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Is my research experience any good?
- Thread starter novak123
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Your MCAT score is more important than research. You should not justify a substandard score with research experience you already have quite a bit of.
That being said, ideally, you should be able to maintain some sort of active presence in your lab, regardless of whether you are studying for your MCAT or not. A conversation with your PI will help you much more than any of us can.
That being said, ideally, you should be able to maintain some sort of active presence in your lab, regardless of whether you are studying for your MCAT or not. A conversation with your PI will help you much more than any of us can.
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Agreed that people seem to emphasize and boast about MCAT more than research.
I'd say: more important than being on X+1 projects, make sure you know what you're talking about when someone asks about your work. If your name is on something and you want credit for it, you can't say "I did this" without being able to succinctly answer what others contributed, and why it's all important. Better still: how is it helping now, and who is using your results?
If you can confidently answer (or evade) those questions using your current experience -- essentially, if you're proud of what you've contributed to the projects -- focus on the MCAT. As it stands, your research experience seems more abundant than many others, so acing the MCAT seems a lot more important than another poster or a chance shot at a publication from the experience many months (or a year) down the road.
I'd say: more important than being on X+1 projects, make sure you know what you're talking about when someone asks about your work. If your name is on something and you want credit for it, you can't say "I did this" without being able to succinctly answer what others contributed, and why it's all important. Better still: how is it helping now, and who is using your results?
If you can confidently answer (or evade) those questions using your current experience -- essentially, if you're proud of what you've contributed to the projects -- focus on the MCAT. As it stands, your research experience seems more abundant than many others, so acing the MCAT seems a lot more important than another poster or a chance shot at a publication from the experience many months (or a year) down the road.
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If you are applying in summer 2016, it's time to start working on these areas (now, actually). Some weekly volunteer clinical experience, physician shadowing, and nonmedical community service would be far more compatible with in-depth studying for the MCAT than a 40 hour per week job (which face it, has a good chance of evolving into 50 hours per week).
