ughhhh researchh

[battlepants]

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So is it better to have a ton of research experience from the same place? For example, working in the same lab for 3 years. Or would it be better to work in a bunch of different labs over the course of your undergrad?

Thank You!

 

[Microbug]

Work in same lab for 3 yrs during school year, do summer research away for 3 years...if you’re applying MD/PHD. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter, probably same lab bc more chance of publications, but those summer programs are good to get

 

[Goro]

So is it better to have a ton of research experience from the same place? For example, working in the same lab for 3 years. Or would it be better to work in a bunch of different labs over the course of your undergrad?

Thank You!

What med schools want is that you understand something about the scientific process. Evidence of productivity seems to be preferred by the Really Top Schools.

You don't need to be wedded to the same lab for 4 years of UG.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Are you applying MD/PhD or to--as goro put it--Really Top Schools? If not, it doesn't matter as research is only of moderate importance to private schools and low importance to public schools per the latest AAMC survey.

 

[battlepants]

Are you applying MD/PhD or to--as goro put it--Really Top Schools? If not, it doesn't matter as research is only of moderate importance to private schools and low importance to public schools per the latest AAMC survey.

I'm kind of hoping for top schools, however, I'm also going to be applying to quite a few of the lower tier ones as a kind of backup.

 

[Lucca]

I'm kind of hoping for top schools, however, I'm also going to be applying to quite a few of the lower tier ones as a kind of backup.

I’m afraid there are no “backups” in med admissions so this isn’t a very good mindset to have, especially before, I presume, you even have an MCAT score to your name. You should be aiming to have a balanced list that gives you the broadest set of options to be accepted .

As far as research goes, it doesn’t really matter which path you go down.

If you want to get anything done in basic science though I would advise at least sticking with a lab for 1-2 full years. Jumping around labs will most likely mean that you are stuck in a perpetual cycle of being trained on a new project and then looking for something better. That sounds absolutely miserable and will do nothing insofar as teaching you how research works or giving you the best chance to present/publish your own work.

I do advise, however, that you use at least one summer to go off somewhere else and do research. It’s a very valuable experience.

Overall, if you don’t end up liking science research just don’t stick with it. Do something else you are actually excited about. It will be more valuable to you and your future application.

 

[HomeSkool]

What med schools want is that you understand something about the scientific process. Evidence of productivity seems to be preferred by the Really Top Schools.

You don't need to be wedded to the same lab for 4 years of UG.

Agreed. However, if you list 8 different labs that you worked in for only 6 months each, your interviewer may have some questions about that. Examples: Were you unable to work well with others? Did you repeatedly fail to get on board with meaningful projects? Do you just pick labs really poorly? Did you fail to commit to anything because you were going for quantity over quality? So it's fine to work in one lab or more than one...but you need to actually do something and learn how to do science.

 

[battlepants]

I’m afraid there are no “backups” in med admissions so this isn’t a very good mindset to have, especially before, I presume, you even have an MCAT score to your name. You should be aiming to have a balanced list that gives you the broadest set of options to be accepted .

As far as research goes, it doesn’t really matter which path you go down.

If you want to get anything done in basic science though I would advise at least sticking with a lab for 1-2 full years. Jumping around labs will most likely mean that you are stuck in a perpetual cycle of being trained on a new project and then looking for something better. That sounds absolutely miserable and will do nothing insofar as teaching you how research works or giving you the best chance to present/publish your own work.

I do advise, however, that you use at least one summer to go off somewhere else and do research. It’s a very valuable experience.

Overall, if you don’t end up liking science research just don’t stick with it. Do something else you are actually excited about. It will be more valuable to you and your future application.

thank you!

 

[aldol16]

Longitudinal experiences are generally more preferred over a lot of short experiences. This is because you generally get more productivity and get to take ownership in longitudinal experiences whereas you probably won't get to in a short experience. Any student assigned to me in the summers got small, small parts of larger projects just so they could learn the techniques and how we analyze data. By the time they learn all that cold, it's time for them to leave, so they don't get much out of it. The students who are in the lab longer end up taking on their own projects and that's really the meaningful experience of research.