Pointless to apply without research experience?

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srbm1786

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Went to a pre dental society meeting yesterday and now I'm all freaked out. The advisor they had speaking to us kept stressing the importance of research. Then a bunch of seniors who applied this cycle got up and talked about their interviews, and they all said that they were asked multiple times about their research experience.

I haven't done any research, and didn't plan to do so (graduating December 13, planning to apply this upcoming cycle). For me it's a time factor - I'm a nontraditional student with three small children, commuting 1.5 hours each way for school every day. I haven't ever been able to fit research into my schedule.

My GPA is average, and I haven't taken the DAT yet but based on practice tests I'm expecting to score at least a 20-22 (practice tests are a little higher). I have some impressive community service, 100+ hours of shadowing, and as a nontrad I think I have some attractive "real life" experience. But is research crucial for a successful application?
 
I think it kind of depends on the schools you are targeting. I'm guessing research experience is something that schools like Harvard, Columbia, UCSF, Penn, et al value in their applicants more so than schools like ASDOH, ECU, Midwesterns, etc who seem to value that community service component. Not to say that if you have research experience you should not apply to ASDOH and if you have community service you shouldn't apply to Harvard. As I said, I think schools are all looking for students who fit their community/profile/reputation that they established and what they (the schools) are trying to accomplish.
 
I didn't do a single ounce of research in undergrad, and ended up getting into 7 schools. No, research is not required. Ask your pre dental society what they're smoking. 🙄

Research can help, but it is not something that will make or break your application.
 
Research is not necessary to get into d-school. Some schools prefer it, but it is not necessary. I was accepted to quite a few schools and had zero research experience.
 
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I have a minor research experience but none of the schools that I've interviewed at even asked me anything about it. Plenty of people get into dental school every year with zero research experience so don't worry about it.
 
I doing research in a top tier insitution with 23AA/24TS and 3.6Xgpa and Columbia still have not sent me an interview and first wave rejection from Penn.

And 2/3 interview I went to does not care about research. The one school cared was because the interviewer was a scientist.

I will say volunteer is weighted much more heavily than research.
 
I was asked about research at one interview (interviewer was a Ph.D.). And the little research I did was in the social sciences.
 
Might be worth the risk, then, to invent 2,000 hours of lab research and slap it in the application.

Perhaps they won't ask?:naughty:
 
I have over three years of full-time research experience and assumed it would be discussed in my interviews. I was never asked about it, even at Maryland (# 3 in NIH funding). When I would mention my research experience in the interview they never expressed interest in what I was researching. My interviewers were much more interested in my volunteer, leadership, and shadowing experiences. I also met several other interviewees with no experience/interest in research.

My point is that while research is helpful, I think it can be replaced with some really strong experiences elsewhere. That being said, PointEstimate has a very valid point about picking schools that emphasize your application strengths.
 
Yeah I had zero researched and got accepted to multiple schools, I wouldn't worry about it! Just make the other sections of your application really great like your community service and shadowing and leadership!
 
Worry about your average GPA and forthcoming DAT. I've heard people freak out because they don't have something to put into every section of the application. And they end up doing stuff they don't enjoy just for the sake of the application (volunteering, leadership, research, awards!). And they buy into this research nonsense and do something silly that I honestly think doesn't even constitute research when you compare some of the legit research some applicants do. It's all just to have something to put in the blanks. The most important blanks are your GPAs and DAT.
 
Just be as well-rounded as possible. But don't do research just so you can check off "research experience" in your imaginary checklist.

If you were applying to medical schools, then research would be extremely important.

So far I have been asked about my research at every school I interviewed at.
 
Bobby Fischer said:
Might be worth the risk, then, to invent 2,000 hours of lab research and slap it in the application.

Perhaps they won't ask?:naughty:
Click to expand...

2000 hrs..... you would most likely be asked about research if you put that much. Think about how many hours that is. While there are students who are able to commit that amount of time to research, they are the minority.
 
pmanning19 said:
2000 hrs..... you would most likely be asked about research if you put that much. Think about how many hours that is. While there are students who are able to commit that amount of time to research, they are the minority.
Click to expand...

😉 I was not being serious. Deliberate exaggeration.

Seriously: do not lie. ever. You will be found out. Sooner or later. Besides, one has to live with themselves.
 
I was asked about research experience in a majority of my interviews.

However, I only applied to dental schools known for their research. (plus some backups)

There were also people attending my interview that had no research experience and they ended up getting accepted as well. I think research is like a cherry on top of the cake, if you have a different cherry (i.e. three kids, served a healthcare mission in Uganda, climbed Everest, set a world record) They will talk about that instead. haha!
 
I had ZERO research and got in to my top choice. I am sure it helps, and I would definitely encourage it. However, I wouldn't say it is "required".

From my personal experience, and what others have told me, "advisors" give the worst advice you can find. Talk directly to schools anytime you can. I really get sick of people wasting years of their lives based on what some "pre-dental advisor" told them.
 
Zero research for me too and it was fine.
 
I have veryyyy little research experience, and I always forget about it because it doesn't strike me as anything important. I think the community service aspect was more important for my application, and that's what I talked about EVERY interview I went to. Not once was my research brought up (and I did this not at my undergrad or anything, but in a pharma company--and was paid). So I'd like to think the research experience I had was more unique than others', just because its a different environment, but still, it was never brought up.

I think it partially has to do with how you carry yourself and what you tell the interviewers is important to you. Community service was more important to me and that's what I chose to talk about, because once again, I always forget that I did research.

OP, don't worry about not having any research, focus on the stuff in your application that makes you a strong, unique applicant who will stand out from the masses!
 
Kkkkmakkwk from my LG-LS970 using SDN Mobile
 
Thanks everyone! I feel much better. I felt pretty good about my application until that meeting yesterday....they really made me nervous. Might have to avoid the predental society.
 
You really don't need anything besides a 3.5 gpa and 19AA, so long as you apply to 20+ schools. However, research and other extracurriculars may compensate for any sections lower then those figures. For the record, I have plenty of research which serves as some useful talking points at interviews.
 
at my interviews, no one asked about it.

it certainly won't hurt if you have it on there, but it really comes down to where you want to go. some schools stress research (i.e. BU) more than others.
 
maybe less than 5 DSs nationwide will want to see some form of research, but most don't care.
 
Research heavy schools such as columbia and michigan did not care that I had 0 research, for what its worth. Actually, no school I applied to asked about it at all.

If you did have good research though, you would have something to talk about at interviews.

Be warned, don't fill your app with research you don't care about as one girl I spoke to said she got stuck talking about a research project she didn't have any interest in at every interview just because she did it only as a resume booster.
 
Boston and Houston asked what I did in research, out of 10 interviews.
 
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