<p>I can either do lab work for credit and pay tuition, or I can do the same lab work but not pay tuition; however, it won't be on my transcript as independent study. So, my concern is that graduate schools will, if I don't do lab work for credit, see that I only took, say, 12-13 hours (but I would have also been doing ~5+ credit hours work of lab work--i.e., about 20-25 hours per week) and think I was being lazy or something.</p>
<p>What have you all done? Is there an easy solution to this? Should I just have my letters of recommendation state that I worked so many hours for these semesters, or should I just pay unnecessary tuition fees to be safe? Or is it common to take 15-17 hours of upper-division courses AND do lab work?</p>
<p>I'm a Biology major, by the way.</p>
<p>I imagine in your application you would want to mention the lab work regardless of receiving credit, assuming it had any relevance that is, but I don’t think they would look at you as a slacker or as being lazy. If you show interest in the field of study (such as by doing research, courses, etc), have and do well in the classes (especially bio and upper division), then disregarding you as “lazy” wouldn’t make any sense… I wouldn’t bother putting my simple opinion here, but I don’t really see how exactly it could make you a lesser candidate by taking fewer classes each term. What matters is that you did them, you have and show interest in the field you are pursuing, and that the school believes you are smart/motivated enough to complete and do well in their program.</p>
<p>You should be fine if you do the research for tuition. All the applications I remembered asked about your experience working in labs, and I’m sure they’d notice your entry of doing 10+ hours a week for X many years more than if it was just showing up on your transcript.</p>
<p>Don’t bother paying tuition to get credit on your transcript. Your research adviser will be writing a recommendation which will corroborate the number of hours and dates you claim that you worked. However, I suggest you pay the tuition to enroll in a senior thesis program if that’s available, when the time comes.</p>
<p>Yes, it is normal to take 5-6 courses per term and still do some lab work (~10 hours/week).</p>
<p>Save your tuition money. You can indicate the experience elsewhere.</p>
<p>I’d like to do more than 10 hours/week if I can. I’ve been doing about 20-25 this summer and I’m always wishing I had more time to spend in the lab. Is 10 hours/week really enough time to get much done? I can afford to take about 4-5 classes per semester (about 12-14 hours), do about 20 hours of research per week, and still graduate when I intend to. So I guess as long as I’m enrolled in 12 hours/semester (ie, full-time), then I’ll be all right?</p>