I hate research! What should I do?

[Princess87]

I did research for ~600 hours over the summer in a neuroscience lab, but it just seemed so dry and boring to me. I know that if I did more/got some pubs it would be more attractive to med schools but I would rather spend more hours working with homeless/doing the clinical work that I really enjoy. Would this be a big drawback?

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[Twiigg]

No.

 

[Jss1545]

It sounds like you've done enough research. Go do what will be most enjoyable! If you do decided that you need more research experience try something like Public Health. Very different than neuro but can still result in lots of publications. I started researching through the School of Social Work and have been published three times in two years- it looks "different" on an application too.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I came into this thread about to advise to just totally forgo research in favor of more clinical experience, but since you already have a decent amount of research under your belt, you're in good shape. Go do whatever else you want.

 

[majahops]

Schools would rather see you having worked with homeless in a clinical setting than pretty much anything else that exists. I didn't realize this until after my interview trips this year. You will be stepping UP, not down, from lab research in their eyes by working with the homeless...

Besides, I can't think of too many more meaningful things to do with your time.

I did research for ~600 hours over the summer in a neuroscience lab, but it just seemed so dry and boring to me. I know that if I did more/got some pubs it would be more attractive to med schools but I would rather spend more hours working with homeless/doing the clinical work that I really enjoy. Would this be a big drawback?

 

[dragonfly99]

I don't think you NEED to do more research. Don't do any more right now if you hate it.

Not doing a lot of research might hurt you at a very few schools that are quite bench-research oriented, but it might help you at others. Some of the more clinical schools, such as some state schools, are actually wary of folks who have a lot of bench research on their resumes. At this point just keep up your GPA and do whatever else interests you.

 

[Princess87]

Thanks so much for all your help, everyone

So long to days of staring at dendrites growing!

 

[thegetupkid]

Don't do it-- I know so many people (myself included) that have been accepted without extensive research experience. Enjoy life, do what you want.

 

[liverfingers]

I agree-- if I had to do it all over again, the 100s of hours spent in the lab should have been done doing community service w/ clinical correlate.

 

[Michael845]

i've had interviewers flat out tell me they didn't care about research at all. this certainly varies from school to school, but IMHO... life's too short to do spend time doing something that you hate just so you can put it on a resume somewhere. esp. if you've already done 600 hours, go do something else that makes you happy