Significance of additional poster presentation?

[sat0ri]

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was hoping my first thread would be more monumental... but here we go:

As an undergrad (non-graduating senior) I have presented 4 times so far, one in intramural undergraduate, one at undergraduate conference within state, one regional out of state, and one intramural national conference, and one ACS national out of state. [ACS=American chemical society, i.e., the biggest conference in the field]. Further, I am interested in attending a research heavy school (to ultimately pursue a research heavy career) which I know tend to be in the upper stratosphere, so to speak. The above all have been synthetic peptide chemistry.

I was wondering if it would be worth it to attend the ACS San Fransico trip but as a Florida resident this is quite pricey for me. I'm thinking that the trip will cost 1.2K and that will be out of my pocket, and though I'm not "economically disdavantaged" I will be hurting to come up with this. I would enjoy traveling there for one, and for two, I genuinely enjoy research.

So I come asking: is an additional ACS (for a total of two) meeting a significant improvement to my app? Or is there dimishing returns on how many conferences you attend past the first? I need to know if there is a significant difference and the size of this difference so I can better evaluate the financial aspects of this decision.

 

[aspirantmed]

Try to see if you can find school or lab funding to offset some of the costs. Otherwise, I'd say 4 going on 5 definitely hits the point of diminishing returns, and unless $1,200 isn't a substantial amount for your financial situation, I'm not convinced that it's worthwhile.

 

[BoDiddley]

Would the poster you present in San Francisco be new work, or something you have presented before? I think 4 conference presentations is quite substantial and an additional one probably won't make much of a difference on your application. However, I understand where you're coming from. I'm currently looking for funding to attend this meeting too! Try emailing your local ACS chapter to see if they can fund you. Individual divisions sometimes have travel awards you can apply for.

I would suggest that you submit an abstract (if you haven't already). If external funding comes through, then I see no harm in going. If not, just withdraw. It's not worth paying out of pocket.