Hi all. My friend was telling me that anyone can perform research for the chemistry or biology department at their respective university for 3-5 credits AND recieve a letter grade, in addition to paving the way for a great letter of recommendation. My friend said that everyone who was enrolled in the non-thesis lab research got an "A" grade just for showing up. Is this too good to be true? And if not, how do medical school admission counselors view courses such as this. It would go on my transript as "CHEM 341 : Introduction to Research". I would love 5 credits of an "A" to factor into my bpcm gpa.
Lab Research=Easy A for BPCM GPA
- Thread starter Clipse
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I will admit, I did a lot of biomed research and got units for it. My junior year I got As for that work and then our university stopped giving letter grade credit for medical school research. So yeah, it did help my BCMP GPA by at least .1-.2 points. However, it was more work than a class, but it was a guaranteed A if I did the work. Each lab mentor will be different, as will every school's policy. My research also came up a lot in interviews and of course letters of rec.
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yeah definitely depends on the mentor...and it does turn out to be more work than a regular class, but you have no tests or studying, just have to put in your 3 hours per credit workload...or if you find that special mentor, not much work at all 🙂
but beware, if you get a crappy mentor, even if you do your share of the work, you won't be guaranteed an A
i did three semesters of research (all for my thesis) and i got 9 credits worth of As...not too shabby, but still more work than a class
but beware, if you get a crappy mentor, even if you do your share of the work, you won't be guaranteed an A
i did three semesters of research (all for my thesis) and i got 9 credits worth of As...not too shabby, but still more work than a class
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This is exactly what happened to me. I did MORE work than other kids who got As, but my mentor was not very understanding about my leaving school for med school interviews. She held a grudge which reflected in my grade for the research.
Be very careful when choosing your mentor!
C
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What?!?!?!?!!!!! I'm getting pass/fail credits and everyone else gets 5 credits of A for BCPM padding. Thank god for the MCAT. Wait did I actually think that?😱
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it depends on the mentor and school and course policies.
but really, this is a lame reason to do research. If you don't give a crap to research, 10-20hrs/week of time in the lab is a huge waste. Instead, take half that time and devote it to other classes so your GPA goes up. Take the other half and do extra-activity or take some class that really DOES interest you.
If you're curious about reasearch, but afraid your PI will give you poor grade... sign up P/NP
(I did something to that effect when i realized my PI never gives A's... miraculously, though I would have gotten an A my last semester my PI told me if it was graded).
just my 2 cents...
Sonya
but really, this is a lame reason to do research. If you don't give a crap to research, 10-20hrs/week of time in the lab is a huge waste. Instead, take half that time and devote it to other classes so your GPA goes up. Take the other half and do extra-activity or take some class that really DOES interest you.
If you're curious about reasearch, but afraid your PI will give you poor grade... sign up P/NP
(I did something to that effect when i realized my PI never gives A's... miraculously, though I would have gotten an A my last semester my PI told me if it was graded).
just my 2 cents...
Sonya
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What???
Not getting an A in undergrad research is unthinkable. If you choose a cool PI to work with, like the research, work hard, have some aptitude to think critically ie. be able to develop protocol according to your own experiment then there should be no reason to get lower than an A.
Personally, I have done research for about two years and have worked hard (not too much) enough that I did make good progress in my independent research and still did great in my other classes. You just have to manage your time wisely and put more effort towards school. Not too difficult if you ask me. After all, gaining acceptance to med/dent/pharm/opt only takes 3 good years in college where you have to do slightly better than getting half A's and B's (>3.5) and having an entire summer before junior year to study for mcats. Also, do some things that you like; volunteering, clubs, work, research fellowship, etc. So just chill and take care of your ish!!
Not getting an A in undergrad research is unthinkable. If you choose a cool PI to work with, like the research, work hard, have some aptitude to think critically ie. be able to develop protocol according to your own experiment then there should be no reason to get lower than an A.
Personally, I have done research for about two years and have worked hard (not too much) enough that I did make good progress in my independent research and still did great in my other classes. You just have to manage your time wisely and put more effort towards school. Not too difficult if you ask me. After all, gaining acceptance to med/dent/pharm/opt only takes 3 good years in college where you have to do slightly better than getting half A's and B's (>3.5) and having an entire summer before junior year to study for mcats. Also, do some things that you like; volunteering, clubs, work, research fellowship, etc. So just chill and take care of your ish!!
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I've heard many stories from my school where kids work their butts off doing lab independent study and the PI gives them a bad grade anyway...so I'd ask around before you assume that at all schools, all professors give A's for this kind of work.
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In my case, I could have gotten an A if I had continued my research project over the winter break. I wasn't about to do that, so I settled for a lower grade. I think part of it was that my PI just wanted students to continue to work with her. She was so crazy that no one wanted to work with her more than necessary. Of course, there were plenty of people who had really laid-back PIs who gave them As for very little work. It works both ways, so be careful when choosing who you're going to work with!
And for the record, these were considered to be 4 credit classes, not 5.
And for the record, these were considered to be 4 credit classes, not 5.
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Getting an A for research doesn't require stressing over quizzes, homeworks, and tests, BUT it can take up more time than a regular science class.
I had to work at least 25 hours a week in order to get good progress on the project and it was over an entire calendar year. Yes, that included summer and winter break. I did get an A though but my PI was a great guy.
I had to work at least 25 hours a week in order to get good progress on the project and it was over an entire calendar year. Yes, that included summer and winter break. I did get an A though but my PI was a great guy.
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Yeah, my undergrad research did help pad my GPA....and that is the case for a lot of other premeds.
BUT don't do it for that...that's like volunteering only because you wanna get in. The AdComs will see right through that, especially in the interview (they WILL ask)....
Do the research, do it because you have a genuine passion, and although it may be a "giveaway" A, you wanna feel that you actually earned it...
BUT don't do it for that...that's like volunteering only because you wanna get in. The AdComs will see right through that, especially in the interview (they WILL ask)....
Do the research, do it because you have a genuine passion, and although it may be a "giveaway" A, you wanna feel that you actually earned it...
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Well I did research and got an A- and a B+ for my efforts...
Apparently my results were good, but my personality for research was not.
Whatever that means. 🙁
Apparently my results were good, but my personality for research was not.
Whatever that means. 🙁
C
Chronotropic
It's hard to believe that all these premeds volunteer and do research because they have a genuine interest. There are probably just as many people who do it solely for transcript reasons.
AdCom members aren't gods and premeds aren't naive. There are applicants every year who probably BS there way though an interview and get in. When I was interviewing at my state school one med student told me that adcoms come across insincere people all the time. And that for every one they catch there is probably one they didn't.
Wasn't there some guy on here (SDN) who lied about a publication and got in?
If you do research for a letter grade can you repeat the course? If you took a four credit research course did you take a normal 15 (on the semester system) credit hours or did you take 19, because this isn't a typical class?
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