Is Research required?

[Samin23]

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Hello all,

I'm currently in my 4th semester of undergraduate, and I've begun looking into various research opportunities. I have found a few that interest me, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to handle the work load of research along with other ECs. I spend my off-time volunteering at a local hospital, and I have applied for a leadership position in a service organization at my school (which would require 10+ hrs/week). With that being said, I'm not sure if I'd be able to handle those duties while also taking 14+ hours a semester, so I'm starting to wonder if I should try to take part in research or not.

Is there a preference dental schools have towards students that do research versus students who do not?

 

[musicplease]

Hello all,

I'm currently in my 4th semester of undergraduate, and I've begun looking into various research opportunities. I have found a few that interest me, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to handle the work load of research along with other ECs. I spend my off-time volunteering at a local hospital, and I have applied for a leadership position in a service organization at my school (which would require 10+ hrs/week). With that being said, I'm not sure if I'd be able to handle those duties while also taking 14+ hours a semester, so I'm starting to wonder if I should try to take part in research or not.

Is there a preference dental schools have towards students that do research versus students who do not?

Research certainly wouldn't hurt your chances
I had 600 hours of research and I had 10 interviews, but was rejected without interview at UCSF (a research heavy school)
while a friend of mine had no research, lower gpa, lower dat, and he got an interview at UCSF........... so my advice is to only do research if you are interested in it
not because you think it'll help your application.

 

[FeralisExtremum]

Research certainly wouldn't hurt your chances
I had 600 hours of research and I had 10 interviews, but was rejected without interview at UCSF (a research heavy school)
while a friend of mine had no research, lower gpa, lower dat, and he got an interview at UCSF........... so my advice is to only do research if you are interested in it
not because you think it'll help your application.

Did you guys differ much in volunteer hours? I heard UCSF is big on that.

 

[darknightzzz]

if you have enough volunteer/leadership hours, try to cut those hours and participate in research (if you are truly interested in research). Though research is not required, having it only helps you have a multi dimensional application.

I agree with the above. I have more than 2 full year of basic bio research part time with a coauthorship pub and got rejected from UCSF from very early on.

it's just the luck of the draw in some aspects I guess. but having research won't be a bad thing at all.

 

[musicplease]

Did you guys differ much in volunteer hours? I heard UCSF is big on that.

I had more volunteer and community service hours than him except for hospital volunteering (he had around 50 more hours at an ER than I did)
it surprised me when I was rejected and he got an interview, but after reading through the UCSF class thread I realized a lot of strong
applicants were being rejected as well. Luck brings you a long way in dental school admission, at least in my experience.

 

[JLT223]

Research isn't something that most schools even look for, besides maybe Harvard. It's very different from the fact that most medical schools do.

 

[Life of Pablo]

Although it is not required, it does strengthen your application. It makes you a well rounded applicant and gives you something to talk about in your interviews. Not to mention, there are some school (i.e Harvard and Columbia) that look for applicants with extensive research in undergrad. If you are simply looking to get into Dental school, no it is not a big deal if you do not conduct research, but if you want to get into a more competitive school, it will definitely distinguish yourself from other applicants.

 

[yihaej12]

I would say research begins to only matter more if you have average or below average stats (gpa/extracurriculars).

I had no research experience but I had very good stats and got into 3/5 schools I applied to. The two I didn't get into we're ucla and ucsf, which I believe are research heavy schools. Not only that, but they're one of the most competitive dental schools to apply to. So I mean, it doesn't matter THAT much. It just depends on what school you're looking at and where you stand with your stats. If you need a little unf to your application and are interested in the research, id say go for it. But if you're just looking for another thing to add on to your already above avg application, I would say don't bother.

 

[cacazor]

Man, it's almost like dental school admission is holistic or something