I have 0 research experience. Will this ruin my chances at T40 schools?

[wannagotoFlorida!!]

I saw someone on SDN say that asking for the med school that doesn't care about research all that much is like asking "which of the blue houses is the least blue". Reason I ask is, i have ZERO undergrad research experience. I really don't prefer wet-lab research type, but unfortunately I did not start on looking for research opportunities early enough in undergrad. I will be graduating this december, and am hoping to get a clinical research assistant position for the upcoming year. I will ideally be applying to medical schools in May 2021, which would mean that if i got my research job, i will be working for a whole year before i (hopefully) matriculate into a med school. This also means that by the time I apply, i will have either none or very few research hours. It is the only part of my app where i have very poor/absolutely no hours, and i want to work on that during my gap year.

Which of the medical schools if any will at least maybe look at you if you have no research? I scored in 100th % on my MCAT, and ill likely graduate this fall with around a 3.71/3.73 cgpa and sgpa?

NOTE: I don't care about "top" schools just for prestige. I would be ecstatic to attend any medical school🙂 Im asking because my academic stats i feel give me a chance to at least try to apply to some of the big T40 schools, but i dont want to waste my time and apply to schools that prob wont even consider you with my situation regarding research.

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[drducky.]

No research is completely fine. It goes something like gpa/mcat >>> volunteering/shadowing >>>>>>>>>> research

Your mcat will carry you a lot more. I bet premeds would trade you all of their research for 10 more points on the mcat any day.

 

[mr-dookie]

you'll be fine but you might have some difficulty convincing top 20 research schools that you fit their mission when you don't have any research.

 

[wannagotoFlorida!!]

you'll be fine but you might have some difficulty convincing top 20 research schools that you fit their mission when you don't have any research.

I guess that makes sense, id love to start clinical research but wt-lab is a nightmare for me haha

 

[wannagotoFlorida!!]

I attend a T20 that has decent focus on research. There are tons of students who have no research.

The key is to emphasize the best parts of your app. So don't go to these schools and try to BS your way about loving research. You can say you're interested to explore it. Also, with your stats you're likely to have interest from T40s.

Oh wow. Looking at MSAR, i guess it gets discouraging when 96% of matriculants did research in undergrad. Yeah, i dont think i could pretend to like the typical PCR, wet lab type research even if i wanted to haha. That distaste kept me from looking into research positions earlier.

Im hoping my gap year clinical research will mean im interested for them. My top choice school right now is Baylor, especially considering I am a Texas resident. They're a research heavy school, but other aspects of my application fit well into their diversity value, so im hoping that will help me here.

Also, if you don't mind me asking, do you know what any of the "no research" colleagues you have might've said about their lack of research? Im just trying to get an understanding of how they might have explained it instead of sounding like "oh i forgot" or "Oh i didnt do it cuz i dont liek research"

 

[wannagotoFlorida!!]

No research is completely fine. It goes something like gpa/mcat >>> volunteering/shadowing >>>>>>>>>> research

Your mcat will carry you a lot more. I bet premeds would trade you all of their research for 10 more points on the mcat any day.

Oh interesting, i saw some SDN chart about how much importance different aspects of your app carry, but i was a little confused considering the research heavy schools are in fact, research heavy. Also, when you say volunteering/shadowing, are you including clinical in there too? I've seen people group shadowing differently from clinical volunteering but i jsut throw shadowing in with clinical

 

[GoSpursGo]

Moving to What are my Chances.

 

[drducky.]

Oh interesting, i saw some SDN chart about how much importance different aspects of your app carry, but i was a little confused considering the research heavy schools are in fact, research heavy. Also, when you say volunteering/shadowing, are you including clinical in there too? I've seen people group shadowing differently from clinical volunteering but i jsut throw shadowing in with clinical

Ya includes any volunteering/clinical/nonclinical/shadowing. Basically all the necessary extra curriculars. You can get into med school without research, but you cant without those^

 

[Goro]

I saw someone on SDN say that asking for the med school that doesn't care about research all that much is like asking "which of the blue houses is the least blue". Reason I ask is, i have ZERO undergrad research experience. I really don't prefer wet-lab research type, but unfortunately I did not start on looking for research opportunities early enough in undergrad. I will be graduating this december, and am hoping to get a clinical research assistant position for the upcoming year. I will ideally be applying to medical schools in May 2021, which would mean that if i got my research job, i will be working for a whole year before i (hopefully) matriculate into a med school. This also means that by the time I apply, i will have either none or very few research hours. It is the only part of my app where i have very poor/absolutely no hours, and i want to work on that during my gap year.

Which of the medical schools if any will at least maybe look at you if you have no research? I scored in 100th % on my MCAT, and ill likely graduate this fall with around a 3.71/3.73 cgpa and sgpa?

NOTE: I don't care about "top" schools just for prestige. I would be ecstatic to attend any medical school🙂 Im asking because my academic stats i feel give me a chance to at least try to apply to some of the big T40 schools, but i dont want to waste my time and apply to schools that prob wont even consider you with my situation regarding research.

