Question about striving for longevity in research experience?

[O.F. Hanson]

Hello all,

Background:
I am a rising second-year undergraduate student studying biochemistry at Berea College. I aspire the career of a physician-scientist. I am currently at my summer undergraduate research internship site (the Aspirnaut program at Vanderbilt U. Medical Center). I enjoy the internship, the research I am doing, and the community at VUMC itself.

Question:
For research experiences, is it better (more competitive, outstanding) to have variety in research positions/roles or longevity of a research experience? When applying to MSTPs, that is. Specifically, I am curious if two summers at VUMC on the same project with a third summer internship on a different project is better/worse than continuing my internship position at VUMC for all three undergrad summers on the same project.

I don’t know if that is worded oddly, but simply put, which is better:
a.) Two summers experiences at VUMC on the same project + another summer experience on another project (variety)
b.) All three summers at VUMC on the same project (longevity)

Thank-you for your help!

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[Maebea]

Go with option B, longevity, hands down. Depth over breadth. When we review your application, we are assessing your potential for independent research. It is hard to do this with short projects.