Research important to admissions committees?

[OneLove]

I've just been told that I will be put on one of my professor's research teams for when she goes on sabbatical. I plan on pursing this oppurtunity because she has made a huge exeption for me in taking me in. I have her for general psych and I'm also a psych major. The reserach has to do with segretation, rascism, and prejudice with minority and eop college students and how they accomodate to it. I think this would be a great oppurtunity to really get into the whole research realm. I realize that this really has little to do with medicine or the life sciences. Does this still help me stand out on my amcas? Should the oppurtunity to do more biology based reserach come up, should I puruse that even though I would enjoy the psych reserach oppurtunities more? Thanks so much all.

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[virilep]

I've just been told that I will be put on one of my professor's research teams for when she goes on sabbatical. I plan on pursing this oppurtunity because she has made a huge exeption for me in taking me in. I have her for general psych and I'm also a psych major. The reserach has to do with segretation, rascism, and prejudice with minority and eop college students and how they accomodate to it. I think this would be a great oppurtunity to really get into the whole research realm. I realize that this really has little to do with medicine or the life sciences. Does this still help me stand out on my amcas? Should the oppurtunity to do more biology based reserach come up, should I puruse that even though I would enjoy the psych reserach oppurtunities more? Thanks so much all.

it definately does. Research is used as a measure of dedication to science. research i also the way that institutions get money. So they like seeing people that are dedicated to research. Now a good way for them to gauge your dedication is a publication. a pub shows them that u can actually produce results (or be a part of a team that can). There are plenty of people that don't get pubs (I didn't) but it still shows them that you have a dedication to science. so I would definately take up the opportunity, and plus the material sounds like fun. gluck!

 

[Rzarecta]

I've just been told that I will be put on one of my professor's research teams for when she goes on sabbatical. I plan on pursing this oppurtunity because she has made a huge exeption for me in taking me in. I have her for general psych and I'm also a psych major. The reserach has to do with segretation, rascism, and prejudice with minority and eop college students and how they accomodate to it. I think this would be a great oppurtunity to really get into the whole research realm. I realize that this really has little to do with medicine or the life sciences. Does this still help me stand out on my amcas? Should the oppurtunity to do more biology based reserach come up, should I puruse that even though I would enjoy the psych reserach oppurtunities more? Thanks so much all.

I would say do the research that you like. Research will be a big topic during many of your interviews, so if you are passionate about it, then you will be able to talk about it more. This will obviously make a better impression on your interviewer.

 

[Reimat]

If you look around for similar posts about the importance of research, you'll find people saying that it is especially important at big research schools (i.e. many ivy leagues) even if you don't necessarily plan on doing research in med school. Getting involved in research is good even if you don't use it to boost your application because it'll show you an alternate career path that you may end up interested in. After a few semesters of research, I now know that I want to do mainly research with limited work with patients on the side.

 

[Blue Scrub]

Yes I agree with the above posts....this research opportunity you have will def help your app, even if it is not medically related...research def looks good to med schools, especially to big research schools, so it cant hurt, and a pub will look even that much better....just for those out there that didn't do much research though, its not a mandatory thing for you to do to get in....if you dont enjoy research you dont have to do it....I know people that were accepted to med school without doing any research at all, although they were not big name med schools that emphasize research, but were accepted nonetheless, they just had other activities and ECs that were impressive

 

[OneLove]

thanks all for the replies. I'm almost certain I will take advantage of this oppurtunity.

 

[Mateodaspy]

Only do research if it is something that you are genuinely interested in...

I did no research in undergrad and focused primarily on community service activities...

Med schools are looking for a diverse group of students to fill the spots in their incoming class; this includes students with a great deal of research experience and several publications, and also those students who have none at all. This holds true for the upper-tier ivies and the lower-tier schools as well.

 

[Law2Doc]

Med schools are looking for a diverse group of students to fill the spots in their incoming class; this includes students with a great deal of research experience and several publications, and also those students who have none at all. This holds true for the upper-tier ivies and the lower-tier schools as well.

Well, I don't think any med schools are actively "looking for" people without any research, and a student's not having research experience doesn't contribute to class diversity. But there are certainly people whose non-research credentials (numbers, other ECs) are equally enticing to adcoms, and so they are willing to overlook the lack of research.

 

[Mateodaspy]

Well, I don't think any med schools are actively "looking for" people without any research, and a student's not having research experience doesn't contribute to class diversity. But there are certainly people whose non-research credentials (numbers, other ECs) are equally enticing to adcoms, and so they are willing to overlook the lack of research.

Some students aren't interested in research... and many schools realize this -- Not even schools like Harvard set out each year to make a class of some 200 or so future medical researchers. Believe it or not, many members of the admissions committees at these schools believe in the value of creating truly competent and caring primary care physicians. Throwing in some research to fill some cookie-cutter form of the 'ideal applicant' can sometimes be a more of a turn-off to some adcoms. All I was suggesting to the OP was that (s)he do whatever (s)he is passionate about -- research, community service, etc... When that passion and love for what you've done comes across in your interviews, you have a much better shot of getting in....[than if it is apparent that you did many of the activities on your app because it seemed like the 'right thing to do' to get into medical school]...

