Research!?

[predental89]

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Hello All,

I recently started working in research lab at UCSD, I was wondering how valuable or how good it looks to have your name published on a paper written on the research done?? How important is that to dental school admission committees?

 

[minoh87]

i think its pretty legit to have an authorship as an undergrad but that gives the adcoms a good chance to ask you about your project in detail.. you should definitely try to know what the project is about even though you might be assigned to a menial tasks in the beginning.

 

[predental89]

Of course, I am learning the project in great detail as well as providing little tasks! but do you think that would possibly be one of the top deciding factors for acceptance?

 

[jlbeck3]

Remember that there is a difference between "authorship" and "thankful consideration". If you are helping by participating as a lab technician, you will probably not gain co-authorship, but if you are helping design the study based on previous literature and your mentor (principal investigator) considers you a CO-PI....then you may get your name on the paper. That decision is really up to the principal investigator, not you. Anyway, hope your research is going well, and good luck in this cycle.

 

[wantVCUdental]

Of course, I am learning the project in great detail as well as providing little tasks! but do you think that would possibly be one of the top deciding factors for acceptance?

Research is something you should do for your personal interest and to fulfill an academic curiosity. And to answer your question, most schools with the exception of like, UPenn Harvard or the big research schools, don't care about research. It's good if you do it, but if you can get a 3.5 with 21+, it won't matter (EVEN IF you get authorship). If you don't have trouble getting LORs (which i think may be tough at UCs) and you are not particularly interested in slaving over experiments that don't work, then I would say ditch it, go do some community service or study the DAT.

*Read some of the posts here, there are people who've won national research awards, go on to publish in high impact factor journals with few interviews, while there are applicants with few ECs and a 3.5+ 20/21 DAT get multiple interviews. Research doesn't make you a better dentist.

 

[XZeRO]

*Read some of the posts here, there are people who've won national research awards, go on to publish in high impact factor journals with few interviews, while there are applicants with few ECs and a 3.5+ 20/21 DAT get multiple interviews. Research doesn't make you a better dentist.

i'm a living breathing example of the former, except i have no interviews and no rejections. Concentrate on your numbers.

If you do go into research, know the project like the back of your hand... and be able to explain it in laymans terms. Otherwise you will just confuse whoever you are talking to (eg. adcoms) about your project and they might mark you down on your communication skills 😕

 

[dentalpath]

i'm a living breathing example of the former, except i have no interviews and no rejections. Concentrate on your numbers.

If you do go into research, know the project like the back of your hand... and be able to explain it in laymans terms. Otherwise you will just confuse whoever you are talking to (eg. adcoms) about your project and they might mark you down on your communication skills 😕

I agree with these posts but I would definitely say that having your name on a paper as first author or co-author in undergrad is quite commendable. I am saying this because I was told so during a recent interview. I had written the literature review for the paper and worked in the research lab for 1.5 years during undergrad. Will it make someone below a 3.0 GPA and 17 DAT gain acceptance -NO but if your GPA is around a 3.5 and DAT around a 20, published research does add an edge to your application plus it gives you more points to talk about in your interview. In addition research shows analytical skills which may otherwise not be present in your regular coursework. Designing and project and publishing the results is a big accomplishment...and shows dedication, hardwork and discipline to follow through since research is time consuming and requires LOTS of patience..qualities that I think definitely help u in dental school.