Summer Internship During Application Cycle

[Chromium Surfer]

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Has anyone done this? Assuming an application to around 25 schools, is it feasible to pursue a summer research internship, or should the summer of an application cycle be devoted solely to the application and working to make ends meet/ minimal volunteering and shadowing?

Thanks SDN!

 

[Deleted member 755173]

Yeah, just try to get all your stuff done early May so you're ready to submit June. That way you'll have the entire summer to do whatever and interviews don't usually begin till August.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

As in prewrite secondaries, and compete the primary app before the June deadline?

Also if the the summer internship program is competitive, would it it be worth it to turn in my primary application a month or two later so that I could write more adequately about the experience rather than just saying " I will be doing X?"

 

[NotaCop]

would it it be worth it to turn in my primary application a month or two later

No.

I've spent the past 6 months regretting everyday that I submitted AMCAS in early August instead of early June. Unless you're an all-star, it does make a difference.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

No.

I've spent the past 6 months regretting everyday that I submitted AMCAS in early August instead of early June. Unless you're an all-star, it does make a difference.

Good to know, thanks for replying!

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I find that undergraduates grossly underestimate the time needed to do application and turn around secondaries. If you do a summer research internship, assume you will have a second part time job with applications. The issue is secondaries will show up in bunches and your part time job will be nearly full time for a week and is unpredictable. Just be flexible with social plans as in there maybe weekends where no party, beach, movie, dates. Despite my comments, I wouldnt give up a research internship to sit around and do applications. Just plan and understand what will be expected

Gonnif, thanks for the insight! If I pursued the summer research internship during the app cycle would it still benefit my application? Or since the internship wouldn't be complet till August would this have a marginal impact on my app? If so, is this where an update letter is appropriate, upon completion of the internship?

 

[ReadyforMed]

I wrote my summer internship as one of my activities. I was surprised by the amount of downtime. I started the first week of May and it ended the last day of July. In that time period, I did my entire AMCAS. I actually did my work and activities section at my internship. All of my secondaries were done within the 2 week suggested turn around period. Budget your time wisely. If you have some down time (I mean, PCR takes a bit to run), get your computer out and work on it. Personally, my people didn't care as long as I got my work done.

It depends on the person in charge of your internship. However, it is totally doable.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I wrote my summer internship as one of my activities. I was surprised by the amount of downtime. I started the first week of May and it ended the last day of July. In that time period, I did my entire AMCAS. I actually did my work and activities section at my internship. All of my secondaries were done within the 2 week suggested turn around period. Budget your time wisely. If you have some down time (I mean, PCR takes a bit to run), get your computer out and work on it. Personally, my people didn't care as long as I got my work done.

It depends on the person in charge of your internship. However, it is totally doable.

How did that work out for you in regards to the app cycle, did the activity hold as much weight as your activity, and did you submit your application on the first day in June?

The internship that I would during the summer of my app cylcle wouldn't start until the beginning of June, so if I submitted AMCAS on the first day in June, then I would not have any already completed experience to talk about if I included the research activity as part of one my activities. I could only talk about it in the future tense.

I know NotACop said not to submit in Early August, but would submitting in Early July be acceptable?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Chromium Surfer]

It would not have a direct impact via primary app as it would be completed. It may have direct impact via the secondary app as some will not have been submitted by then. It can have some impact for schools that accept/recommend updates. However, my general view is that unless it is something prestigious, in depth, notable, significant or somehow "connected" to other things that you have done previously (directly or conceptually) , a "one-off" summer research (or any other summer "one-off" activity) may not have all that much impact. Why? Medical schools want to see a strong pattern of motivation, commitment and achievement. A "one-off" doesnt add to the pattern. It can look like last minute padding (more below on that). But it is up to you to show that pattern in your PS and secondaries.

For example, having a NOAA summer internship research cruise studying some marine ecosystem would be notable. Having taken a few oceanography courses would make that a pattern. A position in an NIH lab would notable. Working as a summer intern in a campus professor's own lab is "standard." Having been a biochem major with multiple courses in the field would make it more of a pattern. So connect it with previous work, behavior, etc. either directly or conceptually. So how much you make of it in secondary and updates can rely on the pattern it adds to.

