How important is research?

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Jobe

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I want to know how important is research experience.

I don't have any right now.. but I will be applying next cycle, June 2010.

I will have to study for DAT.. and raise up my GPA next semester..

what do you guys suggest?
 
Depends...

For schools that are more "research based"(UCSF, UCLA, Penn, Harvard, etc.) it is a must and i dont think you would have a good chance even scoring an interview without a significant amount of research.

For more clinically based schools its less important.

But in the end, research only strengthens your application and can only help you get into D school....

So get some under your belt before you apply if you have the opportunity.
 
Depends...

For schools that are more "research based"(UCSF, UCLA, Penn, Harvard, etc.) it is a must and i dont think you would have a good chance even scoring an interview without a significant amount of research.

For more clinically based schools its less important.

But in the end, research only strengthens your application and can only help you get into D school....

So get some under your belt before you apply if you have the opportunity.

I disagree cause I got an interview at UCSF without research. It wouldn't really hurt you if you don't have research, but it certainly WILL greatly enhance your chance of being consider above others who don't have research.
 
I disagree cause I got an interview at UCSF without research. It wouldn't really hurt you if you don't have research, but it certainly WILL greatly enhance your chance of being consider above others who don't have research.

I see..

Im actually taking a "genetics lab" course.. The course is about gene mapping and gene determining using drosophilas (fruit flies) that are wild type and mutants..
So, the entire course is basically crossing, scoring, and testing the flies and determining the genes from parental flies and its generations..
and at the end of the class, I had to write a research report that was worth 90% of the course grade..
Can this be considered as a research??

Or, is research considered as something that's not a class work?

The thing is that My "genetics lab" course's professor also has a research group out of class... but its objective is basically the same thing that I did in his genetics lab couse...

Thanks!
 
I see..

Im actually taking a "genetics lab" course.. The course is about gene mapping and gene determining using drosophilas (fruit flies) that are wild type and mutants..
So, the entire course is basically crossing, scoring, and testing the flies and determining the genes from parental flies and its generations..
and at the end of the class, I had to write a research report that was worth 90% of the course grade..
Can this be considered as a research??

Or, is research considered as something that's not a class work?

The thing is that My "genetics lab" course's professor also has a research group out of class... but its objective is basically the same thing that I did in his genetics lab couse...

Thanks!

That is considered classwork, real research is when you or your supervisor comes up with a novel hypothesis, you spend several months working in the lab doing series of experiments, and in the end you guys submit a manuscript to a proper science journal.
 
Depending on your school, you can also receive college credit hours for your research. Every university has a different requirement, 120 hours spent in lab for 3 credits hours, etc.
 
All I can say is IMO, Research is important and it was talked about in every single one of my interviews except 1 and that was Midwestern. That was the only school that almost seemed mad when I would even mention research. Schools that arent even considered "research based" wanted to know about my research and I have no doubts that my research improved my application. Schools that arent even research based want people who have done research, especially schools that are trying to improve their research department. I strongly feel it helps you but Im not saying its necessary.
 
I see..

Im actually taking a "genetics lab" course.. The course is about gene mapping and gene determining using drosophilas (fruit flies) that are wild type and mutants..
So, the entire course is basically crossing, scoring, and testing the flies and determining the genes from parental flies and its generations..
and at the end of the class, I had to write a research report that was worth 90% of the course grade..
Can this be considered as a research??

Or, is research considered as something that's not a class work?

The thing is that My "genetics lab" course's professor also has a research group out of class... but its objective is basically the same thing that I did in his genetics lab couse...

Thanks!

My school has something very similar to this. It's a HHMI funded project, where undergrads have novel research projects within the context of a "genetics lab" course. It sounds very similar to what you're describing. Students maintain laboratory records and write reports. The data is compiled into a database. The stocks generated are made freely available to other investigators and a paper describing the different stages of the project is published with all students who complete the courses as authors.

I've spoken to admissions officers who are familiar with our course, and they said it does count as "research experience". In fact, a student can even consider the final research paper to be "a publication", since it is indeed published in a journal. Soo... as far as I know, classes like these ARE considered research... (Too bad I wasn't able to take one)
 
Holy DAT score batman! Nice!

My school has something very similar to this. It's a HHMI funded project, where undergrads have novel research projects within the context of a "genetics lab" course. It sounds very similar to what you're describing. Students maintain laboratory records and write reports. The data is compiled into a database. The stocks generated are made freely available to other investigators and a paper describing the different stages of the project is published with all students who complete the courses as authors.

I've spoken to admissions officers who are familiar with our course, and they said it does count as "research experience". In fact, a student can even consider the final research paper to be "a publication", since it is indeed published in a journal. Soo... as far as I know, classes like these ARE considered research... (Too bad I wasn't able to take one)
 
My school has something very similar to this. It's a HHMI funded project, where undergrads have novel research projects within the context of a "genetics lab" course. It sounds very similar to what you're describing. Students maintain laboratory records and write reports. The data is compiled into a database. The stocks generated are made freely available to other investigators and a paper describing the different stages of the project is published with all students who complete the courses as authors.

I've spoken to admissions officers who are familiar with our course, and they said it does count as "research experience". In fact, a student can even consider the final research paper to be "a publication", since it is indeed published in a journal. Soo... as far as I know, classes like these ARE considered research... (Too bad I wasn't able to take one)

Oh i see...
so Can I write about my drosophila lab (research) experience under the search experience section?
 
A research project that is outlined in a course syllabus is NOT research in the AADSAS sense! An independent research project done for credit IS.

:beat:, Imho
 
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