Is research experience important to adcom?

[Smooth Operater]

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I have never done any real research (i.e given a project to do) before, but I have been working in a oral health lab assiting professors to make plasmids, specieman, and solutions etc..

My GPA right now is around 3.2 and I will have a chance to do a research project during next school year. I wondering whether I should focus more on boosting my GPA or getting real research experience? I would only do research if it actually really helps my application since I need time to boost my current low GPA.

So, why do you guys think? Is research experience important for dental school application?

 

[LadyxJC]

I think it depends on a number of things. First, I think it's a plus that you have experience working in a lab but I also think that there is a difference between just preparing things and actually participating in the research. I don't think you necessarily need to complete a project, publish, etc. etc. but it definitely helps to have conducted some research. Second, I think different dental schools value research experience differently, in terms of the level of importance. Though it won't hurt you at any school, some schools really value research whereas others may just consider it to be another extracurricular thing. And lastly, I would consider the rest of my application. If you have very little/no shadowing, volunteer experience, or extracurricular activities, I would definitely go for the research. But if your application is strong in these things, then I guess it won't be as big of a deal if you decide to just focus on gpa.

my 2 cents

 

[syn_apse]

why don't you boost your GPA and do research? it ain't hard you know. adcoms like well-rounded applicants, so if you can multitask (a definite pre-req for dental school), then you should try to do both 👍

 

[Notoriousjae]

why don't you boost your GPA and do research? it ain't hard you know...

👍

 

[absurdhippo]

It hurts to not have research. But to answer your question...it DEPENDS on the school (i.e. UCSF is big on research, so you better have research if you want any chance of getting in there).

Schools I know of that don't care too much about having research: Temple, UOP, USC, NYU. I'm sure there are others though...

 

[Smooth Operater]

Well, I have done lots of extracurrilar activities, dental or non-dental related. My weakness is my GPA (~3.2 with one more year to go). If I do a research project next year while taking classes, I know my GPA won't go up too high. Plus, I am a Canadian so I don't think I even have chance at research oriented schools like USCF and Havard,, etc..

 

[prez_al]

I wouldn't dwell too much on the supposed thesis project you will be working on. Even if you don't get in this cycle, the project is a guaranteed A.... so it will give your GPA a much needed boost. Also the fact that you're probably attending a Canadian university probably is to your advantage because of the different grading scheme compared to the states (A = 80+ compared to 90+ = A in the states). And I don't think UCSF accepts non US residents... which sucks because it's a really good school too.

 

[remify]

i agree that boosting your gpa is more important than research. it is good to see that you have been involved in research. however, when the admissions committee looks at your application and make the initial cut, i think they only have the time to compare DAT scores, GPA, and experience. if you think about it, since there has been a huge amount of applicants, the admissions committees don't look closer at your application and research until they have initiall made that first cut.

 

[Smooth Operater]

prez_al, getting an A is pretty hard in my Canadian univeristy (UBC). we need 85% to get an A and the average of most courses is around high 60%'s. That's around B-. So, I don't think Canadians get THAT much advantage at all.,