Plan for next semester.

[aqz]

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I'm a junior applying this summer, and I'd like some opinions/thoughts on what I should do from here on out.

I just met with my Biomedical Engineering advisor to discuss my next semester courseload. I had thought that I needed to take this 3 credit class for graduation, but she told me that I don't need it, leaving me at 13 credits for next semester. For senior year, the only stuff I have to take for graduation is a 4 credit course and a 2-semester 5 credit course, leaving me enough room to take any prereqs that I still need to take in case schools don't accept my large amount of AP prereqs.

My top 4 schools that I'm applying to in no particular order of preference are:

University of Michigan (in-state)
UoP
Columbia
Harvard

I've been reading up on how NBDE tests are now P/F and how Columbia and Harvard are also P/F (albeit Columbia also has HP), meaning that there's not much a dental student can do to stand out for specialization purposes (I want to have the option to specialize later on when I know more specifically what I want to do). So doing research came to mind.

I've already done a year of research, but it was on yeast cells and its kinetochore proteins...so not exactly dental related and I wasn't very interested in it either. But the more I think about my future, the more I feel like I want research to become a part of it, so it's also not exactly just for specialization. Furthermore, I know Michigan and Harvard are both very research-intensive schools, so this is also something that might be important for admission.

To summarize (sorry for the long post):

I have time next semester to do something...should I try doing research again? Is it worth my time as an undergrad to do dental research when I might not be staying at Michigan for dental school? Given that dental research is something I want to do/invest my time into, would starting next semester as a junior be too late for admission purposes if research is a big factor? You can assume that I'm not a genius so please refrain from posting anything along the lines of "if you are interested enough and work hard enough, you can make something great out of research even if it's just for half a year".

Thank you for reading!

 

[qnzbabi91]

Did you take Calc II (a Harvard requirement) and Biochem? I don't know the classes required for a Biomedical Engineering degree. What upper level bio classes did you take?

Columbia liked musicians so if you have any experience playing an instrument that would look good on your application. Maybe, get a leadership role and of course maintain a good gpa. I remember when I interviewed at Columbia one girl there was from Michigan and didn't recieve any word from U Michigan. She actually went there for undergrad, and she was in the first batch. I found that to be odd. Definitely, don't apply to 10 schools like I did. Its a waste of money when you have an above average gpa and DAT score. You will most likely get into all the schools (Harvard is always a wildcard) so deffinitely apply to 7 max. You will have your application in nice and early so I think you have a good chance. Good Luck 🙂

 

[aqz]

Thanks for responding.

So here is a list of the prereqs that I've completed and whether or not they were AP:

Inorganic 1: General Chemistry w/ Lab credit: AP
Inorganic 2: Biophysical Chemistry

Organic 1: Orgo 1
Organic 2: Orgo 2

Biology 1: Biology credit: AP (took a 2 credit bio lab)
Biology 2: Quantitative Physiology
Biology 3: Quantitative Cell Biology
Biology 4: Anatomy w/ lab
(Biology 5?): Microbio lab.

Physics 1 & 2 both w/ lab.

Microbiology

Biochem

Psychology: AP

Sociology

Calculus 1 & 2: AP, took BC and passed with a 5.
Took Calc 3 and 4 freshmen year.

English Literature/Language: AP on both with 5. Total credit received on official transcript = 6 (I know this satisfies Michigan's english prereq, not sure about others).

Other random AP: Gov, US History, Chinese, German.

For music, I play piano...been playing for 14 years, performed for 10.

I'm part of an engineering honor society called Tau Beta Pi. I hold various leadership roles there, mostly for coordinating engineering events such as Career Fair, Book Swap, etc. I also lead a study group for Orgo every week.

I apologize for basically running my mouth off about all my achievements, but back to my original question(s)......

Research?

 

[richard4pa]

I can tell you that research experience is not essential for Columbia. I was accepted there having done no research. I did not get an interview at Harvard, and I did not apply to the other two schools you listed.

 

[aqz]

I can tell you that research experience is not essential for Columbia. I was accepted there having done no research. I did not get an interview at Harvard, and I did not apply to the other two schools you listed.

