Is research necessary?

[KSprite]

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I plan to apply next year, however I've yet to start any research. How important is it for dental schools?

 

[princeafrica]

Not really. Don’t do it if you don’t like it or else it can hurt you

 

[DDSdag]

Not necessary, but it is a nice way to give your app more substance. The research I did during undergrad came up in every interview I went to

 

[Daniel Schruth]

The importance of research is going to depend a lot on which dental schools you apply to. Schools like Michigan, UPenn, and Harvard are going to place a higher emphasis on research, for example, than some other schools which may be more clinic-based. It would be a good idea to contact a few dental schools and ask them if you are concerned. With that said, even the schools I've listed still accept applicants each year that have not done any research. So, while it is not a requirement, it can be a nice boost on your application for quite a few schools.

 

[deleted767916]

This is not really the case for Michigan, I met their vice president and they rather have a diverse student body and want a mixture of students with different experiences.

The importance of research is going to depend a lot on which dental schools you apply to. Schools like Michigan, UPenn, and Harvard are going to place a higher emphasis on research, for example, than some other schools which may be more clinic-based. It would be a good idea to contact a few dental schools and ask them if you are concerned. With that said, even the schools I've listed still accept applicants each year that have not done any research. So, while it is not a requirement, it can be a nice boost on your application for quite a few schools.

 

[Faefly]

If you have a good GPA and Good Dat, then it's not necessary unless you are applying to schools like Harvard.
If you have an average GPA or Low DAt, then it helps to make you look as a well-rounded student.
If you have a low GPA and Low DAT, then yeah it does not matter at that point unless you have discovered something and published something about it!

Moral of the story, it does not hurt, but it does not help that much unless you have somewhat good stats, so consider this, working on research might mess up your gpa for a semester unless you are really organized, is it really worth it?

 

[2jz]

Moral of the story, it does not hurt...

If you can't coherently explain the larger question your research is trying to answer, or how the techniques you used work mechanistically, research could easily hurt you. Even more so if your interviewer is from the same field of study or has any experience with the techniques you used.

 

[deleted767916]

If I was in a research lab but couldn't really do much because I had personal issues at the time and only did it for the experience/learning should I include it? I literally didn't do anything I think, just learning techniques

If you can't coherently explain the larger question your research is trying to answer, or how the techniques you used work mechanistically, research could easily hurt you. Even more so if your interviewer is from the same field of study or has any experience with the techniques you used.

 

[princeafrica]

If I was in a research lab but couldn't really do much because I had personal issues at the time and only did it for the experience/learning should I include it? I literally didn't do anything I think, just learning techniques

I would include it. If asked about it just be honest about your experience and the things you learned. The techniques learned can be interesting to talk about so don’t think your experience sucks just because you didn’t do some big research.

 

[deleted767916]

Yeah my research professor understands

I would include it. If asked about it just be honest about your experience and the things you learned. The techniques learned can be interesting to talk about so don’t think your experience sucks just because you didn’t do some big research.