What Kinda Research?

[swifteagle43]

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Okay...so it has been decided that research is the eminent thing....my question is what kind of research?

Should I just go into a lab and offer to do a number crunching job? Is this as good as anythign else or is that looked down upon?

Or should I try to be innovative try to strike for blood by getting a publication? How hard is it to get one of these things?

And does it matter what kind of research I do?

Does it have to be medically related or can it be something like psychology(I want to be a psychiatrist)?

 

[marctam86]

Sigh. dont do research just because its the eminent thing. do it because youre interested. youre missing out if you use it just to build your CV.

if you are intersted, find out which professors are doing research in a field that strikes you, and beg them for a position. worry about publications later. some lab PI's are lenient about giving undergrads authorship, while others arent. its really a matter of luck. whats more important is getting your feet wet now, and later being able to talk/write about your research later.

also, itd be a good idea to apply to summer programs around now, if you'd like to do a research fellowship over this summer. google around to see if any local universities offer them, they can be really fun/valuable. 👍

 

[swifteagle43]

Dammit stop giving me this advice like "don't worry about it!"

I HATE it when people tell that "its about the experience." Truth is when you have made up your mind to comit 12+ years of your life to something you BETTER be worrying about it.

The truth is I like trying new things(like research) and I want to try it on the most competetive level.

 

[marctam86]

Dammit stop giving me this advice like "don't worry about it!"

I HATE it when people tell that "its about the experience." Truth is when you have made up your mind to comit 12+ years of your life to something you BETTER be worrying about it.

The truth is I like trying new things(like research) and I want to try it on the most competetive level.

hey, im trying to be helpful. if you go into research misguidedly, you will burn out. believe me, its easy to burn out after a failed experiment, and ive had many. just get some experience now, and then worry about pubs, which incidentally are not a requirement, even for mdphd applicants. good luck 🙂

 

[MWillie]

hey, im trying to be helpful. if you go into research misguidedly, you will burn out. believe me, its easy to burn out after a failed experiment, and ive had many. just get some experience now, and then worry about pubs, which incidentally are not a requirement, even for mdphd applicants. good luck 🙂

Hrm, I think if you're in research just for the resume padding, you wont care if your research doesn't work. "Oh well, at least this goes on my supplementary experiences"

If you're out to just pad your resume, choose any random lab with fancy sounding research, do a halfassed job for a year or so, don't bother trying to publish and you're good to go. Oh and under no circumstance let lab take precedence over GPA or MCAT, don't forget your goal.

 

[wendywellesley]

Okay...so it has been decided that research is the eminent thing....my question is what kind of research?

Should I just go into a lab and offer to do a number crunching job? Is this as good as anythign else or is that looked down upon?

Or should I try to be innovative try to strike for blood by getting a publication? How hard is it to get one of these things?

And does it matter what kind of research I do?

Does it have to be medically related or can it be something like psychology(I want to be a psychiatrist)?

if you want to do this at a competitive level and you want to make it work for your application i suggest the following-

get a list of all the PIs at your university and what they study, visit their websites if they have one. pick out the ones that seem interesting to you. try to find how many papers they have published and if they publish with high frequency. i would suggest picking a lab that is interesting and publishes a lot.
Then email the PI, introduce yourself, your major, year, why you think you would want to work in his lab (NOT because you want it for the CV) and offer to send him/her your resume if need be.
from what i hear- having your name on a paper can be interesting to adcoms but first author will be sigificant. try to get this if you can, it all depends on the lab, the PI and luck.
psych research is tricky- i think on the one hand it shows that you have interest in it since that is what you want to persue, but on the other hand it may look soft (as opposed to biochem or cell bio research) maybe look for a neurobio lab.
good luck!! i would go for it.

 

[abeanatrice]

Yeah, you should do research just because you feel like it's required. That's the kind of attitude the scientific research community is looking for.

You don't have to do research to get into medical school. If you want to "try new things" then try it, but don't expect to get a publication out of one summer or even a year. That's not even what the admissions committees are looking for. They are looking for someone who is well rounded and who can speak intelligently and even more importantly, passionately about what they've done during their undergraduate careers.

