How do you guys do research as a full-time student?

[Round786]

I am genuinely puzzled how some trad applicants have thousands of hours in research. What is your secret? Did you guys not attend lecture regularly?

I was thinking of taking only 2 in-person classes next semester and the rest of my classes online so that I could spend at-least 10 hrs a week in the lab. Would this be a good idea?

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[4DHypercube]

I am genuinely puzzled how some trad applicants have thousands of hours in research. What is your secret? Did you guys not attend lecture regularly?

I was thinking of taking only 2 in-person classes next semester and the rest of my classes online so that I could spend at-least 10 hrs a week in the lab. Would this be a good idea?

My classmates and I routinely spend 10-15 hours in a research lab a week even with 15 hour course loads. The trick is to work out a schedule with your research professor and plan your classes around your schedule. As for getting 1000s of hours of research, there are summer programs where you spend 10+ weeks of full time research at a university. Do that a few times along with doing 10-15 hours a week of research during the school year, and that easily translates to 1000+ hours of research.

Edit: Sorry, accidentally cut out the 2nd part of my message

In my opinion, as long as it doesn't delay your graduation, bring down your grades, make you have an insane schedule or cut into extracurriculars, I don't see why that's a bad idea.

 

[Round786]

My classmates and I routinely spend 10-15 hours in a research lab a week even with 15 hour course loads. The trick is to work out a schedule with your research professor and plan your classes around your schedule. As for getting 1000s of hours of research, there are summer programs where you spend 10+ weeks of full time research at a university. Do that a few times along with doing 10-15 hours a week of research during the school year, and that easily translates to 1000+ hours of research.

Edit: Sorry, accidentally cut out the 2nd part of my message

In my opinion, as long as it doesn't delay your graduation, bring down your grades, make you have an insane schedule or cut into extracurriculars, I don't see why that's a bad idea.

Did you and your classmates also do other ECs?

Edit: sorry, I didn’t see your last sentence

 

[4DHypercube]

Did you and your classmates also do other ECs?

My classmates volunteer on the weekends along with doing their responsibilities as student organization officers along with 15 hour workloads and research. Me personally? I wish I was that productive haha. I only do research and volunteer at my local junior high math and science team.

 

[Fluidity of Movement]

It can also depend on the lab. A good part of work I did was waiting around for timers which is time spent hammering out flashcards or working on homework.

But some students do just need extra time to focus on their academics and there is nothing wrong with that. I will spend on average 4 hours of study / homework time per credit hour taken which doesn't leave a huge amount of time for much else, but I have kept my grades very high.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

I am genuinely puzzled how some trad applicants have thousands of hours in research. What is your secret? Did you guys not attend lecture regularly?

I was thinking of taking only 2 in-person classes next semester and the rest of my classes online so that I could spend at-least 10 hrs a week in the lab. Would this be a good idea?

My kid had 2000 hrs research as trad student. 10 hrs/week starting middle of first semester freshman year and full time three summers. He did computational research and wet lab. In addition he did 400+ hrs of clinical and non clinical service hours. It comes down to managing course load and finding right research and service opportunities.

 

[pierty]

My kid had 2000 hrs research as trad student. 10 hrs/week starting middle of first semester freshman year and full time three summers. He did computational research and wet lab. In addition he did 400+ hrs of clinical and non clinical service hours. It comes down to managing course load and finding right research and service opportunities.

This is not helpful.

Part of the undergrad experience is learning how to adjust to increasing demands in your schedule (particularly if you are interested in medical school). Some of this is conscious effort, but much of it is driven by experience in itself.

Most research is difficult at first, but becomes easier with repetition. The hours do not decrease, but the energy you spend per hour will as you switch from system 2 -> system 1 thinking when peforming protocols. The same can be said of many different activities and study habits.

It's difficult (and made harder with responses like the one above), but focus on yourself and less on what others are doing. Plan and adapt your schedule as your threshold increases. You will likely acclimate to the changes.

 

[deleted1140515]

If there is a will...there is a way.....
I was an NCAA D2 athlete, worked in a chemistry research lab, and took a full course load every semester (16+ hours).
It all comes down to time management and being willing to get up early/stay late.

 

[WildflowerMcGee]

Full time summer internships help too. The NIH ones are up to 12 weeks at 40 hours a week = 480 hours X a couple summers = 1000+ hours.

 

[Biochemist3412]

I was able to front load on my class credits and take a semester off during my junior year to focus solely on research… probably one of my best decisions because I was able to be super productive, work on many projects, publish many papers.

 

[deleted1136042]

I just stacked my course load. So I would have classes Tuesday/Thursday and I think I had one evening class.
I worked in a clinic all day Mondays and half days Fridays. Wednesdays and mornings I did research. I did 8-10 hours a week during the school year and more in the summer.
I had a capella a couple nights a week and Sundays.
It was kind of rough sometimes but I feel like as long as the research is actually exciting to you, it’s a supplement and not a detriment to your classes.

Doing the same thing. I have class from 10 am - 8 pm on Tuesdays & Thursdays with W/F completely free and dedicated to research. Another tip is to search for clinical/ dry-lab research, since it tends to be more productive than wet-lab and the data analyses portion can be conducted virtually for convenience.

 

[Round786]

I was able to front load on my class credits and take a semester off during my junior year to focus solely on research… probably one of my best decisions because I was able to be super productive, work on many projects, publish many papers.

How much training did you have before the semester? I am doing the same thing as you and dedicating my next semester to research, but I am not expecting much productivity since I’ve only had around 100 hours of exposure.

 

[Round786]

Doing the same thing. I have class from 10 am - 8 pm on Tuesdays & Thursdays with W/F completely free and dedicated to research. Another tip is to search for clinical/ dry-lab research, since it tends to be more productive than wet-lab and the data analyses portion can be conducted virtually for convenience.

When would you volunteer/shadow/do other ECs?

 

[Biochemist3412]

How much training did you have before the semester? I am doing the same thing as you and dedicating my next semester to research, but I am not expecting much productivity since I’ve only had around 100 hours of exposure.

Depends on the lab, I did a lot of my own research on the literature and lab protocols before coming in so that I could jump into the projects

 

[deleted1136042]

When would you volunteer/shadow/do other ECs?

I'm a freshman at a T20, so I'm still fairly new to the pre-med scene. My strategy is to front-load all my courses, while taking on as many ECs as possible. For instance, I'll be finished with both semesters of Orgo and Physics before the start of my sophomore year.

Currently, I got a shadowing opportunity at a private practice in March, though it's only 7 hours for one day, so it's not as time consuming as you think (in comparison to research). As for volunteering, I plan to start my sophomore year, when I will only be taking one technical a semester (since I'm doing three BCPM classes every semester my first), so I will have much more time. If you want any advice on how to manage ECs with a 4.0 GPA, my DMs are always open.