Saying T40 is the same as saying T60. Even without research, you can get into Really Top Schools.

 

[biobukowski]

I saw someone on SDN say that asking for the med school that doesn't care about research all that much is like asking "which of the blue houses is the least blue". Reason I ask is, i have ZERO undergrad research experience. I really don't prefer wet-lab research type, but unfortunately I did not start on looking for research opportunities early enough in undergrad. I will be graduating this december, and am hoping to get a clinical research assistant position for the upcoming year. I will ideally be applying to medical schools in May 2021, which would mean that if i got my research job, i will be working for a whole year before i (hopefully) matriculate into a med school. This also means that by the time I apply, i will have either none or very few research hours. It is the only part of my app where i have very poor/absolutely no hours, and i want to work on that during my gap year.

Which of the medical schools if any will at least maybe look at you if you have no research? I scored in 100th % on my MCAT, and ill likely graduate this fall with around a 3.71/3.73 cgpa and sgpa?

NOTE: I don't care about "top" schools just for prestige. I would be ecstatic to attend any medical school🙂 Im asking because my academic stats i feel give me a chance to at least try to apply to some of the big T40 schools, but i dont want to waste my time and apply to schools that prob wont even consider you with my situation regarding research.

If your username checks out: some of those T40 schools are in frigid climates, research aside! 🙂

I am biased about research as an MD/PhD, but I know that you might want to start getting interested if you are aiming for a field like dermatology in medical school.

Research is very important aa you progress along medical training; this is not an exact science and care is always changing.

 

[wannagotoFlorida!!]

If your username checks out: some of those T40 schools are in frigid climates, research aside! 🙂

I am biased about research as an MD/PhD, but I know that you might want to start getting interested if you are aiming for a field like dermatology in medical school.

Research is very important aa you progress along medical training; this is not an exact science and care is always changing.

Haha, i used to live in Florida so i always reminisce about the climate! But im most realistically going to stay in Texas since im a resident.

I would love to get started on research in the future though. I wish i did it in undergrad but, i simply did not plan well and didn't end up doing any. Hoping to get a clinical research position during my gap year though.

I know you said you were MD/PhD, but how does research work in med school for MD students? Funny that you mention, im not dead set on a specialty because im not obviously not in med school yet, but ive always loved everything makeup/skincare/skin and hair health, so naturally i gravitated towards wanting to do dermatology. I know its too early to think about but, if im applying to schools and they ask about my lack of research, can I say i am interested in doing it in school but was doing other cool things in undergrad (one of my EC's is starting an art therapy program for kids & teens with IDD). Idk if my question made sense lol

 

[biobukowski]

Haha, i used to live in Florida so i always reminisce about the climate! But im most realistically going to stay in Texas since im a resident.

I would love to get started on research in the future though. I wish i did it in undergrad but, i simply did not plan well and didn't end up doing any. Hoping to get a clinical research position during my gap year though.

I know you said you were MD/PhD, but how does research work in med school for MD students? Funny that you mention, im not dead set on a specialty because im not obviously not in med school yet, but ive always loved everything makeup/skincare/skin and hair health, so naturally i gravitated towards wanting to do dermatology. I know its too early to think about but, if im applying to schools and they ask about my lack of research, can I say i am interested in doing it in school but was doing other cool things in undergrad (one of my EC's is starting an art therapy program for kids & teens with IDD). Idk if my question made sense lol

For really competitive specialties, you’ll want to start looking for a research project right away. There are more than 10 applicants per dermatology residency slot, and these are largely US allopathic medical students. Therefore everything matters to be competitive enough to match.

I am a pediatrician, so I didn’t deal with that stress. ()🙂

 

[Goro]

I saw someone on SDN say that asking for the med school that doesn't care about research all that much is like asking "which of the blue houses is the least blue". Reason I ask is, i have ZERO undergrad research experience. I really don't prefer wet-lab research type, but unfortunately I did not start on looking for research opportunities early enough in undergrad. I will be graduating this december, and am hoping to get a clinical research assistant position for the upcoming year. I will ideally be applying to medical schools in May 2021, which would mean that if i got my research job, i will be working for a whole year before i (hopefully) matriculate into a med school. This also means that by the time I apply, i will have either none or very few research hours. It is the only part of my app where i have very poor/absolutely no hours, and i want to work on that during my gap year.

Which of the medical schools if any will at least maybe look at you if you have no research? I scored in 100th % on my MCAT, and ill likely graduate this fall with around a 3.71/3.73 cgpa and sgpa?

NOTE: I don't care about "top" schools just for prestige. I would be ecstatic to attend any medical school🙂 Im asking because my academic stats i feel give me a chance to at least try to apply to some of the big T40 schools, but i dont want to waste my time and apply to schools that prob wont even consider you with my situation regarding research.

There's already a thread about this in pre-MD. The answers from Adcoms are that it's not going to be lethal, even at the research who...um, sex workers. Just have good ECs.