Research Essay

[Hohenheim]

Can someone help me with this?
I need some tips on the significant research essay...

1. How significant should it be? Does research for a Biochem course count?
2. Does a 3 month internship count?
3. I really dont get all the general tips that have been put out about writing research essays; such as - "No technical points" - So what exactly should I talk about? Does ANYONE have a sample significant research experiences essay (the 3rd essay) that I can look at?

Thanx.

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[SpeakLittleB]

I'd say just write about the 3-month internship. I spent about a paragraph each on my summer internship activities. Just say what the big picture of the research is. What YOU did specifically. what you learned. and how you can use what you learned in the future. Don't feel like you need to take up all the allotted space.

 

[Hohenheim]

Thanks.

 

[anka24]

Can someone help me with this?
I need some tips on the significant research essay...

1. How significant should it be? Does research for a Biochem course count?
2. Does a 3 month internship count?
3. I really dont get all the general tips that have been put out about writing research essays; such as - "No technical points" - So what exactly should I talk about? Does ANYONE have a sample significant research experiences essay (the 3rd essay) that I can look at?

Thanx.

I felt that I couldn't describe my research without getting at least a little bit technical. So dont feel pressured to make it understandable by anyone. Just make sure someone in science can understand it. It's better to be complete and slightly technical than to be generic.

Also, it helped that I had four research experiences so I couldn't go into detail about any of them. I'd write about the 3 month internship (all of mine were three months or less) and not the one for biochem class. However, if you did research with the biochem professor outside of the class then I would include it.

 

[rishi]

I felt that I couldn't describe my research without getting at least a little bit technical.

I got completely technical. I wrote mine as though it were a paper. I just gave a couple sentence introduction that I wasn't going to speak about everything I've researched (cuz it wasn't gonna fit) and then just dove in. I thought it would be important to write in a way that could stand up to scientific criticism.

Cuz its gonna be researchers who reads these, right?

 

[Hohenheim]

Yeah, thats kinda the thing - cuz I went through piles and piles of med skool; Md/PhD advice and they all said the same thing: "Adcoms dont want to hear about you pipetting this or looking at so and so spectra data or mixing so and so or blotting so and so" etc. At first, I wrote my experiences as though they were abstracts - but then, I felt uncomfortable with all the technical data...

On another note: Is it a good thing or a bad thing if schools contact you and ask you to apply? I mean, does this indicate that you wouldnt have a good chance at schools with higher prestige than the ones that contact you?

Thanks.

 

[anka24]

On another note: Is it a good thing or a bad thing if schools contact you and ask you to apply? I mean, does this indicate that you wouldnt have a good chance at schools with higher prestige than the ones that contact you?

Thanks.

I think the schools that contact you are doing so because you made their cut for MCAT and GPA and they usually don't get as good students so they are actively recruiting. But if you have good scores, then you should be able to get into schools that don't recruit as well. I ignore most of the ones that ask me to apply. Now, if they said they were going to waive the admissions fee, that'd be another story!

 

[mdphdhopeful]

Now, if they said they were going to waive the admissions fee, that'd be another story!

yea right!

 

[Hohenheim]

LOL. Neck deep in fees as it is. Perhaps I should write a little letter...

Dear Adcom:

I understand you have heard about my prestigious and prodigious talents and have taken it upon yourself to aggressively recruit me to your <ahem> medical school.
Be informed that I will not be paying you any attention until the following demands are satisfied:
1. Waive all fees.
2. Limo service to and fro the airport for interviews.
3. Champagne before, during and after interviews.
4. Strippers. Lots of Strippers.

Best Regards -
That guy you just cant get enough of.

On another note: Has anyone ever included rusty languages in the AMCAS languages section? I am trying to decide whether this was a bad idea or not...I included some languages which I used to be able to speak fluently but now am somewhat rusty in...I am scared someone might see that and decide to conduct the entire interview in that language!

 

[hawkeey]

Can someone help me with this?
I need some tips on the significant research essay...

1. How significant should it be? Does research for a Biochem course count?
2. Does a 3 month internship count?
3. I really dont get all the general tips that have been put out about writing research essays; such as - "No technical points" - So what exactly should I talk about? Does ANYONE have a sample significant research experiences essay (the 3rd essay) that I can look at?

Thanx.

The idea is get across a comprehensive outline of the research that you have done thus far, explaining your work as succintly as possible. You need to establish that you have done a lot of research and that you know how to explain what you did.

Research for a course? Do you mean there was lab component to a course and you designed your own experiment? I'm not so sure if that is going to make it.

Or was the course a "research course"... in that case then it probably should make in your essay.

 

[Hohenheim]

Thanks.

I have had other research experiences, I thought I would fill in the rest of the space with the Biochem projects. I had a 3 month internship as mentioned and then an independent study.