Rejecting a summer intemship position

[cookyjar]

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Is it rude to reject a summer internship position because of being too busy with mcat and med school apps during the summer? I worked in the same lab last summer so the PI know me well. I was planning to ask him for a letter of rec. Bad idea to reject the internship position offer he made for me for this summer?

 

[survivordo]

Why not take it? How intense is this internship? I feel like you should have enough time to do all three assuming you're not holding down another full time job. Taking it might be the most beneficial thing you do for your application as it will lead to a stronger LOR and application with potential publication etc. Schools gobble up research, I would do all you can.

Survivor DO

 

[erutha95]

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[Doctor246853]

I can't believe people are telling you to do both. F the research and focus on the mcat.(assume you're only applying MD/DO not MD/PhD). Summer research takes all your time and you need to dedicate all your time to taking this test. /thread

 

[Doctor246853]

Honestly it will look a lot better if you work at the same time as doing MCAT/apps

If you really don't think you can do well on the MCAT then take time off, but if you can score a 30+ it looks much better if you can "chew gum while walking" so to speak by working at the same time.

Bad analogy; not even close...

 

[erutha95]

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[yehhhboiii]

I can't believe people are telling you to do both. F the research and focus on the mcat.(assume you're only applying MD/DO not MD/PhD). Summer research takes all your time and you need to dedicate all your time to taking this test. /thread

Why? Studying for the MCAT along with doing research isn't that hard. You can easily do it with a full time job during the summer as long as you don't slack. There's also a lot of down time when you're running experiments. And doing the applications is not that time consuming, at least for most schools. They ask you for like 250 words.

 

[plumazul]

Why? Studying for the MCAT along with doing research isn't that hard. You can easily do it with a full time job during the summer as long as you don't slack. There's also a lot of down time when you're running experiments. And doing the applications is not that time consuming, at least for most schools. They ask you for like 250 words.

👍 This is your answer. I was an Amgen Scholar last summer and many of my fellow Scholars were at different stages of preparing for and taking the MCAT. It will require a full day every day, but it's doable.

 

[cookyjar]

Really? it's not that bad? I was thinking about June 20 mcat so when I start the internship, I would be only about couple weeks away from the mcat. I already got 1 pub from this lab last summer. I was afraid that it would take away the time I need to take FLs. or am I worrying too much about this exam?

 

[Doctor246853]

You guys are some bad ass MFer's or I'm just lame. I had a little downtime between gels and such but so much time went to reading papers that my PI sent me via email. The time that I did have was not sufficent for proper mcat stuying. Then later in the summer you will be preping for poster/oral presentations. How did you guys do real mcat studying while doing full time research? I personally studied for the mcat while taking only two classes which both supplemented the mcat (biochem/genetics both 3hrs credits).😳

 

[Doctor246853]

Really? it's not that bad? I was thinking about June 20 mcat so when I start the internship, I would be only about couple weeks away from the mcat. I already got 1 pub from this lab last summer. I was afraid that it would take away the time I need to take FLs. or am I worrying too much about this exam?

These guys are superstars. If you're a regular joe, take this advice with a grain of salt...

 

[cookyjar]

You guys are some bad ass MFer's or I'm just lame. I had a little downtime between gels and such but so much time went to reading papers that my PI sent me via email. The time that I did have was not sufficent for proper mcat stuying. Then later in the summer you will be preping for poster/oral presentations. How did you guys do real mcat studying while doing full time research? I personally studied for the mcat while taking only two classes which both supplemented the mcat (biochem/genetics both 3hrs credits).😳

My PI is pretty chill so if I ask him to give me little work because of mcat he might understand. Also, I am thinking about june mcat and I start at the end of may so it's only for first couple weeks. But then again, these people really might be superstars lol

 

[penguinism]

My PI is pretty chill so if I ask him to give me little work because of mcat he might understand. Also, I am thinking about june mcat and I start at the end of may so it's only for first couple weeks. But then again, these people really might be superstars lol

See if you can work only a half day before your MCAT and then pick up some extra hours after the exam. I had a similar agreement with my PI and it worked out fine.

Is this paid or free? If you're getting paid, then it's definitely worth coming to a mutual agreement about how often you can work in the weeks leading up to your exam. If it's going to be unpaid, then it's probably not worth the extra stress IMO.

 

[Meihua]

Pretty much everyone I knew did research while studying for their MCAT. If you know your PI well, you can ask for fewer hours - I worked ~10 to 4 (and stopped working there ~3 weeks before my MCAT date) and had plenty of time to study. Some of my friends were in lab 9 to 5, went to MCAT class at 6, studied at night and took a practice test every weekend...but we're not all that intense.

 

[cookyjar]

So if I told him I couldn't go, would the PI view my action negatively? I kinda want a rec from him lol

 

[erutha95]

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