Retail or research/tutoring

[Aubrey Graham]

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[SpartanWolverine]

I am currently a senior and applying this cycle...should I continue working in retail or pick up research and tutoring? Which would look better and for interviews?

Thanks!


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Research and tutoring.

 

[Aubrey Graham]

Research and tutoring.

Any reasons?


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[HybridEarth]

Retail gives you a TON of interpersonal skills that you can use in every setting, I would highly recommend it if you already have research/tutoring experience. Having done all three for a long time, I believe that retail gives you the proper communication skills that you take with you anywhere you go. It made me a much more productive team player in a lab and other settings. You are forced to change the way you talk based on someone else's expertise with a product, and you can meet a lot of interesting people. So so so useful.

 

[Aubrey Graham]

Retail gives you a TON of interpersonal skills that you can use in every setting, I would highly recommend it if you already have research/tutoring experience. Having done all three for a long time, I believe that retail gives you the proper communication skills that you take with you anywhere you go. It made me a much more productive team player in a lab and other settings. You are forced to change the way you talk based on someone else's expertise with a product, and you can meet a lot of interesting people. So so so useful.

I agree...I might give up tutoring and go with working retail, research, school, and interviews...does that seem like a good plan? I am only taking 13 hours with two heavy science classes and 2 easy classes...


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[Revolution9]

Research and tutoring.

I see that a lot of us pre-med are responding to this, but the person who has actually gotten into medical school is recommending research and tutoring. I assume it's because admissions committees are going to be filled with medical researchers and medical educators and not retail managers. But, I'd like the thoughts of someone who has actually gotten in.

 

[HybridEarth]

Yeah it is definitely a doable schedule! Just manage your time well.

Retail encompasses teaching, creating solutions, learning about a certain field on your own time to make yourself better, and working with people from many backgrounds. Although I'm just an applicant this cycle, I really think working a service job draws many parallels with anyone going into medicine. Tutoring academics is different but still obviously useful in some ways, but I feel like everyone and their siblings list that on applications (not implying that it's a bad thing, but it's not something that's very fresh to bring to the table when it comes to standing out).

 

[Aubrey Graham]

Any acceptancees want to comment?


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[MLaura]

So I've been accepted and I did both research/tutoring and retail… But I didn't mention retail on my app (for some reason? I don't remember if I did actually). The research usually came up in interviews and I was able to use tutoring in my interviews because it's having a mentor role to another student/kid. Retail itself will help you because you've worked in this team setting-- even though I never mentioned it in my app, it was able to help me as a person because having those communication skills are KEY for your interview day. You want those skills to shine. Since you've already done retail, I suggest doing the research/tutoring now and mention all three on your app. It can only help. 🙂

 

[lhooq]

Any acceptancees want to comment?

I have been accepted, and I also recommend research/tutoring if you haven't done so before. Doing so will not only "look good" to admissions committees, but also impart valuable skills. In my experience, research taught me collaborative problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and tutoring helped me learn to communicate with and relate to others more, which is essential in medicine.

 

[Aubrey Graham]

I have been accepted, and I also recommend research/tutoring if you haven't done so before. Doing so will not only "look good" to admissions committees, but also impart valuable skills. In my experience, research taught me collaborative problem-solving and critical thinking skills, and tutoring helped me learn to communicate with and relate to others more, which is essential in medicine.

So the thing is I have already taught two labs in two semesters and done research for 8 months...should I continue teaching then and drop retail?


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[lhooq]

So the thing is I have already taught two labs in two semesters and done research for 8 months...should I continue teaching then and drop retail?

Hmm well in that case I would say do whichever you like the most! Or perhaps some combination of these three in smaller quantities if your schedule allows.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

Any reasons?


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Why research and tutoring over retail work?

1) Research is pretty much a requirement for medical school. You're in a small minority group if you don't have research -- most schools have 90-95% of their incoming students with research involvement.

2) Yes, retail work is good to show you can work with people, etc... but nobody on an admissions committee will gush over your application because of a couple years at Starbucks or Nordstrom. However, they'll be impressed if you have significant poster presentations or papers.

3) All of my years and years of retail/service industry work has since been removed from my CV, but my research work will stay on for life. So the amount of utility in productive research far outweighs retail work. For example, my first paper is just as important now as it was when I first published it. However, nobody really cares that I worked at Quiznos, CVS, a movie theater, and as a lifeguard back in high school and college.

4) Tutoring is a good experience, because medicine requires a lot of seeing/doing/teaching. If you can demonstrate the ability to learn and teach, that's useful.

Hope that makes some sense! 🙂