I messed up on my undergraduates. I transferred to university as a junior and didn't look for research right away. When I was trying to apply for a spot during the year, most of the research opportunities positions are full. I came from a science university so there is big competition among other students. It is frustrating as this will be my last year of undergrads and most professors request for sophomore and juniors. What should I do after I graduate for research experience?
Research Opportunities after Graduating
- Thread starter bjt223
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If you can't get into a lab (seeing as how the professor won't just kick students out now,) then I'd suggest the NIH IRTA program offered to recent college grads. It will give you all the research experience you'd want, with a stipend (and living, depending on the lab, location, and PI.) Also, after 1-2 years, they will help you get into medical school.
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Sounds too good to be true. I'm assuming it's very competitive?
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something like less than 10% applicants get admission.
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And that acceptance rate is probably a fair bit lower for those without prior research experience.
If you got to a big science school it is not hard to find someone to take you into their lab as free labor. You really just have to look around. The other thing I'll tell someone joining research late in their college life is be open to opportunities beyond basic research. There are all kinds of clinical research opportunities out there and with the right professor/physician one where a publication is rather attainable within a year. You simply have to look around. There's this idea you need to do basic research and be in a lab learning wet lab techniques for medical school; don't buy into that at all.
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learn from experience; basic science research is quite arduous and is so risky that even spending 4 years in it will not guarantee any form of poster let alone publication. The money falls in the bag depending on your luck with the right professor though at the end of the day because if the professor isn't too keen on publication because the project you are dealing with is a side project- forget about it, run as far as you can from that research.
Also take note; I didn't find my gap year research position (that is also unpaid) until the very last month nearing graduation! Life is a sour lesson...even with a BS there is no money for your expertise in academia and for someone with so much research experience I can tell you that paid positions are hard to come by unless you have some good connections.
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Those who actually take time to email PI's and seek them out and meet with them probably have a significantly higher acceptance rate. There are tons of the clueless who blindly send an application and never follow up on it.
At the same time it's very very difficult to get one of these jobs without prior research experience and a PI to vouch for you.
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Have you considered NIH IRTA program for 1-2 years with stipend? You have to email a lot of professors, but many are willing to take students.
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Emails alone are not really sufficient if you go to a school where it is difficult to find undergraduate research. I didn't start doing research until my last semester in college, and I only got that position because I knew someone in the lab who recommended me. Since I started before I graduated, I've been able to continue my work and it is actually a pretty involved position.
The way I see it, you can either get into a lab now and continue after graduation, or you can go the way of internships. NIH IRTA is an option, but I personally don't think it's a very good one. Less than 10% of applicants get placed in a lab, and thats after several months of emailing PIs. I'm guessing the chances there are diminished if you lack previous research. There are an abundance of summer research internships, many of which are paid with a stipend. These would be a good way to get your feet wet.
The way I see it, you can either get into a lab now and continue after graduation, or you can go the way of internships. NIH IRTA is an option, but I personally don't think it's a very good one. Less than 10% of applicants get placed in a lab, and thats after several months of emailing PIs. I'm guessing the chances there are diminished if you lack previous research. There are an abundance of summer research internships, many of which are paid with a stipend. These would be a good way to get your feet wet.
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The NIH IRTA program is pretty damn competitive for someone who doesnt have previous experience. You'd need to apply very broadly and be open to joining all kinds of research labs. After sending out a crazy amount of emails to PI's at the NIH, I wasn't able to get a spot at a lab unfortunately but wound up scribing and volunteering in a lab at a nearby school for my gap year. Your best bet, if the IRTA program doesnt work out of course, is to just email professors at any institution near home and see if theyd be willing to take you in, paid or unpaid. The grad students in my building are actually pretty fond of taking in post-bacs mainly because they have more time to commit to the lab than the typical undergrad. I'm assuming you're going to apply to schools one year from now? You should let these PI's know that you'd be able to work in their labs for the next 2 years, which is a pretty solid commitment.
Thanks everyone. I did heard about NIH IRTA, but like everyone says, with no previous research experience and no PI to vouch me for, I have pretty much no shot getting in. I have been emailing professors all over the campus, but no one are going to take me who are going on its last year of academic or not on their course of study. I could try to get a humanities research, but I think medical school requires science research, am I correct? It is frustrating. These days, they have all these prerequisite that I have to meet, but I couldn't because I don't have any more units to spare to take those classes. How about doing informal post bacc research? You think school will take students in? Would it better to take an economic research?
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Are you genuinely interested or are you just looking to check off a box?
Medical Schools don't require any research at all. Are your stats (sans research) competitive enough for the Top 20? It would be a waste to pursue unnecessary research activities if your current stats would get you into other Medical Schools.
Medical Schools don't require any research at all. Are your stats (sans research) competitive enough for the Top 20? It would be a waste to pursue unnecessary research activities if your current stats would get you into other Medical Schools.
Both actually, but I am more incline to learn its applications especially. I am also curious on how great idea originates and how scientists discovered through their experiments. Depending on the subject, of course, I would like to see in actions.
Unfortunately, I don't have a great score as I have a 2.7 GPA with upward trend. Of course, GPA should be my first priority and most med school does require some experience in research. That is why I was wondering.
