Publication required for UCSF MSTP?

[Caribou]

On UCSF's MSTP website it mentions that one must have documented research experience. Am I to take it that one must have a publication to apply? Does anybody know what they mean by this?

Thanks

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[BDavis]

On UCSF's MSTP website it mentions that one must have documented research experience. Am I to take it that one must have a publication to apply? Does anybody know what they mean by this?

Thanks

Although I don't go to UCSF, I suspect that it implies that you should have some research experience (which can be confirmed by a letter of recommendation from the person/abstract from a meeting/research credit hours/undergraduate thesis, etc.). This probably applies to most MSTP schools in that you should demonstrate previous research experience. I don't think it means specifically that you should have a publication; however a publication is certainly very helpful. Hope this helps.

 

[b&ierstiefel]

When I was applying, I knew of plenty of people WITHOUT ANY PUBLICATIONS who got accepted into some of top tier MSTP programs like WashU, UPenn, UCSF, Hopkins.

Don't fret...BDavis is correct in his explanation of "documented research experience."

 

[Habari]

seconding. i and other i know were accepted to ucsf and other schools without having been published. about 50% of my class was published prior to acceptance, though our admissions people explicitly say that there are many other indicators that are of much higher priority than 'published status'. this is true for all other schools that i know of as well.

 

[oasis786]

I'm a MSTP I at UCSF, and just to echo what everyone else has been saying - pubs are definitely not a requirement. We have a wide range of publishing experiences in our entering class, ranging from no pubs to pub'd after being accepted to pub'd more than a few times with several first author papers. This appears to be the case at just about all MSTPs.

 

[edawad]

[...]our admissions people explicitly say that there are many other indicators that are of much higher priority than 'published status'.

Hey,

I've been going the PhD track for bioinformatics but I'm also starting to consider going premed so I can apply for MSTP programs. What other indicators, unique to MD/PhD, are weighted heavily besides being published? Are MCAT/GPA scores as important to admissions as they are for medical school, considering how important research experience is? I know the average MSTP scores are a lot higher but that could just be the program attracting those kinds of applicants.

How does 4 years in a lab + publications (I like my current lab a lot but I also want more experience in other fields!) compare to 2-3 labs and maybe some NSF/NIH funded summer programs like REU? The main difference I see, aside from depth vs breadth, is that I can get one awesome rec with one lab, but several good recs with several (of course I can always ask professors from classes I've taken but I don't think they'd ever be as good as a research advisor's!).

Thanks!

 

[tedrik]

How does 4 years in a lab + publications (I like my current lab a lot but I also want more experience in other fields!) compare to 2-3 labs and maybe some NSF/NIH funded summer programs like REU? The main difference I see, aside from depth vs breadth, is that I can get one awesome rec with one lab, but several good recs with several (of course I can always ask professors from classes I've taken but I don't think they'd ever be as good as a research advisor's!).

Thanks!

I would say that it's a good idea to switch labs until you find one that works well for you, but if your first laboratory fulfills your interests and you like being there, then definitely stick with it. If you get lucky enough to find the right lab early, then you can stay there throughout your undergrad while taking 10 weeks to go for a summer program at another school or research institute. If you feel like you may be limiting yourself to one field by staying the same lab for 4 years, then the summer programs are a good way to venture out into other areas.

For your depth vs. breadth question, you can go through 2 labs in 4 years and still get pretty deep into the work. Getting published is going to depend on the lab, but with 2 years it is definitely doable.