Hello!
I have just finished my second year at a state school. I did one semester of research in vet med, but I left because my mentor never let me do any real work and only wanted me to make excel graphs all the time. Then this year, I spent two semesters doing cancer research, but Ive realized that my current mentor is not particularly fond of me for reasons I dont understand. I work 15 hours a week, work hard, show up on time, and occasionally ask meaningful questions. However, after he gave me a very mediocre evaluation for this years work, I am wondering whether I should return to his lab for the summer, especially after he gave another girl, who he is obviously more appreciative of even though she works less, a better score.
From what I understand, some medical schools require a letter of recommendation from a research mentor. I know I cannot ask the one semester mentor, but I also know that I will not be able to get a strong letter from my current mentor. I plan on starting on health policy research soon (this summer if I dont work in the cancer lab) so I could obtain a letter from that mentor, and I feel that its too late for me to start anew in another science lab.
My question is should I return to the lab this summer in attempts to secure a better letter of recommendation, or should I just go ahead like I want and start my health policy research? Would it be worth trying again even though after a year my cancer research mentor is still lukewarm towards me? And if I decide not to return and instead get a letter from my policy mentor, would that be looked down upon by med schools?
Thank you for any help!
I have just finished my second year at a state school. I did one semester of research in vet med, but I left because my mentor never let me do any real work and only wanted me to make excel graphs all the time. Then this year, I spent two semesters doing cancer research, but Ive realized that my current mentor is not particularly fond of me for reasons I dont understand. I work 15 hours a week, work hard, show up on time, and occasionally ask meaningful questions. However, after he gave me a very mediocre evaluation for this years work, I am wondering whether I should return to his lab for the summer, especially after he gave another girl, who he is obviously more appreciative of even though she works less, a better score.
From what I understand, some medical schools require a letter of recommendation from a research mentor. I know I cannot ask the one semester mentor, but I also know that I will not be able to get a strong letter from my current mentor. I plan on starting on health policy research soon (this summer if I dont work in the cancer lab) so I could obtain a letter from that mentor, and I feel that its too late for me to start anew in another science lab.
My question is should I return to the lab this summer in attempts to secure a better letter of recommendation, or should I just go ahead like I want and start my health policy research? Would it be worth trying again even though after a year my cancer research mentor is still lukewarm towards me? And if I decide not to return and instead get a letter from my policy mentor, would that be looked down upon by med schools?
Thank you for any help!
