Is this enough research for MD schools?

[tommy_spears]

Thanks for reading this in the first place.

I was wondering if 1 summer of intense research full time - 6 days for 10 weeks ( 500 hours) is enough for medical schools esp ones in CA. The program was a SURF program at Columbia. I have received a very strong LOR from the PI.

I am applying next cycle and thinking about my options.
Option 1: undertake a job that teaches freshman leadership skills
Option 2: Do another year of research, ( I have to find different lab)

GPA: 3.4 S:3.3
MCAT: 517

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[NimbleNavigator]

So that's like 120 hours right? That seems kind of on the low end, but I went to a school where it seemed like nearly all the bio majors did research during the year. Plus, I would hate to be stoking the neurotic hivemind that is SDN.

 

[tommy_spears]

Sorry I meant to say 8-10 hours a day!

 

[DrChef94]

Have you graduated yet or do you still have one more year?
I would personally focus more on increasing your GPA rather than trying to get more research hours in. If you work part-time in a lab throughout the year at the expense of trying to raise your GPA, the extra 400 hours or so won't do much for your application if you don't make the GPA cutoff. That's a great MCAT though, congratulations!

If you feel like you can pull off working part-time in a lab + doing really well in your classes, by all means do it.

 

[aldol16]

It's not about how many hours you work but rather what you got out of it and what you have to show for it (in roughly that order). You should be able to articulate how you grew by participating in research and what contributions you actually made (it's okay if those contributions don't shake the foundations of the field - you're an undergraduate).

 

[mcatjelly]

I think I barely had 200 hours... so what you have should be enough, too, as long as you're not applying top tier.

As others have said, if you have an opportunity to raise your GPA you should really focus on doing that.

 

[Catalystik]

Thanks for reading this in the first place.

I was wondering if 1 summer of intense research full time - 6 days for 10 weeks ( 500 hours) is enough for medical schools esp ones in CA. The program was a SURF program at Columbia. I have received a very strong LOR from the PI.

I am applying next cycle and thinking about my options.
Option 1: undertake a job that teaches freshman leadership skills
Option 2: Do another year of research, ( I have to find different lab)

GPA: 3.4 S:3.3
MCAT: 517

The research you already have is enough for general application purposes. One more year of it will not help any school overlook GPAs that are below the tenth percentile for its institution.

 

[aalamruad]

I think I barely had 200 hours... so what you have should be enough, too, as long as you're not applying top tier.

As others have said, if you have an opportunity to raise your GPA you should really focus on doing that.

OP is shooting for schools in CA, so that probably includes top-tier (Stanford, UCSF, UCLA-ish, UCSD-ish).