Which Summer Internship Should I Pick

[omegaz]

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1. biological medicine lab work (not research) at a pharmaceutical company (molecular biology)
2. REU internship (neuroscience)

Pharmaceutical company pays 3 times more than REU, but I'm leaning towards REU because it's more prestigious/better for my resume for medical school.

But if y'all think medical schools consider both to be of the same weight, then I would probably choose the one with the higher pay.

 

[TriagePreMed]

How is it lab work but not research?

 

[La Presse]

UVM Neuro? NYU CNS? I'll go with number 2.

 

[CuttingCorneas]

How is it lab work but not research?

Probably glassware cleaning, tbh.

OP, I'd go with number 2.

 

[Bru]

Which one has better chance of a paper authorship (even 3rd or below)? I guess the REU.

 

[gmcguitar4]

1. biological medicine lab work (not research) at a pharmaceutical company (molecular biology)
2. REU internship (neuroscience)

Pharmaceutical company pays 3 times more than REU, but I'm leaning towards REU because it's more prestigious/better for my resume for medical school.

But if y'all think medical schools consider both to be of the same weight, then I would probably choose the one with the higher pay.

Case closed.

 

[galaxyx]

If you have other research experience, take the pharmaceutical JOB.

If you need research exp on your resume and/or think that this is a field you want to go into take the REU and make valuable connections.

 

[DAPI]

I say take the one that pays more. Most kids get basically nothing done in a summer of research. Sure, you may learn a few techniques, but 99.9% of students are not producing publishable material.

The only other thing I would consider is how many other students will be doing the internships with you. If the REU has a bunch of other students in the program and the lab work is just you in some random city, I'd pick the REU. The other students at my summer research program are what made it so great. If the lab work is in your home or college town, then I would take the money and just hang with my college friends.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[goodkarma]

Just doing this to get into med. school/no intention of doing research in the future --> #1, anything is "sell-able" in your application/CV (esp. if you have other strong ECs), so take the money

Genuinely interested in research and/or MD/PhD --> #2, learn all you can, sacrifice now and reap the rewards later

P.S. @DAPI, I actually learned a lot during my summer research, though this is situational and varies from person to person. Take anecdotes for what you will.

P.P.S. @DAPI, you're MDapps is pretty awesome.

 

[DAPI]

Just doing this to get into med. school/no intention of doing research in the future --> #1, anything is "sell-able" in your application/CV (esp. if you have other strong ECs), so take the money

Genuinely interested in research and/or MD/PhD --> #2, learn all you can, sacrifice now and reap the rewards later

P.S. @DAPI, I actually learned a lot during my summer research, though this is situational and varies from person to person. Take anecdotes for what you will.

P.P.S. @DAPI, you're MDapps is pretty awesome.

Yeah, I also think I learned a lot, but nothing I couldn't have learned doing research at my home institution during the school year. And REU's pay what $3-5k? If I could make $9-15k in one summer, I would jump on that so fast, even if it was a mindless as working at McDonalds, but maybe that's just the poor college student in me talking. I also did quite a bit of other research besides just one summer research gig, so missing one summer of research for $$ wouldn't have been a big deal to me and MD/PhD wasn't my goal.

Thanks! I'll just say I've had some free time during this gap year

 

[TriagePreMed]

I say take the one that pays more. Most kids get basically nothing done in a summer of research. Sure, you may learn a few techniques, but 99.9% of students are not producing publishable material.

The only other thing I would consider is how many other students will be doing the internships with you. If the REU has a bunch of other students in the program and the lab work is just you in some random city, I'd pick the REU. The other students at my summer research program are what made it so great. If the lab work is in your home or college town, then I would take the money and just hang with my college friends.

Just my 2 cents.

I got a second author publication out of my work in a summer research fellowship, so it can happen. Sometimes you may contribute in small ways and get to have some authorship.

 

[omegaz]

If you have other research experience, take the pharmaceutical JOB.

If you need research exp on your resume and/or think that this is a field you want to go into take the REU and make valuable connections.

I had other research experiences in my freshman and sophomore years and summers but nothing major like a REU program, I basically assisted professors with their research without gaining any authorship.

On the other hand, this REU is perhaps not a field that I want to go into. It's mainly neuroscience-oriented with a little bit of molecular biology. Although I'm very interested in neuroscience, I am a microbiology B.S. major and have never taken a college neuro. course