Should I put this on my AAMC?

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drareg

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i know everyone is working hard on their primary apps. good luck guys. i had a research opportunity ALLL the way back in summer 05 when i was in community college. i was basically a lab monkey and mainly did pcr and not much else. it was great because it made my lab classes easier once i transferred to berkeley but I did not gain much else from it since I believe my p.i wasnt comfortable giving me any "real" tasks. since then every summer has been filled with other ec's that i wouldnt have traded for the world and my semesters were filled with school and work.... i didnt have time to work in a lab. Should I mention this EC in my application.

I should add that this last semester I was able to do some research in the social sciences. it was on something that interested me a great deal, it was something that i was able to do independently and I did not need to be in a lab. all my data was collected by survey and i analyzed everything and wrote my own report. I am definitley going to be adding this in my aamc. thanks guys

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Having had experience inside of a lab puts you one step ahead of anyone who hasn't had any experience in that area. I'd suggest that you list it. On a scale of 1 (nothing) to 5 (Nobel prize), it is a 2 but that's something.
 
Thanks LizzyM. Should I put both those two activities together (the cc research and my own research i did this last semester) or should they be separate?
 
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hey..........how to select which med schols to apply.....if location and money is not an issue!
 
Thanks LizzyM. Should I put both those two activities together (the cc research and my own research i did this last semester) or should they be separate?

They are completely unrelated. Unless you are pressed for space, I would separate them
 
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I was unsure if I should apply thru AMCAS now (prior to taking MCATs - July 2nd).......or should I wait for MCAT score and then apply to both MD and Do.......
 
i know everyone is working hard on their primary apps. good luck guys. i had a research opportunity ALLL the way back in summer 05 when i was in community college. i was basically a lab monkey and mainly did pcr and not much else. it was great because it made my lab classes easier once i transferred to berkeley but I did not gain much else from it since I believe my p.i wasnt comfortable giving me any "real" tasks. since then every summer has been filled with other ec's that i wouldnt have traded for the world and my semesters were filled with school and work.... i didnt have time to work in a lab. Should I mention this EC in my application.

I should add that this last semester I was able to do some research in the social sciences. it was on something that interested me a great deal, it was something that i was able to do independently and I did not need to be in a lab. all my data was collected by survey and i analyzed everything and wrote my own report. I am definitley going to be adding this in my aamc. thanks guys


I did something similar. How are we even supposed to describe it?
"Performed mindless repetitive tasks for hours at a time"
 
ya its tough, i think i am going to be honest. i am going to write that i was doing pcr at the time without even knowing what it really is ... and that i didnt do much except mindless tasks... but i DID IT to see get the experience and it did help me in my lab courses ...
 
Here's how adcoms at research intensive medical schools think:

1) the medical school wishes to train the next generation of physician scientists (both MD/PhD and MD-only)

2) a person who has had prior research experience is more likely than a person with no research experience to do research in the future

3) a person with prior research experience has a better idea of how research is done than someone who has had no exposure to a research lab


Therefore, we should actively recruit applicants with some kind of research experience.

The very fact that you went into the lab and did some mindless grunt work suggests that you'd be open to doing it again in the future.
 
Great summary LizzyM. I am planning on being honest with them and telling them the truth; that I didnt learn much since I was inexperienced with the sciences at the time but it did help me in my lab courses. Im afraid being this candid might hurt me since I keep hearing you want to address your positives and not mention anything negative about your candidacy. But I hear what you are saying that it is good to mention that i was in a lab, no matter what i got from it.

Should i also mention the fact that the reason why i didnt continue to get more research experience once I did get more experience in the sciences was because i was doing other ec's that I did not want to give up, or should i not mention this at all?

Also, this was summer research was in the end of 2005 and it was in So-Cal. I know there is no way I will be able to get a LOR from my P.I since I probably wont be able to find him and it wouldn't be good because he knew me for 2 months, about 3 -4 years ago. Is this bad? Is this another reason that I should not even mention this EC?
 
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Also, this was summer research was in the end of 2005 and it was in So-Cal. I know there is no way I will be able to get a LOR from my P.I since I probably wont be able to find him and it wouldn't be good because he knew me for 2 months, about 3 -4 years ago. Is this bad? Is this another reason that I should not even mention this EC?
I feel you should mention this experience.
Did you get a LoR from your other P.I. ? Just one is good.
 
I would list it. I think ADCOM's know that everybody has to start at the bottom (ie. "lab monkey"). If they ask about it, tell them it was a way for you to get your foot in the door within a research lab. It also allowed you to gain some experience of using some of the laboratory techniques you were learning in class. enough said.
 
I have a question:
Are we expected to explain in detail our reseach projects on AMCAS, from procedures to results?
 
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