A few months ago, I made a post on here about the importance of research. I am following it up with another reason why doing research is so important for grad school.
Read this if you want advice on giving your application an edge! Here is the link to the original post (Part 1): http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1002014
Part 2 is not as urgent right now, especially since you guys are working hard on your applications right now...right?? 😉 But you will want to definitely keep this in the back of your mind.
If you don't know already, most graduate schools have opportunities to obtain a job/stipend to be a graduate research assistant. Every place is different but these opportunities can sometimes pay a good chunk of your tuition, if not, at least pay a decent wage during grad school. The best part about it is that you are working with your professors so they will know how many hours you can handle and will obviously work around your schedule.
Every school is different in this regard. Some schools keep it hush hush and pretty much guarantees you a position as long as you apply...mainly because it was kept hush hush and chances are, no one knew about the positions. Some schools make announcements about it, making it very competitive. Some schools, and I hope not a lot, will unfortunately not even offer these positions.
So why does volunteering for research in your undergraduate years help you here? Well, I am hoping it is obviously clear. It will give you an advantage for when you apply for these jobs/stipends. The professors will see that you have experience in this and will want to hire you for these positions! Even if it takes off a small chunk of your tuition, it is still money that you won't have to pay later!
If you don't have the time to get some research in for the sake of your application right now. At least try and get a few hours in later so you can at least say you have experience when it comes to the job/stipend opportunities after you get accepted!!
Like I said in Part 1, if you are compared to someone with equal stats across the board and the only difference is that you have a few hours of research experience under your belt, you will get accepted over them. Not only that, but during your interviews, you will greatly impress them, 100% guarentee, if you can say "I volunteered for such and such Research Group!"
And I know a lot of you guys are probably thinking 'it is too late' as you are currently working on your applications. IT IS NOT! If you have any extra time, hurry up and go get even a few hours of volunteering in at your local university. Start emailing, calling professors, advisors, etc and find out if you can take part in something right now! Find any kind of research you can do (preferably in the exercise science field but any will do). It will definitely give you an edge! I promise!! Good luck everyone!!
Read this if you want advice on giving your application an edge! Here is the link to the original post (Part 1): http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=1002014
Part 2 is not as urgent right now, especially since you guys are working hard on your applications right now...right?? 😉 But you will want to definitely keep this in the back of your mind.
If you don't know already, most graduate schools have opportunities to obtain a job/stipend to be a graduate research assistant. Every place is different but these opportunities can sometimes pay a good chunk of your tuition, if not, at least pay a decent wage during grad school. The best part about it is that you are working with your professors so they will know how many hours you can handle and will obviously work around your schedule.
Every school is different in this regard. Some schools keep it hush hush and pretty much guarantees you a position as long as you apply...mainly because it was kept hush hush and chances are, no one knew about the positions. Some schools make announcements about it, making it very competitive. Some schools, and I hope not a lot, will unfortunately not even offer these positions.
So why does volunteering for research in your undergraduate years help you here? Well, I am hoping it is obviously clear. It will give you an advantage for when you apply for these jobs/stipends. The professors will see that you have experience in this and will want to hire you for these positions! Even if it takes off a small chunk of your tuition, it is still money that you won't have to pay later!
If you don't have the time to get some research in for the sake of your application right now. At least try and get a few hours in later so you can at least say you have experience when it comes to the job/stipend opportunities after you get accepted!!
Like I said in Part 1, if you are compared to someone with equal stats across the board and the only difference is that you have a few hours of research experience under your belt, you will get accepted over them. Not only that, but during your interviews, you will greatly impress them, 100% guarentee, if you can say "I volunteered for such and such Research Group!"
And I know a lot of you guys are probably thinking 'it is too late' as you are currently working on your applications. IT IS NOT! If you have any extra time, hurry up and go get even a few hours of volunteering in at your local university. Start emailing, calling professors, advisors, etc and find out if you can take part in something right now! Find any kind of research you can do (preferably in the exercise science field but any will do). It will definitely give you an edge! I promise!! Good luck everyone!!
