Research experience essay question

[bzhou]

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[PfNO22]

which I feel greatly increased my exposure to the modern scientific process

Yikes, don't include the class.

I want to do this to shore up my not-so-outstanding research experience, which includes two high school summers (minor responsibilities), a summer program, this summer's internship, and my thesis next year.

Do not include the High School stuff.

 

[delirium81]

Ad coms will not seriously consider a class as research experience. I agree with PfNO22, it's not worth including.

You could maybe discuss your experiences in high school as things that peaked your interest and led you to pursue research, but it's also not really something that will be seriously considered. If your current research only includes 1.5 years in undergrad, I'd say that's borderline. You might want to consider taking a year off to gain some full-time research experience.

 

[delirium81]

Maybe they were excellent classes, but ad coms want to see that you have a firm understanding of what it's like to conduct independent research. The most important thing in any ad com discussion of an applicant (assuming all of their other stats are fine, so congrats on your good MCAT!) is whether or not the applicant can work as an independent scientist. They want to know that you can think creatively and work independently, that you have a firm understanding of how difficult research is, and that you won't back out in the middle of your PhD because things just got too tough. No ad com will believe that a class was able to give you the kind of experience that you would gain by actually conducting your own experiments in a lab.

ETA: Just to be clear, great stats will only get you through the door for MD/PhD ad com review, but if you don't have enough high quality research experience then top tier programs will be a reach.

 

[K31]

I've actually thought about taking a year off but decided against it. I was hoping that the two summer programs + thesis work will be enough, in addition to my fairly nice MCAT.

As delirium said, two summers and a school year of research is really borderline for a successful application. If I'm correct in understanding that haven't started your thesis project this coming year and are submitting AMCAS with only the summer research experiences completed, you definitely don't have enough research at present.

 

[delirium81]

If I'm correct in understanding that haven't started your thesis project this coming year and are submitting AMCAS with only the summer research experiences completed, you definitely don't have enough research at present.

K31 makes a really good point. If you're applying this cycle, you won't even be able to discuss your thesis work since you haven't started. You could maybe discuss a little bit by the time you start interviewing. Unless your summer internship this year was in your thesis lab? Then maybe you'd have a little more to go on for applications and interviews. Are any of your LORs from PIs with whom you've been doing a year's worth of research at the time that the letter was written? Because that could also be a major issue. Based on what you've said so far, I would strongly recommend that you think about waiting a year before you apply.

 

[delirium81]

By saying you'd have a little more to go on, I meant that you'd at least be able to discuss what kind of progress you've made in what will be the most significant research experience on your app. If you hadn't started your thesis work yet, then you wouldn't be able to discuss your project in any detail for the essays and you'd only have a few months of thesis work by the time interviews rolled around.

Ad coms want to see significant depth of research in a single lab. So, while it's great that you had research experience last summer and that will certainly add to your app, it doesn't really demonstrate the kind of depth that ad coms will want to see. If you apply this cycle, you still won't be able to tell an ad com that, "I've worked for 1+ year in a single lab on the same project and this is what I was able to accomplish." In my eyes, that's a major problem since most applicants will be able to say that.

 

[K31]

But yeah, my current summer internship is in my thesis lab. One LOR was from last summer's program. One was from my current lab, but this was before I actually started working. I'll ask him for an updated letter at the end of summer.

This puts you in better shape for this application cycle, although you will have less research experience than most applicants. Work your ass off in lab this summer, get a great letter from the PI, and know your research in depth.

Here's my thought process, though: the two summer experiences are where I've done meaningful stuff and been working on my own project independently, always in straight contact with the PI. I haven't just been making solutions and gels for grad students or a post-doc, like many of my friends "doing research" in mol. bio are, but I've been focused on my own projects. Maybe this outlook is too haughty, but I hope to, and obviously will have to, get this point across during some point in the application process, and I hope it will help my case.

While quality is important, adcoms want to see a certain quantity of research as well. No matter how hard you work in the summer, the time constraints are such that you don't get the experience that you would from working a couple of years in the same lab. Working long-term in a lab lets you see how a project progresses over time, and also gives time for your project to fail and for you to find a way to get around that (a very important part of grad school). Even if you are mainly doing menial tasks (and that's a lot of what you'll do in grad school as well), you can learn a lot about science by just observing how the research progresses.

 

[K31]

I'll work very hard this summer (like actually, but after the application haha) and will apply to do a 1-semester research project in addition to my thesis.

If I were you I'd just try to concentrate on my thesis project (it's lab-based, right?) rather than trying to split time between two different labs. Two projects plus the time required for applying/interviewing is probably too much to do all of them well and keep your sanity.

 

[delirium81]

If I were you I'd just try to concentrate on my thesis project (it's lab-based, right?) rather than trying to split time between two different labs. Two projects plus the time required for applying/interviewing is probably too much to do all of them well and keep your sanity.

I second this. Starting a project in another lab doesn't solve the problem of not having enough in depth research in a single lab, and will probably just spread you too thin. Working really hard in your thesis lab will help more than anything.

ETA: But ultimately if I were you, I would take a year off to do some full-time research. That will help you more than anything.

 

[Neuronix]

Someone who has not posted in this thread wanted me to chime in with my opinion on this. FWIW, I agree with delirium81's posts.

 

[PfNO22]

For your own sake, having a significant experience will help you decide if you actually want to do laboratory research!

 

[PfNO22]

My parents are both MD/PhD's (albeit from China), so I've been exposed to this environment since childhood.

Ooof, talk about pressure. and the apple not falling far from the tree.

 

[erikreinertsen]

Thanks neuronix.

I'm positive that I want to do research, though, even with my seemingly little lab experience. I just have to prove it to adcomms. My parents are both MD/PhD's (albeit from China), so I've been exposed to this environment since childhood. I've been reading and revising papers (for English grammar, etc.) since I was 11-12, and I know that it's what I want to do.

Once again, thanks for everyone's input.

That's pretty awesome that your family is heavily involved in research. However, and I say this because my friend has a similar circumstance, I think you need to tell your story in a way that convinces adcoms that your motivation is primarily from your own intellectual interests rather than cultural or familial pressure. But this is obvious and you probably knew it. Best of luck!