<p>So at this moment, I am really uncertain about what I want to do. I am a rising sophomore, and I have done research in college in protein engineering and immunology so far. I plan to do some research in computational biology and then biophysics of protein folding because I'm thinking computation and quantitative research is correct for me. The only thing I know so far is that I want to go to graduate school in some sort of translational biology field, maybe immunology or cancer biology. If I enjoy quantitative research more, I may choose bioengineering instead. Either way, will it HURT me to have done random, seemingly unrelated research in a variety of fields, rather than working in one lab and focusing on one type of research, then potentially applying to a program in that specific field? I'm sure the second scenario is better, but my only problem is I can't see myself specializing at this point. I want to explore and learn all I can. Is this acceptable for graduate schools? Does anybody know what it is like for graduate admission in a translational biology field?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Anyone? Anything constructive would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>While I am quite far from biological fields, I can talk a little about undergrad research. Every bit of research helps (or at least does not hurt), but you need to bear in mind the following:</p>
<p>1) The closer the match between undergrad project and grad thesis area the better.</p>
<p>2) Grad programs don’t care about breadth, just depth.</p>
<p>3) Quality of research is more important than quantity, and will be reflected in your letters of recommendation. Since there is always “ramp up” time in a new lab or field, staying in one place for a while gives you more time to get some quality work done.</p>
<p>4) Prolonged research in a single lab gives you more opportunity to publish and present, application high points.</p>
<p>5) You need good letters of recommendation, and while multiple labs gives you more writers, it also means less time to “wow” them. You really want at least one “wow” letter.</p>
<p>Your plan runs afoul of all of these, but as I said that just means it will help less than sticking with a relevant lab for a few dedicated and hardworking years. No one will blame you for hunting around to see what you like more, and you may be able to spin that a little in your application to show how certain you are of your eventual choice in graduate study.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the reply! Also, how easy is it to switch specific fields within a discipline from undergrad to graduate school. For example, maybe from immunology to cancer biology?</p>
<p>Switching fields is not that difficult, but you often pay a price in program quality - every spot in every program has different expectations of your preparation, and any holes in your preparation mean that you must be correspondingly better in some other area (usually GPA and LOR’s) to make up for it. As I said, I am not a biologist of any kind, so for all I know there may well be cancer biology programs for which an undergrad focus on immunology will be completely sufficient - I just don’t know. If it is a close field there will usually be little problem, only if it is significantly different are you likely to have real trouble. In my field of electrical engineering we often see other engineers as well as physicists and mathematicians in our grad programs. Not too many biologists, though.</p>