<p>Is research experience a requirement for grad schools in biology? Can a person be admitted without doing any prior research? </p>
<p>Also, what is the average time commitment for students doing research during undergrad? How many hours per week? </p>
<p>Although Im interested in doing research, Im really worried about the time commitment because I spent nearly all my time studying my freshman year that I hardly did any extracurricular activities. The courses on my next schedule are going to be even harder. Im a commuter student as well, so I would really like to know.</p>
<p>although it's not required, it's strongly recommended by most schools as it shows that you have the dedication and passion to pursue a phd program. furthermore, your admissions is heavily weighted towards your research experience, as your letters of recommendation and statement both need to be based upon it to a sigfnificant degree. </p>
<p>hours are usually flexible and it depends on the lab. on average, labs prefer to take in juniors who have the basic background knowledge needed to function in a lab. there are cases where 1st and 2nd years are accepted, but their roles are usually limited to basic, menial labor.</p>
<p>if you've spent almost all of your free time studying during your freshman year, i can't imagine how much more time you would need to study for the 2nd-3rd year courses, which include ochem and biochem. i don't remember studying that much in freshman year.</p>
<p>Have you done any research as a undergrad before? If so, can you please tell me how I can get a research position? How many hours did you have to work?</p>
<p>Also, how much research experience is necessary or enough for grad schools? What if I just do research during the summers after my sophomore and junior years? Would that be considered sufficient or are they looking for more than that during the school years?</p>
<p>i'm going to be an undergrad senior next fall, and i'm currently a research assistant, full-time during the summer. just ask around via email to a bunch of professors whose work interests you. </p>
<p>i'm guessing the quality of one's research is more important than the length. a person who participates in actual research and even gets his or her name published as one of the authors will be a more competetive candidate than one who spends years autoclaving and running pcr all day. i would imagine one academic year and summer is good enough, although there is no set time frame.</p>
<p>UCSF's website says that one or more summers of research is adequade experience to be considered for their program.</p>
<p>Honestly, the importance of research will depend on what schools you're aiming for. If you're looking at the top 10-20 programs, you have to have outstanding research experience; I literally did not meet a single person at my interviews who didn't have extensive undergraduate research experience. If you're looking at schools with less stringent admissions criteria, you'll have more leeway.</p>
<p>From what I've heard, biology is one of the fields where you really can't avoid doing undergraduate research if you want to go to grad school. I think this may mainly be because you can start biology research as a freshman or even in high school, whereas a lot of other technical fields you need years of experience before you get involved in research.</p>
<p>I participated in two genetics research programs in high school. They were a lot of fun - lots of running PCRs and doing some data analysis. I even got a peer-reviewed publication out of one of them. Finding a position in any field is tough if you don't get into a bona fide program, though. Email a lot of profs, and don't be too irritated if you don't hear back from some (most?) of them. Eventually, one of them might show some decency as a human being and actually decide to respond (in my mind, even responding in the negative is a lot better than not responding at all... I'm not bitter...).</p>
<p>Just remember how annoying the process is once you become a prof. Then you'll actually respond to undergraduates' emails rather than blowing them off, and the world will be a Better Place.</p>
<p>i was talking to a berkeley-alum postdoc today at my lab (which is at ucsf), and he was giving me some "real-world" advice which he regretted not receiving during his undergrad years. what really hit me hard during this talk was that going to a top schools such as harvard and ucsf may actually be detrimental to those who don't have enough research experience, as the PIs never really spend much time with grad students (i'm sure there are exceptions). i guess that's the reason why they specifically want students who have enough experience: to work without having to be supervised. even with a lot of experience, he warned that some students cannot swim on their own. </p>
<p>he made a somewhat reasonable case with his anecdote: the valedictorian of his graduating class, who had worked with a superstar researcher, went to ucsf and after 8 years, has still not attained her phd degree, with no one to help her out. on the other hand, he went to wisconsin and graduated in 4 years with the help of "caring" professors who nurtured their grad students. </p>
<p>but then again, there are many variables involved in whether a grad student will succeed.</p>