This is exactly the thing that makes me furious...pre-meds who want to do something just to make their resume look good. If you aren't into the research it will be a waste of your time, your graduate student mentor's time, and your PI's time. Research is partly for you, but mostly its purpose is to improve the scientific community. It's time pre-meds start to think of that rather then about their resumes.

Okay, this is the last time I post on SDN after drinking. 👎

 

[MWillie]

This is exactly the thing that makes me furious...pre-meds who want to do something just to make their resume look good. If you aren't into the research it will be a waste of your time, your graduate student mentor's time, and your PI's time. Research is partly for you, but mostly its purpose is to improve the scientific community. It's time pre-meds start to think of that rather then about their resumes.

This world is far from perfect and if premeds want to waste others times for their own benefit, no one can stop them. No need to get mad over it, that's just how it is.

 

[wendywellesley]

Yeah, you should do research just because you feel like it's required. That's the kind of attitude the scientific research community is looking for.

You don't have to do research to get into medical school. If you want to "try new things" then try it, but don't expect to get a publication out of one summer or even a year. That's not even what the admissions committees are looking for. They are looking for someone who is well rounded and who can speak intelligently and even more importantly, passionately about what they've done during their undergraduate careers.

This is exactly the thing that makes me furious...pre-meds who want to do something just to make their resume look good. If you aren't into the research it will be a waste of your time, your graduate student mentor's time, and your PI's time. Research is partly for you, but mostly its purpose is to improve the scientific community. It's time pre-meds start to think of that rather then about their resumes.

Okay, this is the last time I post on SDN after drinking. 👎

i agree but if everyone took that advice no one would get anywhere. if you want to bad enough you will bite the bullet and do everything in your power to get that stellar CV, i think there is no shame in that. the way i see it- so much of this is out of our hands that whatever i can do to make me stand out- i will do it, no matter how much i hate it because i know where i want to be.
even pre-meds who don't like the research can still contribute to the scientific community by pumping out data that grad students don't have time for. who cares if you like it? it will help out everyone in the end.

edit: i don't know why i'm so punchy tonight. finals, i guess...
anyway, i think hate is a bad word. it's true if you hate doing something, research for example, it will reflect in your work and it will be a waste of time if the PI sees that you aren't enthusiastic about his work. i'm also very conflicted about my research right now.

bottomline- i think the OP should try research because he might like it, not matter what his motives are.

 

[acl3623]

uhh...my research i guess would be considered "soft" but i enjoyed it...it was with the exercise dept at my school, no benchwork....i loved it and it has to do with what i want to do in medicine...which is work with minorities. i didnt get published or anything but i can talk about my experiences without having to fake interest...if you look for interesting projects, you will find them...

 

[swifteagle43]

i c

 

[Acherona]

Find a subject area that *interests* you. I think most people would enjoy research if they were intellectually involved in the work. Find a nice PI who wants you to actually learn stuff and understand what your doing rather than just mindlessly data process. Find a lab where you work with people you like. These will make you more productive/happy and result in good recs and more likelihood for publications. The subject area is relatively unimportant. There may be certain fields that are more impressive, I'm not sure what they are though.

Yea and give the kid a break. Doing research as an app boost is no worse than volunteering or taking Kaplan 3 times. On the other hand, since your GPA/MCAT seem to be the only really important factors in getting accepted, you're probably better off studying than doing research to that end.

P.S. I agree with the wellesley girl! (Go Blue!)

 

[psu711]

I agree. I also was worried about doing research to gain experience, and have it on my CV. However, after my first attempt of contacting all past professors, and other professors doing research in science fields i came up with a big fat 0. A semester went by, and actually a professor that i was TAing for in a Human Development class, recomennded me to one of his friends conducting research in the links between gender communication and sex attituteds. I code behaviors on videotapes of interactions of males and females completing different tasks.

Its hit or miss with interviewers though, i had one actually tell me that it wasnt real research. whereas i would say every other one is actually really interested in it. asking me what i code for, how i code, and any correlations we have been finding.

my only advice is to be open, go for research that interests you.