Do you guys think a senior honors thesis is all that it is cracked up to be? I am doing one right now in the biology dept. and my professor keeps telling me that they don't really matter-- what a waste of my freakin' time. Anyway, I have heard that doing research as an undergrad is kind of an unwritten rule to get in (I don't know how much I believe this though). Any thoughts? Drumming207
if you like doing research, do the thesis. if you don't like doing research, then don't worry about it. the schools that will care about research experience are ones that want to make their students into academic physicians. if you don't want to do research anyway, then it's not as important that you get into one of these schools . . . although these schools do tend to be more prestigious, if that is one of your most important criteria. the good thing about doing a thesis is that, unlike many of your classes, it's all about what interests *you* and what *you* want to study. it's only a waste of time if that's what you make of it.
i had to write a thesis in order to graduate. if you're interested in research, go ahead and do it. if not, i wouldn't recommend it. i didn't really want to do it, got stuck with a slacker for an adviser, and it ended up really hurting my science gpa! it's a great experience if you are truly interested in the topic. otherwise it can be a big pain. i had to stay at school over spring break to do a bunch of last minute lab work.
if doing the senior honors thesis gets you an 'honors' distinction. then do it. what's the problem? it does go on your transcript and it may be something to talk about in med school interviews.
I did an honor thesis and, although it made senior year really difficult and the last month a pain (instead of party), I think it's helped me sooo much! I chose an awesome advisor who's in 2 depts at the med school and director of research at a highly regarded institution (I have no idea why she agreed, but i'm happy!). Then, I focused my thesis around health and got to visit clinics and observe patients. It's a huge thing I talked about in my essays--it really helped and I gained a lot of exposure. Plus, i'm working on publishing it! So it's a LOT of hard work, but it can really pay off!
Do it only if it is publishable research. Getting a publication is well worth your time and effort. For any other reason, I say don't bother. There are easier ways to do research that don't involve writing a useless thesis that no one other than your mother will read or care about.