BTW, the reason I make this point is more for those applicants who rush to do some sort of volunteering or shadowing the summer while applying . It just comes off as padding. This is much less likely in a research spot. But if you have no previous research or are not a science major, you need to at least make "a case" for it. That is, have at least a 1 or 2 line "context" and/or spin when you update. Example might be, "As a history major with only the prerequisite courses, I felt that getting exposure to biomedical research was an important aspect of my premedical education." Of course, you may simply have a wonderful opportunity show up and take it. That is a reasonable update as well though with limited impact.

Gonnif, thank you very much for all the insightful info you provide on this forum for all of us premeds. To give some context to my original question...

I am currently a sophomore and I research in health disparities, and health literacy. This summer I will be completing a summer research internship in public health funded by the CDC. I also volunteer in an organization that serves the underserved members of the city in which my college is located. The meat of my application is a public health/underserved community focus.

While I was applying for the CDC internship I was informed of another potential opportunity to conduct translational research related to public health at a top ivy institution. So I was thinking about pursuing this during the summer after my junior year, so that I could gain experience in translational research and further develop my research skills.

So if I were to do this internship there would be a clear trend. I just came on here to ask SDN if it was wise to pursue this while in the midst of an application cycle, and if the benefit to my application would merit juggling the internship along with completing my application to medical school. If not then I would pursue this internship after my senior year but before medical school.

Given this context, is there any other advice or other things I should be aware of? Thanks for your time!

 

[Chromium Surfer]

You have a very clear and strong pattern with notable internships (CDC and Ivy). You can put future items on primary app; dates are allowed up to August of potential matriculation year. These are more than fine and will be impressive to an adcom

Thank you for the vote of confidence! The Ivy internship is not a given but hopefully it pans out next summer.
If not I am least am fortunate to have the CDC internship

If this internship does pan out, would you reccomended sending an update to all schools that I apply to, upon completing the internship?

Or is there a source where I can find out what schools are receptive to updates?

Thanks again!

 

[pineapplecake]

I worked a full time job at a big biotech company the summer I applied and every day was quite torturous LOL. Not only was I unfocused at work, I was so tired from the work day that I had no motivation to write secondary essays when I got home (which meant my weekends were basically spent writing). I would say however that it is doable, but I would highly recommend you pre-write most of your secondaries before the start of your internship (and allow time for editing throughout the summer). One of my biggest regrets is that I felt so rushed to submit my secondaries because everyone always says "the earlier, the better" (which is mostly true for rolling admissions) but I wish I had spent more time to review my essays before submitting because rereading some of them now, I just facepalm. Also, I was so burnt out by July that I ended up not even submitting secondaries to 4-5 schools. With all that being said, I can't really complain about how my admissions cycle turned out. It's definitely good to do something productive the summer you apply, even if it won't necessarily be on your primary application, but it's definitely something good to talk about in your interview / update letter pre- and post-interview. Plus, I got a stellar letter of recommendation from my summer PI (despite being so disoriented, tired, groggy, stressed at work) so that's always a plus!

 

[Lannister]

I did full-time research last summer while applying. I pre-wrote everything and had no problem getting my secondaries submitted within a day or two of receiving them.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I worked a full time job at a big biotech company the summer I applied and every day was quite torturous LOL. Not only was I unfocused at work, I was so tired from the work day that I had no motivation to write secondary essays when I got home (which meant my weekends were basically spent writing). I would say however that it is doable, but I would highly recommend you pre-write most of your secondaries before the start of your internship (and allow time for editing throughout the summer). One of my biggest regrets is that I felt so rushed to submit my secondaries because everyone always says "the earlier, the better" (which is mostly true for rolling admissions) but I wish I had spent more time to review my essays before submitting because rereading some of them now, I just facepalm. Also, I was so burnt out by July that I ended up not even submitting secondaries to 4-5 schools. With all that being said, I can't really complain about how my admissions cycle turned out. It's definitely good to do something productive the summer you apply, even if it won't necessarily be on your primary application, but it's definitely something good to talk about in your interview / update letter pre- and post-interview. Plus, I got a stellar letter of recommendation from my summer PI (despite being so disoriented, tired, groggy, stressed at work) so that's always a plus!

Thank you very much for providing this anecdote!! I was planning on prewriting the secondaries so that's good to hear that it makes a difference!

