<p>This is my first time on CC so I hope I am doing this right. Okay so I am a pre med in my first year of college and I was wondering if it was worth trying to get into research or try to shadow and volunteer. The Dean of Biology recommended waiting till next year to get into research but the pre med adviser suggested that I start as soon as possible. I know that it takes at least a 3.5 to get into medical school so any suggestions about what I can do to improve my chances for a medical school are much appreciated. thank you for helping me.</p>
<p>p.s. I want a D.O. program and my top choice is Western.</p>
<p>If you can find a PI and a research lab that appeals to you and is willing to take you, I can’t see a reason to wait. </p>
<p>But you might consider holding off until second semester when you when you have a better idea of how time-consuming your classes are going to be. You don’t want to load up your plate with too much until you can get a feel for how well you’re going to be able to balance everything.</p>
<p>P.S. Don’t forget to schedule some time for a social life too.</p>
<p>Normally people do not choose, they grab whatever is available. Get into whatever is available to you right now. You can do them at the same time. Usually none are every day commitments.</p>
<p>The advantage about waiting is that you will have gain some experiences to offer to a PI. Without any college classes, and particularly labs, under your belt (Bio, Chem, etc), you aren’t qualified to offer much value besides washing glassware. </p>
<p>But Miami is correct – jump on any opportunity that comes along. Just know that such opportunities for Frosh typically go to Honors/Merit students who have first dibs.</p>
<p>What are the expectations from PI’s? How long should a student stay with this one lab assuming that the research topic is of interest to him/her? If the student starts doing research as a freshman or sophomore but chooses to quit after one and half years, would it be odd to ask for LOR’s from the PI? Furthermore, would it be bad if the student decides to go to an off-campus research program during the summer?</p>
<p>Expectations of the PI will vary by PI and the project/type of lab. Some will be very structured and you will have little chance to pursue any of your own projects/ideas. You may end up stuck doing the same repetitive task over and over for years. Other PIs will be more flexible and give you increasing responsibility in the lab–including supervisory responsibility and the option to pursue your own project.</p>
<p>You may even see both types of PIs in the same lab!</p>
<p>You should remain with a lab so long as it remains to be a good fit for you. (Congruent interests, opportunities to learn new techniques & take new responsibilities, scheduling is reasonably convenient/flexible and does not consume every minute of your free time.)</p>
<p>If your relationship with your PI has been a positive mentoring one and you leave the lab under positive circumstance, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t ask for a LOR. (This equally applies to summer programs–if you’ve been productive and your relationship with the PI is a positive one, go head and ask for a LOR there too.)</p>
<p>Seeking and taking outside summer opportunities is something that a good PI will not take as a personal affront and will, in fact, encourage. (Student gains a wider network of contacts and gains new skills–both of which may benefit the home school PI.)</p>
<p>"The advantage about waiting is that you will have gain some experiences to offer to a PI. Without any college classes, and particularly labs, under your belt (Bio, Chem, etc), you aren’t qualified to offer much value besides washing glassware. "</p>
<p>-I am not sure about this at all. My D. was working at Med. Research Lab during HS (2 summers) - paid position. No, she was not doing cleanning, there were others for that. Her responsibilities were not that different from what she was doing in college, besides that she whote proposal and got 2 grants for her research at college and also she has presented results. They get trained in procedures, they can follow directions. It did not appear that others were looking for scientific input from HS’er of UG’d, they were working under supervision of prof and grad. student. It was very valuable experience.
I still say, grab everything that you can when it is offerred. You might be sorry later, itis not going to wait for you when you are ready.</p>
<p>Thank you for supporting my point (although Im sure it was unintended). :)</p>
<p>The fact that your D had to be “trained”…many/most college Profs are not gonna take that time, when they have plenty of other students from which to choose who have already been trained to run gels, who know what Western Blot means, etc.</p>
<p>^^Exactly! I remember at Freshman Parents’ Orientation, the director of research was asked if freshmen could get research jobs. His response: “Sure, someone has to get up at 4 am to feed the mice.” The point being that freshmen lacked the skills to be useful doing much else.</p>
<p>And this is exactly why a good PI will encourage a student to find summer placements in other labs–so someone else can train him.</p>
<p>I am sorry for not pointing clearly. No, profs do not train them, others do and later they train new ones, even if the new people are grad. students. My D. and her friend trained new grad. students (while doing internship during UG). Prof would not have time, her prof wore many hats, including being a dean. For D., it was not summer position, it lasted few years during school year as well as her other activities, like volunteering and job.</p>
<p>your point was clear: your D needed to be trained. It does not matter who does the training. The fact that she picked it up in HS was great, bcos it such programs are designed for students who need “training.” Many colleges don’t have that luxury, or don’t want to spend the time doing it (grad students would rather work on their own stuff that train 18-year-olds), when they have plenty of upper classmen available who don’t require training. Thus, when your D matriculated to college, she had already been “trained.” And then, of course, there is the college pecking order of who gets priority for research slots: seniors doing an honors thesis, honors students…</p>
<p>Well, no classes teach them to take care of lab. animals, pre-op and post-op, take blood pressure,…etc. even in Zoology major, so I am not sure what do you mean. And they did train Grad. Students also, who absolutely needed to be trained. Nobody can start any job anywhere without training, no matter what degree.
Again, it is up to OP, but not to grab opportunity when it is available might not be a good idea. They are not sitting around waiting for you.</p>
<p>I’d wait to start on research. Few reasons:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You’ll get more out of it if you take the intro biology classes first. You’ll actually understand more about whats going on, and you’ll know about some lab techniques. </p></li>
<li><p>The intro biology classes can help you identify your interests (do you like neurology, endocrinology, immunology, virology, etc.), and you can then choose a lab that you’re really interested in. </p></li>
<li><p>You don’t want to mess up your grades right now. Wait until you establish a good GPA and then start with research.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Getting your feet wet in a lab will help you to get into a summer research program or a lab with projects you are more interested in. The main concern is if you can have enough time to take care of your GPA assuming you are not just washing glassware. I guess that pre-meds just have to play less hard. ;)</p>