Would anyone be willing to look over my research essay?

[mTORC]

I was wondering if someone would read over my research essay, just to tell me if it's too detailed, too long, if if I struck the right balance between talking about the mushy experiences as well as the research.

Thanks! I'll return the favor by reading yours.

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[FalconSlice]

I was wondering if someone would read over my research essay, just to tell me if it's too detailed, too long, if if I struck the right balance between talking about the mushy experiences as well as the research.

Thanks! I'll return the favor by reading yours.

Hey, mTORC. Just fyi, the research essay should have almost no "mushy" stuff in it. In fact, it is exclusively for what YOU did in lab. Don't worry about being too technical. This is how I took it and how I did it and am a successful applicant. I interviewed at many top schools and am going to one this summer! (also, if it is less than the character amount, it is not too long)

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

Hey, mTORC. Just fyi, the research essay should have almost no "mushy" stuff in it. In fact, it is exclusively for what YOU did in lab. Don't worry about being too technical. This is how I took it and how I did it and am a successful applicant. I interviewed at many top schools and am going to one this summer! (also, if it is less than the character amount, it is not too long)

That's what I initially thought but after reading a ton of old threads on the research essay and getting some help from a rather senior member on here it seems like the research essay actually is supposed to contain a lot of non-technical stuff. Apparently most of it should focus on what you were responsible for in your experiences, what you got out of it skill wise, and how it shaped your view of science and your motivation for a career in research.

 

[TheShaker]

Can I get in on this?? Mine is starting to look more and more like a watered down lab report. mTORC, if you want to exchange essays, PM me.

 

[samsunimomo]

I'll be willing to look over the essay! Feel free to PM me.

 

[CancerKiller007]

Likewise...PM me if you still need help

 

[K31]

(also, if it is less than the character amount, it is not too long)

I've expressed this opinion before, but 10,000 characters is way too long for the research essay. You're going to lose your reader's interest long before the end (remember, most have multiple applications to review as well). I'd suggest keeping it to a single page of the PDF that AMCAS generates.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

I've expressed this opinion before, but 10,000 characters is way too long for the research essay. You're going to lose your reader's interest long before the end (remember, most have multiple applications to review as well). I'd suggest keeping it to a single page of the PDF that AMCAS generates.

One page would be about 5000 characters, right? How do you keep it that short unless you've only worked on 2-3 projects?

I wrote mine with a paragraph for each project I worked on. Each one of those projects gave a very quick background on the project, a very simplified hypothesis and conclusion about what was found, with the rest of it talking about what responsibilities I had on the project (eg: collecting and analyzing data, writing the manuscript, etc.) and what I got out of them. To do that took about 1400 characters on average and thanks to the number of projects I've worked on that came out to exactly 10,000 characters on AMCAS.

Do you think I went about this wrong?

 

[BarcaFan]

I've got a question regarding high school research and the significant research experience essay. As an undergraduate, I've only been involved in one project (but I've been involved with it for a long time); however, I also did research all throughout high school (not grunt work - they were all independent research projects). I want to briefly mention these just to show that my research experience began before this one college project (i.e. continuity). Should I just group them all together as "high school research" in the activities section and focus my research experience essay on my undergrad project, or should I touch on all of them in the essay?