<p>This might seem an off-topic, but I believe summer program has huge influence in PhD admission and many people in this forum are familiar with this topic. </p>
<p>I'm aiming to get into top-rated developmental biology/stem cell/regenerative medicine-related PhD program. So, I'm trying to participate in summer undergraduate research programs, but I have no idea how to choose a right program for me.</p>
<p>In choosing an off-campus research program, what factors in the following should I consider?
- Competitiveness and prestige of the summer program
- How influential in my field the grad program offering the summer program is
- How influential in my field the professors in the program are
- Whether the summer program is offered by the PhD program which I will apply for later</p>
<p>If these factors don't matter in choosing a program, how should I choose?</p>
<p>Or should I rather participate in on-campus research program as often as possible? Since my school is a small liberal arts college, I'm not sure which way is better. </p>
<p>First of all, apply to programs at universities where you think you might be interested in going to graduate school. These programs are used as recruiting tools often so you might as well go to places you like. They are often very competitive so apply to a number of them. The time to do it is between your Sophomore and Junior years and between your Junior and Senior years. It is unusual to get a summer research position after your first year.</p>
<p>If you can’t get into those preferred programs, have alternatives. The prestige of the university does not matter so much as getting experience. The fallback position for summer is your own university and this is OK too but I prefer to have students do research on campus during the academic year and go off campus for the summer. You need to do both to get the experience and letters of reference which will help you get into the graduate program you want.</p>
<p>In your case, as you are an international student, your options are limited and on-campus research might be the most viable option for the summer as well.</p>
<p>Last thread you made(yesterday?),you seem to still be applying for programs and now you’re deciding already?</p>
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I’m really glad to know this sort of information which I couldn’t learn anywhere else. I will spend my first summer for on-campus research program and then off-campus research program later. </p>
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<p>I suspect their acceptance rate for int’l student is lower than the rate for domestic student, so I need to apply for both on-campus and off-campus to prepare for the case of getting rejected from all off-campus programs which I will attend as rising-junior or senior. </p>
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Yesterday, I decided to enroll in a certain college over another after two weeks of hard consideration. Thinking about summer research program now may sound too early, but I don’t think so, since I will have to begin thinking about the programs from the next December or so. </p>
<p>*In choosing an off-campus research program, what factors in the following should I consider?
- Competitiveness and prestige of the summer program
- How influential in my field the grad program offering the summer program is
- How influential in my field the professors in the program are
- Whether the summer program is offered by the PhD program which I will apply for later*</p>
<p>All of the above. Where and with whom you do summer research can certainly influence where you go to graduate school. It’s excellent if you can do summer research somewhere you think you might want to attend for grad school - you can form relationships with professors there and if you leave a good impression, they might want to take you on. My summer advisor asked me to come to his doctoral program and work with him, with the implication that admission would be more or less a formality if I decided I wanted to come there for sure. But even if you don’t decide to go there, their letter of recommendation can be very influential in getting you in somewhere else. You will now be vetted by an outside source other than just at Grinnell - now professors from other great schools will ALSO be talking about how great you are, which is good.</p>
<p>But another thing you should consider is research fit! The summer is an opportunity for you, hopefully, to work on some project that you’re interested in and get a taste of what you really want to do in the future. There’s a possibility that the professors at Grinnell may not do research that exactly matches up with your own interests, or that your interests will shift a bit while you’re in school, or that you would like to get experience with some sophisticated techniques that are unavailable at Grinnell. The summer is your opportunity to do those things. You want to try to pick a program where you can work on some research problem you are passionate about.</p>
<p>I’m glad to know that out-campus summer research programs have such a potential to make a special connection with PhD programs as well as professors of one’s interest. I’m strongly interested in stem cell, regenerative medicine, and genetic rejuvenation. Since I’m always checking the articles and news of interesting new findings in these areas, I know many names of great researchers which I’m interested in. Since such cutting-edge field tends to be explored exclusively by large research universities, I will definitely have to apply for off-campus research programs for my second and third summers. </p>
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<p>I understood how making connection with professors is important in PhD admission, unlike in undergrad admission. I hope I will also receive this kind of invitation. </p>