Research Question

[shahalam]

Hey everyone
I am applying to this 10 week research position at the University of Louisville. The problem is that I have no idea why I want to do research other than I want a leg up on the competition for med school. I dont want to write this cause that seems kind of selfish and greedy if you know what I mean. I mean I am interested in research but have no idea how to answer their question on the "why do you want to do research?" portion. Please help me on how to answer this questions. Thanks sdn'ers.

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[Uegis]

Hey everyone
I am applying to this 10 week research position at the University of Louisville. The problem is that I have no idea why I want to do research other than I want a leg up on the competition for med school. I dont want to write this cause that seems kind of selfish and greedy if you know what I mean. I mean I am interested in research but have no idea how to answer their question on the "why do you want to do research?" portion. Please help me on how to answer this questions. Thanks sdn'ers.

The reason I wanted to do research is because I wanted to directly apply the knowledge I acquired in the classroom in a lab. It also helps reinforce concepts and ideas from instruction. I also wanted to see if i wanted to do medicine or research. I picked medicine, which would still provide opps for me to do research in the future.

 

[stoic]

Hey everyone
I am applying to this 10 week research position at the University of Louisville. The problem is that I have no idea why I want to do research other than I want a leg up on the competition for med school. I dont want to write this cause that seems kind of selfish and greedy if you know what I mean. I mean I am interested in research but have no idea how to answer their question on the "why do you want to do research?" portion. Please help me on how to answer this questions. Thanks sdn'ers.

I'll be honest with you. If you only want to do research to get a leg up in the application process you're probably going to hate it. I'd suggest you find something you have more passion for to help your application.

Research can be really tedious and frustrating. If you don't have an intellectual interest in the process, you may very well end up wanting to smash your face into the nearest high speed centrifuge.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I've just seen several premed students come and go from the lab where I work who were only in the lab to boost their applications or get letters of recommendation... and they did not enjoy it.

 

[adoggie]

i'm looking forward to doing research because of the experience i will gain working in a lab setting on a focused activity. although research is definitely almost a necessary element of admissions, i consider my interest to be out of sheer curiosity as well.

 

[logos]

I'll be honest with you. If you only want to do research to get a leg up in the application process you're probably going to hate it. I'd suggest you find something you have more passion for to help your application.

Research can be really tedious and frustrating. If you don't have an intellectual interest in the process, you may very well end up wanting to smash your face into the nearest high speed centrifuge.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I've just seen several premed students come and go from the lab where I work who were only in the lab to boost their applications or get letters of recommendation... and they did not enjoy it.

My opinion. Dont do it if you dont think you'll enjoy it. Research, if youre doing in properly is a ton of work....essentially consuming your life. If you have no interest in research, its just not worth it. You will not be well liked if you're not putting in the work or pushing past the frustration. A letter of rec from a prof is nice, but its not a reason to do research. The value of research in your application is greatly exagerated. It is not necessary. I am firmly of the opinion that ones motivations for doing research are pretty transparent to both adcoms and the lab you join.

That being said, research is great. It eats tons of time, is insanely frustrating, but its worth it if you enjoy this sort of thing. I've had a great time in my lab. If you would consider incorperating research into your career or you just have an intense love of science, I would absolutely encourage you to go for it. Just be deliberate and careful, put in tons of work, dont waste their stuff, and remember they are investing their time (the most valuable thing they have) in you. You owe something in return...ie generate them some data or achieve whatever goal they set you on.

 

[BSEMD]

Hey everyone
I am applying to this 10 week research position at the University of Louisville. The problem is that I have no idea why I want to do research other than I want a leg up on the competition for med school. I dont want to write this cause that seems kind of selfish and greedy if you know what I mean. I mean I am interested in research but have no idea how to answer their question on the "why do you want to do research?" portion. Please help me on how to answer this questions. Thanks sdn'ers.

Wow, it sounds like you are, at heart, in the same boat as me. I am doing undergrad research now, but have been questioning whether the experience was worth the hassle of dealing with "PhD-PrimaDonnas" at my school. In essence, I feel that doing research is robbing me of precious time with my wife, and even a little personal time (time which I need to stay sane). But at the core is the fact that the professor asked me to do research, and I felt compelled...no, obligated...to accept his offer. Now I find myself spending more time during the experiment watching the clock rather than learning about the research at hand. Reading your post is like reading the subtitles of my subconscious mind.
What I'm saying is that I, too, want to do the research not because of the thrill of discovery, or the masochistic desire to fail repeatedly, but because I think it will lend itself to a better med school app, and maybe a letter of recommendation from the prof.

It's the wrong reason, however, and I think that you and I both know it.

Time spent being a real person, or time spent pursuing something that you're more passionate about (like volunteering, or something pertinent to the application) would be more beneficial probably (at least for me, as I am realizing). In the end, these admissions committies at any med school that we apply to are not taking a 100% objective look at us...it's somewhat subjective, and they spend months out of every year sorting out the frauds from the real deal, the haves from the have-nots. And if I (or anyone) try to pass myself off as someone who just L O V E S research, you can guess which stack of apps my app will end up in.

Sorry for the long rambling, but epiphanies are rarely short, and seldom coherent.

Peace,
Bryan