Which Research Opportunity to Take

[Merissa87]

I have the option of taking part in one of these 2 research studies in the Texas Medical Center this fall. I am a Nutrition major. Ok.. here they are:

1.) The general theme of his research is related to the physiology of chronic inflammation and inflammatory obesity.

2.) Dr. XXX, from the College of Pharmacy , is currently recruiting students for his research in infectious diseases and anti-infective pharmacology.

Which one would be viewed as more valuable on my app?

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[VPDcurt]

Personally, I think both would be equally valuable. What you get out of the research is essentially equivalent to what you put into it. I would just go ahead and pick the one you are more interested in. For me, it would definitely be the first one. Second one sounds like hell on earth.

 

[burntfries]

if you are equally interested in both, pick the lab where you will be able to do the most (i.e. independent projects, research theses, publication possibilities, etc) and get the most interaction with your professor. the latter is especially important if you hope to eventually get a strong LOR from him/her.

 

[Looque]

Go with #2. Sounds kinky.

 

[ParvatiP]

I would also pick whatever interests you most, I think they would both be viewed equally on an application. You should contact the doctors in charge of each project and find out what sort of role you will have with the research too, what kind of things you will be doing, etc. to help you choose. Both sound cool to me, the second one more so bc I'm interested in infectious diseases!

 

[bbas]

In terms of med school admissions, research is reseach. Go with the one that interests you most. (For me, that would be #2)

 

[g3pro]

Be wary of professors who openly recruit students. They're either desperate for some side-action or they need help to get some data for a grant proposal because otherwise they'd be out on the street.

 

[hateroftheyear]

Assuming that you are equally interested in both areas, and the mentors both click with you, might want to tour the lab and see if any attractive members of the opposite sex catch your eye. Trust me, after three years of looking at the same decaying forty-year old postdoc and japanese grad student, I'm getting a little sick of the utter lack of change in scenery.

 

[Sarak510]

Assuming that you are equally interested in both areas, and the mentors both click with you, might want to tour the lab and see if any attractive members of the opposite sex catch your eye. Trust me, after three years of looking at the same decaying forty-year old postdoc and japanese grad student, I'm getting a little sick of the utter lack of change in scenery.

hahaha ouch. yes...this is very true

 

[63768]

go with the second. the first one's scope is too narrow and while you'll learn a huge amount of physiology, i doubt the actual work will be very interesting.

but that's from my standpoint. you have the opportunity to weigh other factors to determine which would be best for you. don't choose for med school apps as both are equally weighed probably.