 

[Mateodaspy]

a student's not having research experience doesn't contribute to class diversity.

Sure it does... having a class of future primary care physicians AND medical researchers most certainly contributes to class diversity.

Thanks for the eye roll, though -- it was much appreciated

 

[Law2Doc]

Not even schools like Harvard set out each year to make a class of some 200 or so future medical researchers.

I've actually heard the dean at Harvard say that the ideal candidate will have both research and clinical experience...

 

[trinitrotoluene]

Some schools don't care about research at all. ETSU (which is a US News ranked primary care school) would rather have a good future clinician than a good future researcher. My UT Memphis interviewer actively discourages research-focused students from attending because the school does not have a research program.

 

[eulogia228]

I'm also involved in social science research with a professor and I was just added to a team that will finish its manuscript at the end of this term. I really love what I'm doing and that's why I got involved in the first place. I think you should do the research if you're really interested in it and would do it anyway even if you weren't applying to medical school. I don't think you should get involved in biology-related research if you're not sincerely interested in it. In addition, even the adcoms urge you to participate in activities you're interested in and not activities that you think they want to see on your application. You don't want to look back on your college experience with any regrets. Best of luck to you.

 

[Law2Doc]

Some schools don't care about research at all. ETSU (which is a US News ranked primary care school) would rather have a good future clinician than a good future researcher. My UT Memphis interviewer actively discourages research-focused students from attending because the school does not have a research program.

That may be true of ETSU, but the couple of schools I've looked at which were highly ranked in the primary care rankings have indicated that improving their research ranking is very high on their wish list.
I mainly objected to the notion of a prior poster (Mateodaspy) that not having research experience was a "plus", or made a candidate more diverse -- it usually isn't a benefit, and needs to be balanced out by some really good clinical or other experience (which that poster had, based on his impressive mdapplicants post).
But then again perhaps I am self selecting into those schools which share my viewpoint...

 

[Psycho Doctor]

If you look around for similar posts about the importance of research, you'll find people saying that it is especially important at big research schools (i.e. many ivy leagues) even if you don't necessarily plan on doing research in med school. Getting involved in research is good even if you don't use it to boost your application because it'll show you an alternate career path that you may end up interested in. After a few semesters of research, I now know that I want to do mainly research with limited work with patients on the side.

i would never give up a research opportunity and i have majorily regretted not having anything i consider significant, although i guess i have done a bit of psych research. I really was sweating the admissions game due to my lack of research, but even without it i did manage to get into a few ivies so don't think you can't get in without research.

 

[OneLove]

I've decided that its rediculous for me to take biological reserach over psych reserach just for medadmissions purposes. If they will both help me, I guess my best decision would be to start with the psych research and continue with it unless I discover I am no longer interested in psych ( I doubt that will happe).

Thanks all

 

[Jody Sadler]

I've just been told that I will be put on one of my professor's research teams for when she goes on sabbatical. I plan on pursing this oppurtunity because she has made a huge exeption for me in taking me in. I have her for general psych and I'm also a psych major. The reserach has to do with segretation, rascism, and prejudice with minority and eop college students and how they accomodate to it. I think this would be a great oppurtunity to really get into the whole research realm. I realize that this really has little to do with medicine or the life sciences. Does this still help me stand out on my amcas? Should the oppurtunity to do more biology based reserach come up, should I puruse that even though I would enjoy the psych reserach oppurtunities more? Thanks so much all.

you never know. I put my 2 semesters of research on my amcas and it turned out that the interviewer I got was researching in the same field and had worked with the same doctors I worked with. Major plus

 

[Jody Sadler]

sorry, forgot to say what the research was. We were trying to establish the genetic mechanisms behind dominance hierarchy's in Prawns (little shrimp)

 

[benelswick]

This is a topic I have been less than rational about in the past. I think the issue is that we're all busy and kind of stressed out and the thought of doing another thing that is not what we really want to do inorder to do something we really do want to do is painful.

I had developed a misanthropic ideology toward scientific research based on the idea that it was the privelege of the non-working student who could volunteer inoordinate amounts of time towards something they are not getting paid for. For grown-a** people with bills to pay it just doesn't work into a full-time-student-full-time-working schedule.

But life has a way of tearing down assumptions....a good buddy of mine has just been given a paid position as an undergraduate researcher at one of the most super-funded/super cutting-edge medical research labs in the country and he thinks he can get me on with them. So as I was giddy reading about the fascinating stuff this lab was doing I realized how false my ideology had been.

Scientific reasearch does for the most part remain the luxury of those with time to pursue it. But it is fascinating and if can do it do it, you might like it you might find you're into other things but you'll have learned something i'm sure.--Ben

 

[utcrew]

. My UT Memphis interviewer actively discourages research-focused students from attending because the school does not have a research program.

Are you kidding? They have an MD/PhD program. Last time I checked you do research to get a PhD. I worked in a research lab two years as an undergrad and a year full-time post u. grad; my interviewers at UT loved it.