It's also good to know that even though the activity isn't completed at the time of primary app submission, it still makes a difference in the interview/ and update letters.

I'm feeling confident about doing something during my app cycle summer now.

If you don't mind me asking how many secondaries are completed per school on average?

 

[Chromium Surfer]

I did full-time research last summer while applying. I pre-wrote everything and had no problem getting my secondaries submitted within a day or two of receiving them.

Good to hear! I'm assuming you included the research as one of your 15 activities right?
Or did you talk about it in your interviews, and in update letters?

 

[Lannister]

Good to hear! I'm assuming you included the research as one of your 15 activities right?
Or did you talk about it in your interviews, and in update letters?

I included it, since I had already gotten a grant to fund it and had started the project before I submitted my app. Also, it was my only research experience so I kind of had to include it.

Sent from my HTC6535LVW using SDN mobile

 

[pineapplecake]

Priority is always, always, always, good over fast

^ Yes, I agree 100% with this statement! I had thought I spent adequate time on each of my essays before submitting (oftentimes even going over the 2 week recommended time frame), but I think the stress from working might have clouded my judgement as to what was a "good" essay haha...

Thank you very much for providing this anecdote!! I was planning on prewriting the secondaries so that's good to hear that it makes a difference!
It's also good to know that even though the activity isn't completed at the time of primary app submission, it still makes a difference in the interview/ and update letters.
I'm feeling confident about doing something during my app cycle summer now.
If you don't mind me asking how many secondaries are completed per school on average?

🙂 You're welcome and feel free to PM if you have any additional questions! I would say on average, maybe 2-3? There is a lot of redundancy in secondary prompts (diversity statement, greatest challenge, etc) but there are some schools with more secondary essays that are a lot shorter. You can look up the prompts from previous years as a lot of the prompts are reused every year.

 

[ReadyforMed]

How did that work out for you in regards to the app cycle, did the activity hold as much weight as your activity, and did you submit your application on the first day in June?

The internship that I would during the summer of my app cylcle wouldn't start until the beginning of June, so if I submitted AMCAS on the first day in June, then I would not have any already completed experience to talk about if I included the research activity as part of one my activities. I could only talk about it in the future tense.

I know NotACop said not to submit in Early August, but would submitting in Early July be acceptable?

Thanks for the help!

There was a trend in my application regarding a very unique experience. My internship continued that experience. It was public health based in nature and required some on-call time. I submitted late by SDN standards, but I truly maintain that June 8th was a great day for me to submit. I was still verified before July 1st so there was really no difference. In regards to secondaries, I was a bit lazy for the first few days in July. Then I went ham on those things. I had all but two completed by August 1st. One had come in late July and the other didn't even come until mid-August. I am big on efficiently managing time and was able to do that pretty well last summer. I got into my top choice and now I am happily just trying to pass my classes and not get arrested so I can matriculate this August.

 

[Chromium Surfer]

^ Yes, I agree 100% with this statement! I had thought I spent adequate time on each of my essays before submitting (oftentimes even going over the 2 week recommended time frame), but I think the stress from working might have clouded my judgement as to what was a "good" essay haha...




🙂 You're welcome and feel free to PM if you have any additional questions! I would say on average, maybe 2-3? There is a lot of redundancy in secondary prompts (diversity statement, greatest challenge, etc) but there are some schools with more secondary essays that are a lot shorter. You can look up the prompts from previous years as a lot of the prompts are reused every year.

Thank you again for the insightful info! I will definitely PM you if I have more questions in the future about this specific scenario. I wish you the best of luck in med school!

 

[Chromium Surfer]

There was a trend in my application regarding a very unique experience. My internship continued that experience. It was public health based in nature and required some on-call time. I submitted late by SDN standards, but I truly maintain that June 8th was a great day for me to submit. I was still verified before July 1st so there was really no difference. In regards to secondaries, I was a bit lazy for the first few days in July. Then I went ham on those things. I had all but two completed by August 1st. One had come in late July and the other didn't even come until mid-August. I am big on efficiently managing time and was able to do that pretty well last summer. I got into my top choice and now I am happily just trying to pass my classes and not get arrested so I can matriculate this August.

This is reassuring, thanks for your input! Haha thats funny how you say you're not trying to get arrested I hope your last semester goes well!