<p>Anybody else not get into the SIRE research program? Are there any other options on campus to do research as a freshman, or is it better to wait and become acclimated to campus the first year and search for research options 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year? Do medical schools look favorably upon applicants who research from freshman year, or is it okay to wait?</p>
<p>@runforlife14 :I don’t think med. schools care (it would be viewed favorably by research intensive med. schools if you were involved at some point and made a solid contribution. Otherwise, it’s just rather useless)…and also don’t think in terms of what medical schools want to see beyond the basics (like good grades and MCAT, the basic core courses, and some shadowing)…seriously. Do not let their crazy admissions process control your thinking on what classes to take (or not to take), what EC’s to get involved in, or anything. Just choose things you will enjoy doing. What you enjoy doing should not always be aligned with what they enjoy seeing. Step outside the box a little and chillax. Some med. schools may like that. As for whether or not you should get involved, I would say that is a personal thing and has less to do with becoming acclimated to campus and more to do with whether or not you are intellectually prepared to do more than just randomly perform experimental protocols. As in, do you have or are you willing to use your coursework or independent studying to actually understand what and why you are doing things. Many students who choose research early as merely a resume building (or med. school impressing) check-mark often don’t do that much and certainly don’t really have a good command behind the theory associated with the techniques they are performing and the worst part is that they are not really learning it either. So I would say think about things like that and whether or not you are willing to put in a bigger time committment than one that says, “I am mainly doing this to impress third parties so just need to be able to say that I was a part of this”. Be careful and assess if you are ready or are willing to become ready to make serious contributions, otherwise you are just shadowing. The self-assessment merely requires honesty and in your case, looking beyond how med. schools view things.</p>