Should I go to the Research Conference?

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IcePenguin

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This is an undergrad organized “conference.” It wouldn’t hurt to go but it’s essentially the same as presenting at your institution’s poster day.
 
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Posters still matter to medical schools as a signal of your interest in scientific inquiry rather than pure scientific accomplishment. That said, as is mentioned above, this is the equivalent of presenting at your school’s research days. If you have zero other research dissemination (pubs or presentations) this could be helpful, but if you have anything else this likely isn’t going to add much to your application (at least if I was reviewing).
 
IcePenguin said:
Hey everyone, I have been accepted to the Harvard Undergraduate Research Conference as a poster presenter, but I'm not sure whether I should go, because I would have to pay some of the funds myself. My question is: are poster conferences beneficial, or are publications the only things that matter to medical schools? Should I go to a conference that's closer to me if my funds don't work out?

Thank you for your help!
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seeinghowitgoes said:
Posters still matter to medical schools as a signal of your interest in scientific inquiry rather than pure scientific accomplishment. That said, as is mentioned above, this is the equivalent of presenting at your school’s research days. If you have zero other research dissemination (pubs or presentations) this could be helpful, but if you have anything else this likely isn’t going to add much to your application (at least if I was reviewing).
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On the other hand, you are going to be spending a ton of your own funds between today and the day you attend med school orientation, so I wouldn't let the fact that you are not receiving an all expenses paid trip to Cambridge stop you from doing something interesting that might be even a little beneficial to you. If having "to pay some of the funds myself" is going to be your limiting factor, you're going to have a very difficult time applying to med school! 🙂
 
Publications don't even really matter all that much to most med schools. They are not ranked very highly on the surveys given to adcoms except for the top research powerhouses, and even then you don't necessarily need pubs--just research experience. IMO, if you have to pay a lot of money to get to a poster conference that won't give you more benefit than presenting at your own institution, it's not worth it. If you're going to pay, it might as well be to a national conference.
 
Matthew9Thirtyfive said:
Publications don't even really matter all that much to most med schools. They are not ranked very highly on the surveys given to adcoms except for the top research powerhouses, and even then you don't necessarily need pubs--just research experience. IMO, if you have to pay a lot of money to get to a poster conference that won't give you more benefit than presenting at your own institution, it's not worth it. If you're going to pay, it might as well be to a national conference.
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Someone told me that presenting at Harvard equates to presenting at a national level, but I'm not very experienced with conferences, so do you mind telling me what you think of that statement?
 
IcePenguin said:
Someone told me that presenting at Harvard equates to presenting at a national level, but I'm not very experienced with conferences, so do you mind telling me what you think of that statement?
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I'm not an adcom, but to me that sounds like someone trying to puff up his experience/ego. A national conference is a national conference imo.
 
IcePenguin said:
Someone told me that presenting at Harvard equates to presenting at a national level, but I'm not very experienced with conferences, so do you mind telling me what you think of that statement?
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100% false.

Sometimes docs without a lot of research experience can’t differentiate good vs weak conferences, but even people without a ton of research experience will know this is an undergraduate research conference and not a national level scientific meeting.

That’s why I stand by my original statement: if you have no other research dissemination then this conference may be a useful signal to adcoms of your interest in research but is not in and of itself going to be viewed as a significant scientific accomplishment. If you have disseminated elsewhere (other pubs or presentations) I’d skip it.
 
seeinghowitgoes said:
100% false.

Sometimes docs without a lot of research experience can’t differentiate good vs weak conferences, but even people without a ton of research experience will know this is an undergraduate research conference and not a national level scientific meeting.

That’s why I stand by my original statement: if you have no other research dissemination then this conference may be a useful signal to adcoms of your interest in research but is not in and of itself going to be viewed as a significant scientific accomplishment. If you have disseminated elsewhere (other pubs or presentations) I’d skip it.
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Should I go to the NCUR instead then? I already have 4 posters, but they're all at my undergrad. So I'd like to pick 1 more to go to.
 
IcePenguin said:
Should I go to the NCUR instead then? I already have 4 posters, but they're all at my undergrad. So I'd like to pick 1 more to go to.
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Six of one, half-dozen of the other in my opinion. Go to whatever conference is more affordable or in the location you want to go to.
 
How much money are we talking about? Do you have the capital or credit line that would allow you to pay off the costs reasonably quickly without significant pain? I'd personally be inclined to go. More is better IMHO whenever we are talking about publications or poster presentations. I'd rather be out of a couple hundred bucks than wonder if I didn't get in XYZ School of Medicine later if that small investment would have tipped the scale in my favor.

P.S. Can you present at both conferences?
 
DNAJB6 said:
How much money are we talking about? Do you have the capital or credit line that would allow you to pay off the costs reasonably quickly without significant pain? I'd personally be inclined to go. More is better IMHO whenever we are talking about publications or poster presentations. I'd rather be out of a couple hundred bucks than wonder if I didn't get in XYZ School of Medicine later if that small investment would have tipped the scale in my favor.

P.S. Can you present at both conferences?
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Just for the record, I promise no school was going to take you or not take you based on going to one of these conferences when you have already presented research at the undergrad level.
 
Is presenting at AMSA or ABRCMS worth much?
 
How many people are attending the conference, who is presenting the seminars (big names in the field?), and what's the actual estimated cost? I'm not sure if what you were told was misinformation, but presenting at an undergraduate-sponsored conference versus a national/international is very different, especially in terms of the science you expect to find, the conversations made, and especially the type of scientific queries being answered during seminars that are actual true game-changers to the field. I think your friend maybe meant well, but you do have 4 conferences already, and if you have the financial means, it wouldn't hurt to go! But as someone else mentioned, unless it's a true national conference, I don't expect this to be the reason why you wouldn't get an II from a school. I suggest though if finances are an issue, ask your school department (related to the field of your research) if they have spare funds for an aspiring physician-scientist to sponsor your trip, email the hosts about if the conference itself offers scholarships (some offer travel grants or awards), etc.! National conference fees are really no joke, so if you can offset the cost, utilize ALL your resources (also your PI should be offering to help pay, so try to bring that convo up).
 
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