"research" in biomedical engineering (and perhaps general science)

<p>dear all,</p>

<p>im completing my undergrad in BME. and thinking about applying to ph.d. program
i've worked at two labs during school years and other two labs (not my uni) during two summers.
however i have to admit that i dont think they're really "research experience".</p>

<p>i was usually (more or less) a lab assistant, so i did a lot of things. cleaning stuffs to measuring new experiements to write down a bunch of new data. and ... i guess they're not "research experience" you guys are talking about here? or are they marginally?</p>

<p>how do you guys do your research and what do you know and how do you do (get it in the first place)?</p>

<p>last but not least, do those "research/work experiences" have to be related to the program im applying? or do they just show "oh this kid can do research?". obviously i didn't stick with one lab (i worked because i needed money.) is that bad?</p>

<p>let's say i'd like go to standford/duke/mit/havard/jhu. yes, my dad told me to dream big.</p>

<p>thanks.</p>

<p>ps : should i seriously do a research during my senior year?</p>

<p>can anyone comment on this?
what do you think of undergraduate reserach experience?</p>

<p>thanks in advance :)</p>