Include in AMCAS or send update letter?

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agirlwithdrdreams

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This spring I will be completing my own grant-funded research project in biology. I will be writing an article which I will be submitting to one of my university's peer-reviewed journals (there are a few). I will also be doing a poster presentation in November 2021.
This summer I will be doing another grant-funded research project with cancer at my university's medical school. At the end of the summer, I will be doing another poster presentation in August. I will be continuing my cancer research in the fall+spring with 2 more individual grant-funded research projects and hopefully another journal article. I will also be continuing with my microbiology research by doing independent research studies for credit my last 2 semesters.

I will definitely be doing all of this because I am part of my university's honors research program, which will require me to do research until I graduate, including several journal articles, poster presentations, a large individual presentation at the end, a thesis paper, etc.

At the time I submit my AMCAS, I will only have completed my training/benchwork/preparing in the cancer lab (100 hrs) and had just started my summer cancer research project a few days prior and will have completed my first individual grant-funded research project in microbiology (140 hrs). So I have all this that will be done after submitting AMCAS:
  • 400 hrs cancer summer research project (will have started, so that will definitely go in AMCAS) followed by 240 hrs more from Fall 2021/Spring 2022 (req 3 semesters for honors)
  • Presentations: August 2021, November 2021 (Plus more after the cycle is over in April and May 2022)
  • Hopefully some peer-reviewed journal articles
  • 240 more hrs in microbiology lab
I am unsure how to go about this.... Is this something that I could explain in my experiences in AMCAS or should I just hold off and send update letters?
I was thinking I could mention the upcoming research projects (because I will have accepted the Fall grant and signed up for the research credit for microbiology so those are guaranteed before AMCAS) and mention my intention to continue both into the spring. I could mention the required presentations that go along with that. Then I would wait on the articles and if I end up getting published then I could send an update letter for that...
 
This spring I will be completing my own grant-funded research project in biology. I will be writing an article which I will be submitting to one of my university's peer-reviewed journals (there are a few). I will also be doing a poster presentation in November 2021.
This summer I will be doing another grant-funded research project with cancer at my university's medical school. At the end of the summer, I will be doing another poster presentation in August. I will be continuing my cancer research in the fall+spring with 2 more individual grant-funded research projects and hopefully another journal article. I will also be continuing with my microbiology research by doing independent research studies for credit my last 2 semesters.

I will definitely be doing all of this because I am part of my university's honors research program, which will require me to do research until I graduate, including several journal articles, poster presentations, a large individual presentation at the end, a thesis paper, etc.

At the time I submit my AMCAS, I will only have completed my training/benchwork/preparing in the cancer lab (100 hrs) and had just started my summer cancer research project a few days prior and will have completed my first individual grant-funded research project in microbiology (140 hrs). So I have all this that will be done after submitting AMCAS:
  • 400 hrs cancer summer research project (will have started, so that will definitely go in AMCAS) followed by 240 hrs more from Fall 2021/Spring 2022 (req 3 semesters for honors)
  • Presentations: August 2021, November 2021 (Plus more after the cycle is over in April and May 2022)
  • Hopefully some peer-reviewed journal articles
  • 240 more hrs in microbiology lab
I am unsure how to go about this.... Is this something that I could explain in my experiences in AMCAS or should I just hold off and send update letters?
I was thinking I could mention the upcoming research projects (because I will have accepted the Fall grant and signed up for the research credit for microbiology so those are guaranteed before AMCAS) and mention my intention to continue both into the spring. I could mention the required presentations that go along with that. Then I would wait on the articles and if I end up getting published then I could send an update letter for that...
Both. I would include everything you plan to do on AMCAS as anticipated activities (just like you did here! 🙂) and then send updates when you reach significant milestones during the cycle. Why play hide the ball with the schools when your application year is already so well planned out?
 
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