Zeddy102 Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 Hey all, I'm a PhD student who's hoping to apply to meds this year. My undergrad GPA is pretty decent (c3.92 best2yr 4.0). However, I haven't been as productive as I would have liked during my PhD. I have a long list of abstracts with many orals but I only have 1 published first author paper and 2 co-authors. This is 100% due to the studies that I'm doing as they take considerably longer than cell-culture or electrophysiological papers. I'm wondering how much schools like UofT will look negatively on this? I may have a few more papers submitted by the secondary deadline but MOST likely they won't be accepted by that time. I obviously know no one here has any definitive answer on what they look at, but has anyone been accepted without a stellar publication record? Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slashsev01 Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 i think u will get in (or interview), based on undergrad marks.. no one cares about grad school Hey all, I'm a PhD student who's hoping to apply to meds this year. My undergrad GPA is pretty decent (c3.92 best2yr 4.0). However, I haven't been as productive as I would have liked during my PhD. I have a long list of abstracts with many orals but I only have 1 published first author paper and 2 co-authors. This is 100% due to the studies that I'm doing as they take considerably longer than cell-culture or electrophysiological papers. I'm wondering how much schools like UofT will look negatively on this? I may have a few more papers submitted by the secondary deadline but MOST likely they won't be accepted by that time. I obviously know no one here has any definitive answer on what they look at, but has anyone been accepted without a stellar publication record? Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsleuth Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 considering how many med school students have never published a paper, let alone done any research, i don't think it will be a problem. like anything else, be prepared to give an answer if someone ask: in my area, papers come out more slowly. if that's truly the case, it's not going to surprize anyone on the adcom. my two cents, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeddy102 Posted July 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 Thanks for the comments. I guess the thing that I'm worried about (rightly or not), is that the committee will look at my record and say, okay she did very well in undergrad but then in 5-6 years only published 3 papers with 1 first author? What was she doing during that time etc etc. It's not that they care or not about research, but when you've devoted half a decade of your life to it, it becomes an important aspect of my life and thus the application. I guess I just have to apply and find out. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ontariostudent Posted July 29, 2009 Report Share Posted July 29, 2009 Thanks for the comments. I guess the thing that I'm worried about (rightly or not), is that the committee will look at my record and say, okay she did very well in undergrad but then in 5-6 years only published 3 papers with 1 first author? What was she doing during that time etc etc. It's not that they care or not about research, but when you've devoted half a decade of your life to it, it becomes an important aspect of my life and thus the application. I guess I just have to apply and find out. Thanks again! I think you should be covered with one first author paper and 2 co-author papers, but it will depend on the rest of your application. If everything else is good you should be totally fine, but if you're lacking in any area they will start to care more about your grad productivity. You should be fine, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spacko Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 I wouldn't worry about your publication record. You're in better shape than I was a year ago as all my publications were submitted towards the end of my PhD and at the time of the applications in 2008 I didn't have any manuscripts submitted. While I ended up getting into Med school regardless, I'm guessing my situation did hurt my 'graduate review' at both U of T and Ottawa. Based on my experience, having one first author and two co-authors approaching the end of your PhD isn't uncommon. Are you hoping to have another first authorship by the time you finish up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostLamb Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 I think your graduate productivity sounds reasonable. Of course the expectations are higher if you are PhD vs MSc applicant, but through grad review I would think they would take into consideration the field of study and how 'easily one can publish "quickly" and "frequently". There are many schools of thought with respect to publishing. Some labs publish frequently but in weaker journals and have a lot of overlap in articles. Others work hard to get papers into the most highly respected journals in their field at the expense of fewer publications and more time between. I don't think I need to tell you all this, you know since you're in academia . However, I think the importance/IP of the journal can also make a difference. I am not a prof nor an assessor, but to me the red flags would go up if you had no publications and few or no conference abstracts/presentations/experience. In any case, you have some excellent undergrad marks to back you up. Best of luck in your future applications AND publications! LL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laika Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 I have a long list of abstracts with many orals but I only have 1 published first author paper and 2 co-authors. This is 100% due to the studies that I'm doing as they take considerably longer than cell-culture or electrophysiological papers. I'm wondering how much schools like UofT will look negatively on this? I may have a few more papers submitted by the secondary deadline but MOST likely they won't be accepted by that time. I don't think it will be a problem. If you're concerned about it, I'd recommend asking your supervisor to explicitly address this point in his or her LOR. (e.g., "Zeddy102's research productivity has been exemplary during graduate school. In this field, studies are notoriously labour intensive, and Zeddy has a very strong publication record for a PhD student in this area, etc...") The LORs are given serious consideration at U of T, and your supervisor can help explain the significance of your research, and your contribution. no one cares about grad school The U of T ad com cares about grad school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoReds Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Based on what I heard from a third year medical student at uoft who is part of the admission committee.. graduate applications are reviewed by a PhD student. So at least you will have someone that has an idea of how difficult it can be to publish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Law Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Your publication record is fine, stop worrying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avenir001 Posted July 30, 2009 Report Share Posted July 30, 2009 Your publication record is fine, stop worrying. compared to law's anyway. he's got zero publications jk. i'm sure with that high a gpa u'll be fine regardless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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