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Research class in undergrad...does this count as research experience?
Started by HelloNello
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you might shoot an email to the admissions people at the schools you're applying to. who knows, they may want you to include it so they get to learn more about it since it sounds like a very involved class. best to hear it straight from them and then you can't be left wondering 🙂
I would suggest this as well. I did two semesters of "research for credit" classes where I basically followed a grad student around and helped him to see what research was like. UT had me list it as research experience even though I didn't do any sort of project myself, and I was able to talk about how the exposure made me feel like research really wasn't my thing in interviews.
My opinion would be to include it. The worst they can do is ignore it, but if you don't put it in they won't have any idea.
I got academic credit for a full-year teaching/research project working to improve distance education, but I can guarantee that that is going as it's own separate spiel in my application - you simply don't get any information from "BIO 493 - IND RESEARCH/TEACH" or whatever on your transcript.
I got academic credit for a full-year teaching/research project working to improve distance education, but I can guarantee that that is going as it's own separate spiel in my application - you simply don't get any information from "BIO 493 - IND RESEARCH/TEACH" or whatever on your transcript.
I'd say that you could label your experience as 'research,' but agree that you should formally associate it with a class. I'm doing something similar with one of the 'animal' experiences that I'm listing on VMCAS. My undergrad institution offers an animal handling, fitting, and exhibition class as part of the Animal Science curriculum. Students can raise/look after/groom/show small ruminants, horses, cattle, etc. I myself reared and showed a pig for this class (her name was 'Delilah' and she was awesome), and am including it as 'animal' experience. All the same, I've highlighted that he experience was gained as part of a course. You could easily do the same with the experience you've described here.
As for publishing results, don't sweat that. I've been involved professionally with research for the better part of 10 years. It's very difficult to publish data, especially in your undergrad years. Although some students may be fortunate in gaining experience in large labs whose PIs attach their names to papers (or the lucky few that publish a first authored paper as an undergraduate- quite rare), this isn't and shouldn't be expected of a beginning scientist. I would hazard a guess that vet school adcoms are interested in the fact that you tried out research. What did you think of it? What did you learn? Publications, at this level, are an added bonus.
Good luck!
As for publishing results, don't sweat that. I've been involved professionally with research for the better part of 10 years. It's very difficult to publish data, especially in your undergrad years. Although some students may be fortunate in gaining experience in large labs whose PIs attach their names to papers (or the lucky few that publish a first authored paper as an undergraduate- quite rare), this isn't and shouldn't be expected of a beginning scientist. I would hazard a guess that vet school adcoms are interested in the fact that you tried out research. What did you think of it? What did you learn? Publications, at this level, are an added bonus.
Good luck!
At my college, we had to do a senior research project. We had intro to senior research where we developed our idea as Juniors and then as seniors we had a year long class of research. We had to carry out a full experiment and present it to the class and write a scientific paper for it and everything. It was really involved. I did mine on macro-invertebrate diversity in restored vs. natural wetlands to evaluate whether the restored wetlands that companies are building to mitigate the damage done to natural wetlands they destroy to build on ever return to the same diversity and ecological quality of the natural wetlands. I also compared plant life. It was an interesting study and I worked really hard on it. I also checked soil and water quality.
I didn't count this as research experience since it was a class and they'll see it on there, plus it didn't involve a veterinary topic. It is just listed as a class on my list, but I will probably talk about it in my supplementals to show that I am familiar with the research process.
I didn't count this as research experience since it was a class and they'll see it on there, plus it didn't involve a veterinary topic. It is just listed as a class on my list, but I will probably talk about it in my supplementals to show that I am familiar with the research process.
See, with something that involved, i'd count it as experience because they don't really get much out of the courses section on the transcript/app. For instance, I had to take an Intro to Research course for my psych degree. it was the most boring class ever and I honestly couldnt really tell you what we did other than touch on lecture topics because i wasn't paying attention. whats to really differentiate your experience from mine on the transcript? also not all of the supplementals give you room or enough room (for instance, research experience is a HUGE part of VMRCVM's applicant criteria but on their supplemental, they generously provide 60 characters for you to sum up your experience. yup, 60. thats literally half a sentence). just my $0.02, but i'd seriously consider including more involved research on any app in the research section
This is very interesting. So I am in 2 classes currently where it is research. Eh, guess I will add it.
Our school has three options for research.
1.
The first is a required course, titled "Research Methods", which covers the basics of formulating an experimental design, writing scientific papers, relevant statistics topics and designing presentations. The class includes a student designed experiment which pulls those topics into practice.
I'd imagine that something like this is not quite what they mean when they ask for 'research experience,' and I think you'd have a hard time selling it to an admissions board.
2.
The second is an independent study course, "Research in Biology." This course required a written proposal with a unique topic that is approved by the department chair. Funding is the responsibility of the student, so grant proposals are pretty much mandatory. A journal quality paper is required, whether it's published or not, and the results have to be publicly presented to the student body, (which generally ends up being you, your adviser, and a few sympathetic friends in a mostly empty room.)
I think you'd be well within your rights to claim something like this as research experience. It's more-or-less autonomous, and follows the standard format of higher level university research.
3.
The third is tag-along research with a previously established project, generally with one of the staff professors. No credits, but you'll probably get your name on a real paper. The drawback is that you're probably going to be doing grunt work, and learning very little beyond specific lab tasks.
This would definitely count, although it seems like it would be less valuable as a realistic application.
If you're looking to add research to your application, it makes sense that you'd want to choose the option with the least gray area possible.
1.
The first is a required course, titled "Research Methods", which covers the basics of formulating an experimental design, writing scientific papers, relevant statistics topics and designing presentations. The class includes a student designed experiment which pulls those topics into practice.
I'd imagine that something like this is not quite what they mean when they ask for 'research experience,' and I think you'd have a hard time selling it to an admissions board.
2.
The second is an independent study course, "Research in Biology." This course required a written proposal with a unique topic that is approved by the department chair. Funding is the responsibility of the student, so grant proposals are pretty much mandatory. A journal quality paper is required, whether it's published or not, and the results have to be publicly presented to the student body, (which generally ends up being you, your adviser, and a few sympathetic friends in a mostly empty room.)
I think you'd be well within your rights to claim something like this as research experience. It's more-or-less autonomous, and follows the standard format of higher level university research.
3.
The third is tag-along research with a previously established project, generally with one of the staff professors. No credits, but you'll probably get your name on a real paper. The drawback is that you're probably going to be doing grunt work, and learning very little beyond specific lab tasks.
This would definitely count, although it seems like it would be less valuable as a realistic application.
If you're looking to add research to your application, it makes sense that you'd want to choose the option with the least gray area possible.
