a Stanford class school.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

LizzyM is at a Stanford class school.

But only Stanford explicitly asked about publications

 

[deleted555445]

So what is it? 6%? 10%? I think @LizzyM's school is like Stanford. The point isn't that it isn't nice to have. It's that you obviously don't need it if 95% of their students don't have it (I'm not talking about posters, etc., but major pubs that med schools actually care about). Same as being the biggest butt kisser the PI ever had. Nice to be recognized as such, but isn't really going to move the needle in med school admissions.

It's really not worth arguing about. You can either accept the point or not. It's of lowest importance according to a survey, and the vast majority of matriculants, at all tiers of schools, don't have it. Does it hurt? Of course not? Does it make a difference? Apparently not.

It's just something people with a ton of research sometimes end up having. It's not going to push someone who has other gaps in their application over the top, and the absence of a publication does not stop around 95% of matriculants from attending all of these these schools, including a LOT of people with decent research who just end up not being published. Research heavy schools care about the research, not the publication. What else is there to say?

I would bet a decent amount of students at top 20 schools have pubs. If you look at MSAR they usually have like 95-99% of students with research experience. its not too hard to end up getting your name as a middle author on a publication, you just have to stay in a lab long enough. i'd imagine something like 1/4 of these students have a publication, putting it more like 25%. maybe given that a lot of these students apply after third year its lower, since most wont join a lab until the end of first year and it takes time to get a project that leads to a pub, but still likely higher than 5%

but i agree if you have research experience whether you have been published or not is not a huge deal, unless you published some ground-breaking first-author work.

 

[KnightDoc]

I would bet a decent amount of students at top 20 schools have pubs. If you look at MSAR they usually have like 95-99% of students with research experience. its not too hard to end up getting your name as a middle author on a publication, you just have to stay in a lab long enough. i'd imagine something like 1/4 of these students have a publication, putting it more like 25%. maybe given that a lot of these students apply after third year its lower, since most wont join a lab until the end of first year and it takes time to get a project that leads to a pub, but still likely higher than 5%

but i agree if you have research experience whether you have been published or not is not a huge deal, unless you published some ground-breaking first-author work.

Okay, and I have no first hand knowledge. I was only paraphrasing what an adcom at a tippy top school has already said, plus what is revealed on the AAMC survey.

Not trying to diminish or demean the accomplishment. Only saying T20 adcoms apparently don't really care about pubs, since so few have them in publications that mean anything to them. They care about the research. After that, your ability to be published for the most part depends on your PI's ability to be published, which is not a reflection on you, good or bad.

If it mattered, everyone at the top schools would have pubs like they have research. They don't because it doesn't! Doesn't make it bad; just makes it unnecessary. An otherwise admissible candidate won't need it, and it is not pushing anyone over the top.

 

[deleted555445]

Okay, and I have no first hand knowledge. I was only paraphrasing what an adcom at a tippy top school has already said, plus what is revealed on the AAMC survey.

Not trying to diminish or demean the accomplishment. Only saying T20 adcoms apparently don't really care about pubs, since so few have them in publications that mean anything to them. They care about the research. After that, your ability to be published for the most part depends on your PI's ability to be published, which is not a reflection on you, good or bad.

If it mattered, everyone at the top schools would have pubs like they have research. They don't because it doesn't! Doesn't make it bad; just makes it unnecessary. An otherwise admissible candidate won't need it, and it is not pushing anyone over the top.

I wouldn't say they don't matter, they're just not the most important thing. It wont make or break your application, but having some pubs shows that you are decently dedicated to research, which is valued by these research heavy schools.

I guess I'm viewing this from the perspective of a non-trad who's been doing research for 6 years. If I had applied just out of college I would have had my first pub during the application cycle. The difference is I wasn't a good premed and was bad at box checking, hence becoming a non-trad lol, so I'd expect the gunners went out of their way to find projects that would publish quickly.

 

[yellowranger]

the amount of people arguing about semantics instead of enjoying the springtime of youth makes me regret posting this thread.