No publications OR posters, research-heavy schools?

[soccer90876]

Current Junior, am applying to research-heavy MD programs this upcoming cycle, and have been working on several research projects, none of which ultimately ended up leading to publication.

Thanks!

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[Goro]

Publications are rare for pre-meds. While someone might question why you worked so long and didn't have anything to show for it, your PI might be able to spin this in a good way.

Not all projects come to fruition. Hell, in grad school I wasted a year working on a project that wouldn't work, because it was based upon an impossible premise.

 

[DrFortiusNatando]

The amount of research expected and status of presentations or publications is not going to completely dictate whether you get accepted to T20 research-heavy schools. If you have fantastic EC's, leadership prowess, and fantastic volunteerism for people less fortunate than yourself, and (as you report based on your high LizzyM score) your grades and MCATs are good, you will likely get multiple interviews at multiple T20 schools. If you bring additional strengths in terms of diversity and experience, all the better.

However, if you have done the bare minimum in most things, and you are ORM, you may be not get as many T20 interviews/acceptances as you would like if you are putting yourself out there as primarily as research-strong student and have nothing tangible. If you think that continued work in the lab might eventually yield publications and if you really love research and see yourself doing research, consider doing a gap year, so that you are applying after graduation, when you might actually have some publications or presentations. You do not have to do a gap year, but almost no one regrets doing it. That way, you can concentrate on research and coursework in your final year and not spend the entire year fretting about applications and interviews. I view the entire application process as such a distraction from much more important work - 25% of your college experience is too much time to waste on the application process IMO.

 

[DameJulie]

You'll be ok. Your GPA/MCAT will be a stronger indicator for those schools. I once saw on here that research is icing on the cake. I have witnessed applicants with multiple pubs with low GPA/MCAT got rejected, while applicants who have no research with high GPA/MCAT got into research-heavy schools.

 

[theKingLT]

The need for significant research experience/pubs for T20s is largely overblown. Harvard and Stanford are on another level from most of the other T20s in terms of the "norm" in the research experience of their successful applicants, but no pubs by no means disqualifies you.