Hmm, yeah I really think the research concern is more directed towards Harvard, because if I hypothetically got into all 4 of those schools, Michigan offers in-state tuition, UoP offers amazing facilities in a 3-year program (I'd most likely have to do HPSP for that), but I'm hardpressed to choose Columbia over Harvard for any significant reason.

My other options at this point are applying for biomed internships this summer or going on a mission trip to Indonesia with my church over the summer (most likely unrelated to dentistry). I guess I could start research for now, but I'd have to decide whether to continue that research or pursue one of the other 2 options when summer rolls around.

More input on my research concern is welcome, but I think I'm going to just do it and not look back.

This may require a new thread, but hypothetically....in-state UMichigan vs 3-yr HPSP UoP vs Harvard. What should I choose given that I may or may not want to specialize/pursue academia? Or perhaps...any input on why you did or didn't specialize/pursue academia?

 

[engineer09]

I've done research, but it didn't come up once in my interviews at Columbia and Harvard - or... any of my interviews for that matter. If you have any other extracurriculars besides piano and TBP, I would focus on them! Service?

 

[aqz]

I've done research, but it didn't come up once in my interviews at Columbia and Harvard - or... any of my interviews for that matter. If you have any other extracurriculars besides piano and TBP, I would focus on them! Service?

Really? Wow, and did you hear back from them after the interview? Also what kind of research did you do and why?

To be honest, my extracurriculars have been quite fulfilling personally, but I just don't know if it's meritable for admission.

Piano is a hobby. Back in high school, I did a couple competitions, but really I just like to play pieces that are fun and inspiring....currently working on Jon Schmidt's All of Me.

The study group program was something I signed up for when I took Orgo. I really enjoyed it and decided to apply to lead one myself. Just finished my first semester as a leader. It was a nice side job, but more than anything I'm just glad to have gotten to help and know new people.

As for TBP, it's actually my other avenue of service asides from hospital volunteering. I lead TBP volunteer events and participate in other ones, totaling around 30-40 hours of service per semester since my sophomore year.

 

[Dentalkid434]

Alright, I will be honest, with your major, university name, and stats you are bound to get an interview at Columbia. For Columbia (as for other schools also), but specifically Columbia, your GPA and DAT score is what will get you the invite. Your interview will get you the acceptance (told to me by the dean herself). You sound like you have a lot on your resume as it is, so I would not be too worried. If I would suggest an intellectually stimulating activity for you to get involved in, that would be research. Coming from a heavy research background myself, I can assure you that you can have a successful project in a semester. I was one of the devoted ones and often was confused for a graduate student at the labs I worked at since I would not leave until 1am sometimes and even came in on weekends -- I needed the project to work and was willing to spend as much time needed to re-engineer the assignment to get the thing working 🙂. I am also not a genius, but am a hardworker.

PS - you will have plenty of dental research experience in dental school, if you choose to pursue it. If I were you, I would take advantage of your engineering program and get involved in an engineering related project while you have the opportunity of doing so. Branch out - think E'E, Mech'E, Chem'E (I recommend E'E or Mech'E).

Keep us in the loop aqz!

 

[Member902507]

If you are interested in dental research, why not start now? Who cares if people will think its late? Also, yea you may not SOLVE anything or whatever in a year and a half, but it'll be a good start and it might help you figure out what you are or are not interested in?

I know UMich offers an AMAZING dual DDS/PhD program, in which they'll pay for all 7-8 years of your education there. So, if you do go to UMich dental (assuming you're an undergrad there), you would have already had a head start on your research. Otherwise, if you're not interested in research, I'd say just chill. The application process is pretty consuming (more than I had imagined, at least) and you'll need time for that, too, unless you're solid at writing and can whip out essays like no other (depending on how many schools you're applying to).

And, from the interviews I've been to, I've learned to highlight my background whether they've asked me directly or not. I actually watched the Presidential Debates for this reason, specifically, because both Obama and Romney were PROS as talking about things that weren't asked, haha. It gives you a chance to not only answer the interviewer's question, but to take it further and talk about how a certain activity impacted you. I didn't do much research, but if I had, and if it was really important to me, I'd figure out a way to bring it up during the interview (provided it was conversational).

Don't feel pressured to do something one way or the other--do what you think you will enjoy and will benefit from the most. Sometimes, that might mean not even doing anything and giving yourself enough down time to prepare yourself for what's coming up next. Good luck!