<p>I always hear of this "where can I go to do research" or people saying "I need to start doing research soon" blah blah crap. I go to an Ivy League school so I hear it ALL the freakin time...does anyone really WANT to do it though? I mean, I feel like it's sort of like volunteer work we do when we're in HS - we don't really want to do it, we do it to get into a good college. Likewise, we do "research" in college to get into grad/medical school. The research requirement, in fact, is one of the reasons I switched from pre-med. I want to be a doctor, not a researcher - I enjoy medicine, and working with patients, not doing research in a lab all day. </p>
<p>I just wish they'd get rid of these silly requirements that no one really wants to do...just like I don't understand why we need organic chemistry to go to medical school but not Anatomy & Physiology.</p>
<p>I like doing it. I major in engineering and I’m not planning on going to grad school (hence I don’t “need” research), but I’m doing some under a physics prof because it’s interesting stuff. People also enjoy doing volunteer work because it makes them feel warm and fuzzy…not always because they “have to”.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Fairly certain that the AAMC requirements that nearly every med school follow for admisisons includes human anatomy.</p>
<p>I have a friend who’s really into the research aspects of psychology, which seems fairly atypical of the people I know. Most people I know treat research as a necessary evil to get ahead in the world. It’s great when people are really into it though, we need people to continue doing it after they get their degrees!</p>
<p>Eh, yeah. It depends on the project and how familiar/involved I am. I’m a bio major that’s going to graduate school for research (or to teach) so I better like it or it’s gonna be a rough road ahead.</p>
<p>Considering I want to be a researcher…yes, I like doing research. I enjoyed doing volunteer work in high school as well. Maybe you just didn’t find fulfilling volunteer opportunities if you didn’t like it. I tutored elementary school kids for all four years and I loved it. Seems like a bad thing for a wannabe doctor to not like helping people (volunteering).</p>
<p>I agree that many people see it as a neccesary evil…</p>
<p>Also disclaimer: This question is for people NOT planning on being a researcher when they get older, lol. If you you do plan on going INTO RESEARCH, obviously you both need it and should probably enjoy it. For the rest of us who want to do something not research related (example: Clinical physician only with no research on the side), do we all kind of wish it wasn’t required? </p>
<p>Queenthethird: Anatomy is not required for medical school. The typical requirements used by most schools are:</p>
<pre><code>General biology
Physics with lab
General chemistry (inorganic chemistry) with lab
Organic chemistry with lab
Calculus
English
</code></pre>
<p>None of these actually apply to medicine aside from biology. It’s so weird.</p>
<p>Thereisnosecret - do you HONESTLY think that College level English is the only way we learn to communicate in English? I’m pretty sure we knew English and how to write to get into school to begin with - college level english is reading and interpreting dead author’s writings, and has little to do with medicine or “learning to communicate in English”. Don’t try to act like a prick - you get my point here, that it’s weird those classes are required but not: Psychology, Nutrition, Anatomy, Physiology, Health, Ethics etc <—these would be MUCH better backgrounds for medical school IMHO.</p>
<p>Research is sort of like a quasi-internship for majors that can’t otherwise get internships. Interns in engineering are common, and hence little “research” is done by undergrads for that major. For Biology, I can’t see any “direct” application of the major in industry. Hence the need for research.</p>
<p>Personally I think internships and/or research should be mandatory. Both expose you to real world problem solving that you won’t get out of your major classes…and that’s an important exposure to have.</p>
<p>I love, love research. Honestly, doing research papers was the best part of my academic year when I was a freshman. One of the main reasons I want to go into history is because I love doing research and writing papers so much.</p>
<p>Also, I enjoy volunteer work. It makes me feel like a better person to give my time freely, especially to the less fortunate.</p>
<p>I had over 1000 volunteer hours in high school. I LOVED it. Just because you don’t like to do something, doesn’t mean that no one does. </p>
<p>I also really like research. I have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and I love researching things. Because of this love, one of my professors has recently approached me about submitting my research to various publications and conferences- something that had never really crossed my mind.</p>
Periods go in quotation marks; clearly college level English is necessary. And if you honestly think that’s all college level English is, I have no idea how you got into an Ivy. Which one, Cornell?</p>
<p>Lol, you’re absolutely right, zchryevns! Everyone at Cornell is quite dumb, and Reed College is clearly superior. /sarcasm</p>
<p>Honestly though, you should grow up. I never attacked you. In fact, you simply came on this board and tried to take a jab at my college for absolutely no reason. I loved Cornell, received a great degree, and went to a college recognized all over the world for its high academic quality. The fact that your uneducated opinion could somehow affect the way I (or the rest of the world) view my school is almost comical. I know in your tiny little mind, where US News College Rankings rules as king, the fact that Cornell is tied with Brown for #15 best school in the country is somehow bad…but that’s just not the real world. Unlike Reed College (Number #54 in Liberal Arts Rankings), Cornell is a highly respected academic powerhouse. </p>
<p>That’s all I have to say on this subject, and I really hope you manage to get over your inferiority complex somehow, because all of your little “digs” at my college are nothing but humorous.</p>