The Importance of Research?

[CZDreaMD]

Hi everyone. I am a Post Bacc with a non-science background and I'm looking at applying to medical school next year. I am concerned about my application, however, because I most likely will not have any research experience. I will have two 2+ year clinical volunteering EC's (hospital ER and community clinic) but no research. Is this really going to hurt my application? My school does not have any undergraduate research opportunities and all of the openings that I have seen at UCSF have a minimum 10+ hour a week commitment which I just can't do.

Is anyone else in the same boat as me? Should I try to cram in some research while taking Phys II, Bio II, Chem II, and continuing my other volunteering?

Also, assuming I get all A's this year, my overall GPA will be 3.7 and my BCPM will be 3.7 (3.95 for only post-bacc work). Will I be competitive?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

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[canjosh]

Also, assuming I get all A's this year, my overall GPA will be 3.7 and my BCPM will be 3.7 (3.95 for only post-bacc work). Will I be competitive?

Any advice will be much appreciated.

You'll be competitive with that GPA. The UCs are incredibly competitive, so you'll need to apply intelligently. 32+ on the MCAT is a good target to put yourself in a really great position.

Research will help your application...but it is not essential. If you're set on the big name institutions known for research, they'll expect you to have done some...and authored/presented. But you can definitely get into medical school without it. So, it's really up to you. If you can fit in some research, do it to calm your nerves and give your application that little boost. If not, don't fret too much, and kill the MCAT.

 

[CZDreaMD]

Thanks for the reassurance CanJosh.... This has been such a battle already and the thought of having to kill myself to add in research just does not seem very appealing. I will try to do something if I can, but I won't worry about it and I'll hope that everything else will make up for it.