I am a rising sophomore and I have been looking into applying for summer research internships. There is one at my school and I am going to be emailing professors at my school. I just dont want to put all of my eggs in one basket and end up disappointed. I am an URM and was planning to apply to research programs that are on the AAMC site like AMGEN, SURF, NIH etc. Is it a waste of time applying to these programs? I know most of them are prestigous and receive a lot of applicants. I dont have any research experience under my belt and was hoping to gain some at one of these programs. I just want to know if I should stick to research at my school and not waste my time because these look like amazing opportunities.
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Should I apply to summer research programs?
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So this is a very biased answer based on my experience, but take it as you will.
I applied to those summer research programs for last summer and didn't get any invites/interviews anywhere. I was pretty bummed because I had really gotten my hopes up about the the great research experience + decent cash for the summer, but I ended up finding a clinically related summer job that I worked instead (pm me if you want more details, it isn't something traditional like medical assistant or EMT). By the end of the summer, I was so glad I had done that clinical experience and actually worked with patients hands-on and now as a current applicant it ended up being a much more impactful part of my personal statement/resumer as a whole.
This is especially because I otherwise also did two years of research at my university, so I think the clinical experience I added is much more impressive/meaningful for my app than adding a summer of more research.
Furthermore, a research assistant role at your university will likely be 1000x easier to obtain than one of these summer gigs, and potentially more beneficial for you in the long run because if you put in 1-3 years as opposed to one summer of research, your experience will be much more impactful on your application. Adcoms would be much more interested in a publication in your 2nd or 3rd year of research at your university than they would be in an obligatory summers-end poster.
Ultimately, I'd suggest you get more diverse clinical or volunteer experience during the summer and spend sophomore-senior year in a research lab at your university since this is something that's fairly easy to juggle with school whereas a really interesting clinical experience might be harder to fit in other than the summers. The key is to not sit in the background and merely check a box for research. Take an interest in the research and explore poster and publication opportunities to make your actual interest in the research clear to future adcoms.
Anyways, I feel as though maybe I rambled a bit but feel free to ask me to clarify something if need be.
I applied to those summer research programs for last summer and didn't get any invites/interviews anywhere. I was pretty bummed because I had really gotten my hopes up about the the great research experience + decent cash for the summer, but I ended up finding a clinically related summer job that I worked instead (pm me if you want more details, it isn't something traditional like medical assistant or EMT). By the end of the summer, I was so glad I had done that clinical experience and actually worked with patients hands-on and now as a current applicant it ended up being a much more impactful part of my personal statement/resumer as a whole.
This is especially because I otherwise also did two years of research at my university, so I think the clinical experience I added is much more impressive/meaningful for my app than adding a summer of more research.
Furthermore, a research assistant role at your university will likely be 1000x easier to obtain than one of these summer gigs, and potentially more beneficial for you in the long run because if you put in 1-3 years as opposed to one summer of research, your experience will be much more impactful on your application. Adcoms would be much more interested in a publication in your 2nd or 3rd year of research at your university than they would be in an obligatory summers-end poster.
Ultimately, I'd suggest you get more diverse clinical or volunteer experience during the summer and spend sophomore-senior year in a research lab at your university since this is something that's fairly easy to juggle with school whereas a really interesting clinical experience might be harder to fit in other than the summers. The key is to not sit in the background and merely check a box for research. Take an interest in the research and explore poster and publication opportunities to make your actual interest in the research clear to future adcoms.
Anyways, I feel as though maybe I rambled a bit but feel free to ask me to clarify something if need be.
As you said, these programs are very competitive and they usually require the applicants to have some research experience already under their belt.
As the previous post said, you can join a lab at your school and work part time during the regular semesters and use the summer for something different (e.g. clinical and/or non-clinical experiences).
If you really want to do research during the summer, another option is to join a lab at your school next semester as some kind of undergrad assistant/part-time employee, and who knows... maybe the PI likes you and you can continue during the Spring and Summer next year.
Another alternative is to start research at a lab at your school this coming Fall (and continue during Spring) and apply to these summer research programs for next Summer at different institutions - in this case, you will already have some research experience.
Also, there are summer research programs that are not AMGEN and the like... They might be less competitive (I don't really know this), but they are certainly great. An example of one these programs is the one on this link: PSRP Home
In any case, if you apply, always have back-up/alternative plans.
Here is a potential research program hosted by Penn State:
Summer Translational Cardiovascular Science Institute
Penn State Engineering: Biomedical Engineering - STCSI
Open to: Undergraduates at Penn State and other universities, All majors accepted, 60 academic credits, 3.25 GPA or greater
Deadline: March 1, 2020
Stipend: $4000
Period: 10 week period (May 26 - August 7)
Summer Translational Cardiovascular Science Institute
Penn State Engineering: Biomedical Engineering - STCSI
Open to: Undergraduates at Penn State and other universities, All majors accepted, 60 academic credits, 3.25 GPA or greater
- Priority is given to students who have contacted a research mentor from the list provided in the link.
Deadline: March 1, 2020
Stipend: $4000
Period: 10 week period (May 26 - August 7)
