vertigo00 Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 which university is better for undergraduate research? i know western has scholar's electives, but i didn't apply for that, so besides that, does western present many opportunities for undergrad research? i know u of t does, but i like western more, and the research issue is the only one holding me back, as it is v. important for med school admission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blinknoodle Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Research is not "very important" for medical school admissions, unless you are applying to MD/PhD programs. It is only one aspect of your application. Guess what? Regardless of your undergrad university, you can apply to work with researchers at different universities for the summer! Just like research opportunities are only one aspect of a university, look at the schools as a whole. If you prefer UWO, go there. You can definitely find research opportunities at both schools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon01 Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Go where you think you'll be happiest. Reasearch defintely is not 'very important' in getting into med school. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss_sunshine Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 If you choose, you can even carry out an undergrad research project in the states or europe. It doesn't matter which undergrad school you attend. But as was mentioned above (and I agree with as well), research is not "very important" for med school. carry out a research project if you are interested in research but remember, research is not a prerequisite for med school admission. Many of my classmates have not even stepped foot into a research lab. Do what interests you, whether it be research or volunteering or hobbies or something else. Med schools are looking for passionate or interesting people to fill their classes with Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
temp_degoo Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 ... sigh..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 ... sigh..... What ya sighin about degoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfette Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 It's certainly true that you can do research at any university (during your summers) regardless of where you do your undergrad. One disadvantage that I can think of is if you want to do research during the school year (eg. honours thesis). I'm not at Western, but I'm pretty sure that there will be research opportunities - just less of them and maybe not as specialized in exactly what you want to do. Likely you won't know enough to do exactly what you want to do as an undergrad anyways. We all go into university hoping that we're going to find the cure for AIDS, but then we realize it's not quite so easy... The only other disadvantage I can think of is that some summer awards are for students at that university only. But these are relatively few in number - the big ones like NSERC can usually be taken by any Canadian student regardless of where you're doing your undergrad. The short answer: it's probably not worth it to choose your undergrad school based on where you can do research. (This is, of course, not true for grad school, where it matters...a lot.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Also, for those that say research doesn't matter in your application... while that may "officially" be the case, I always get the impression that UT really looks favourably upon research experience. Almost everyone who's posted in the interview thread has had some form of research experience. That is something to consider. If you are really interested in research though, there are tonnes of research opportunities at Western and UT. As others have said though, don't pick a school based on where you think you'll be able to find research... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfette Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Also, for those that say research doesn't matter in your application... while that may "officially" be the case, I always get the impression that UT really looks favourably upon research experience. Almost everyone who's posted in the interview thread has had some form of research experience. That is something to consider. Yeah, almost everyone I know (personally) who got an interview at UofT this year has done research in some form or another. (Mind you this is only about 10 people or so). Although it's hard to know why this is the case...it could be that UofT favours people who do research. But it could also be because (1) most premeds have done research, (2) premeds interested in research are more interested in going to UofT, or (3) UofT accepts more grad students in general, who by definition have done research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Yeah, almost everyone I know (personally) who got an interview at UofT this year has done research in some form or another. (Mind you this is only about 10 people or so). Although it's hard to know why this is the case...it could be that UofT favours people who do research. But it could also be because (1) most premeds have done research, or (2) premeds interested in research are more interested in going to UofT. It could be that most premeds have done research, but a lot who haven't done research with seemingly good applications get turned down for interviews. It just seems that if you don't have research, it's really tough to get an interview. Also, 2 is highly likely, but I'm sure that there are lots of premeds who are not interested in research that would like to go to UT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfette Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 It could be that most premeds have done research, but a lot who haven't done research with seemingly good applications get turned down for interviews. It just seems that if you don't have research, it's really tough to get an interview. Also, 2 is highly likely, but I'm sure that there are lots of premeds who are not interested in research that would like to go to UT. Haha, but then I also know of a number of very good applicants (ie. good marks, EC's, etc) who have done fairly extensive research as undergrads who've been turned down for interviews... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 Haha, but then I also know of a number of very good applicants (ie. good marks, EC's, etc) who have done fairly extensive research as undergrads who've been turned down for interviews... Yeah I was going to write that but got lazy lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blahmanblah Posted April 18, 2007 Report Share Posted April 18, 2007 *shrugs* Not all research experiences are equal, much like how not all volunteering experiences are equal. To just say one did research, says nothing about the quality of the recommendation letter, or the quality of your work, or your capacity to talk about your research and convey the experience in a meaningful way. Just like saying that one volunteered in a backroom filing at the hospital is significantly different than starting up a national health-related advocacy group that succeeds in lobbying for something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bestknightmare Posted April 24, 2007 Report Share Posted April 24, 2007 western has a lot of research opportunities you need the initiative to find the professor you want to work with. but i assume that goes for any universities i have 1 year lab experience at a physiology lab, 1 year lab experience at a bacteriology lab...and doing a research grant this summer at UWO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerroger Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 Just a note. Clinical experience is WAY more important than research. Do research if you want to do research. If you want to do research then do it at a university were the research interests you. No offense but all this maneuvering for "prestige" gets old and frankly screams of superficiality. Even if you don't attend it to come off this way it dose. Get involved in research that interests you. Why? You will speak about it with more passion because you WILL be passionate about it. The location is very irrelevant. Just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smurfette Posted April 25, 2007 Report Share Posted April 25, 2007 Just a note. Clinical experience is WAY more important than research. Do research if you want to do research. If you want to do research then do it at a university were the research interests you. No offense but all this maneuvering for "prestige" gets old and frankly screams of superficiality. Even if you don't attend it to come off this way it dose. Get involved in research that interests you. Why? You will speak about it with more passion because you WILL be passionate about it. The location is very irrelevant. Just my two cents. Location is irrelevant if you're doing the same thing. And if I were the OP, I would choose Western over Toronto. But if you really are interested in research, then there are a lot more opportunities at so-called "research-intensive" schools (eg. Toronto, Alberta, BC). This is especially true if you are interested in a fairly small specialization, which probably won't be studied at smaller schools. While I realize this is probably not going to be relevant at the undergrad level, it becomes very much relevant if you are pursuing grad school. As for clinical experience...it's true if you can get good clinical experience. But for most premeds, it's difficult to get and you can't really do much because of legal restrictions, etc. Whereas with research, sometimes you can do something interesting/significant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bestknightmare Posted April 26, 2007 Report Share Posted April 26, 2007 Location is irrelevant if you're doing the same thing. And if I were the OP, I would choose Western over Toronto. But if you really are interested in research, then there are a lot more opportunities at so-called "research-intensive" schools (eg. Toronto, Alberta, BC). This is especially true if you are interested in a fairly small specialization, which probably won't be studied at smaller schools. While I realize this is probably not going to be relevant at the undergrad level, it becomes very much relevant if you are pursuing grad school. As for clinical experience...it's true if you can get good clinical experience. But for most premeds, it's difficult to get and you can't really do much because of legal restrictions, etc. Whereas with research, sometimes you can do something interesting/significant. western is research intensive i believe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vertigo00 Posted April 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2007 what do you mean by clinical experience??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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