Study Abroad or Honors Thesis??

[CherrySmog]

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Hey guys, I was just wondering how highly Med Schools look upon doing an Honors Thesis.

My dilemma is that I am really hoping to study abroad for the fall and the spring of my junior year, and doing so would make it very difficult to complete an Honors Thesis at my school.

As a side note, by the time I graduate, I will have had 4+ years of research experience, as well as have completed a 9 week summer research program at a different university. I don't know if this makes any difference.

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Person0715]

Where are you planning on studying abroad?

Is the honors thesis your own original research?

 

[aSagacious]

My vote is for honors thesis. I think study abroad programs are (sometimes) enjoyable, but not always productive.

 

[raltima07]

I would take study abroad - the experiences you will have are bar none. The honors thesis might help for medical school, it might not. Just remember, your goal is to enjoy life - med school is a stop on that journey.

 

[rhesuspieces]

First of all, can't you work on your honors thesis senior year? I studied abroad spring of my junior year, and started work on my thesis the summer between junior and senior year. While abroad, I e-mailed back and forth with my professor to get a topic set in stone so that I was able to jump right into things when I came back to the U.S. My thesis was finished by May of my senior year. Hell, I know people that started thesis work summer before their senior year and finished their thesis by December of senior year.

That being said, if you really feel like you can't fit in a thesis, I would definitely, definitely study abroad instead, especially since you have a huge amount of previous research experience. Interviewers were far more interested in my experience abroad than my thesis work. More importantly, college is basically the only time in your life that you're young and relatively free of responsibility. When you're 40, do you really see yourself regretting that you didn't write a thesis? No way--you'll regret that you didn't take the chance to go abroad.

 

[CherrySmog]

I'm only an incoming sophomore, but we have to apply for study abroad programs a whole year in advance at my school. Thus, I need to make my decision in the next few months.

I am set on studying abroad in Copenhagen for the fall of my junior year, and am still considering several places for the spring.

I'm not sure what you mean by the Honors Thesis "being my own research." I was in a lab during my whole freshman year, and (assuming I did an Honors Thesis) would stay in that lab through my senior year. My PI is fine with me studying abroad, but I haven't discussed the fact that I might not want to do an Honors Thesis with them.

I guess I'm just wondering how much doing an Honors Thesis would add to a medical school application. How favorably is it looked upon, and is it really worth all the time that I would have to put into it?

 

[Person0715]

Do what you would enjoy. If you are pursuing either just to get it on your app, I wouldn't think that it would be worth it. However, if you have a genuine interest in the study abroad or the honor's thesis, I would do it, or both if you have a real interest in both.

Personally, I don't think study abroad is worth it if you don't have a learn a new language to do it. What's the point of going to Spain, for example, if you will be taking classes that are taught in spanish and will be hanging around mostly english speaking students? What kind of cultural immersion would that be?

I am just a rising sophomore, but I am intent on studying abroad in Japan in junior year and I can't wait. I have been studying Japanese for a bit now and I am hoping the experience will help improve my language skills. So I would do the study abroad if its not one of those bogus "classes will be taught in english" type of deal.

 

[surferdud]

Talked about my study abroad experience a lot more on my interviews than my honors thesis...

Enjoyed my study abroad experience a lot more than my honors thesis...

 

[wasabid]

You could do both. I did.

I only did one semester abroad. And that's really all you need to experience the place. A year would have been fun but I wouldn't have gotten much more out of it.

If I could do it again, I would have gone someplace where English wasn't the primary language. Sydney was great and all but it makes me wonder how much better my spanish would be right now if I had gone to south america or something like that.

If you study abroad, travel travel travel travel. You're there to see the world, so do it. The best part of studying abroad was backpacking up the east coast and staying in hostels, meeting people from around the world.

surferdud is right though. I never talk about my honors thesis.

 

[fizzgig]

i know you want to do all the right things, and an honors thesis is another feather in your hat. but study abroad is amazing. given the option, i'd pick that. as others said, you'll have pictures, experiences, and friends you keep up with for years and years from study abroad. and once you're in med school it's difficult to find a way to pick up and wander around for a loooong time.

belfast semester here, 7 years ago. just visited one of my american travel buddies this past term.

 

[JESSFALLING]

I'm planning to do both...and if I can...I'm sure you can too.

 

[capn jazz]

study abroad is something that you will remember fondly for the rest of your life. honors thesis/graduating with honors... will have no bearing on the rest of your life.

if you have to choose one, go with study abroad.

 

[Ursa]

First of all, why are you planning on studying abroad for an entire year. 😱 Even the most travel savvy people prefer only a few months at a time. Go for a semester, or even a summer. My fiance did a whole semester, I did a summer. We both thought it was awesome and one of the best things we ever did.

So study abroad for a semester, and you can still do an Honors Thesis. If not, screw the Honors Thesis.

 

[NickNaylor]

Screw the honors thesis. The thesis sounds awesome until you've been accepted to medical school and don't care about anything but still have to write a stupid thesis.

Trust me. No one that I knew was glad that they did an honors thesis when all was said and done. It's generally a waste of time and does nothing but cause stress.

 

[rhesuspieces]

screw the honors thesis. The thesis sounds awesome until you've been accepted to medical school and don't care about anything but still have to write a stupid thesis.

Trust me. No one that i knew was glad that they did an honors thesis when all was said and done. It's generally a waste of time and does nothing but cause stress.

+1000.

 

[JESSFALLING]

I'm starting to change my opinion against the honors thesis too. It seems valuable if your going into a research program (i.e. PhD, Some MD programs, etc.), but not so much for clinical.

 

[NickNaylor]

The ONLY thing that I think justifies an honors thesis is if you get a publication out of it. Otherwise it's just a needless waste of time and source of stress (in my opinion).

 

[Onres]

The ONLY thing that I think justifies an honors thesis is if you get a publication out of it. Otherwise it's just a needless waste of time and source of stress (in my opinion).

Don't you think it made a difference with the admissions process?

 

[NickNaylor]

Don't you think it made a difference with the admissions process?

No. I was only asked about my honors thesis at about a quarter of my interviews, and even then it was only a very brief discussion. However my proposed thesis wasn't in the sciences, so the people I discussed it with really had no experience on the topic. It would probably be different if it was in a scientific field.