Choosing research project. HELP!

[confused007]

Hi guys. I have dilemma. I am deciding between two potential research projects for the summer. One project will be submitted for publication by the end of the summer. However, I would only be able to work on parts of the project since they have already done some analyses and therefore my contribution won't be as great. For the other project, I have to start from scratch and would be in charge of it mostly. However, I'm worried about the possibility that it won't be published in time for med school application. I don't know what I should do. Which project should I pick? Thanks in advance for your advice.

[dr_horrible]

First off, let me start by saying that having 2 different opportunities to publish is excellent, and whatever project you pick, the research experience itself will be just as valuable (if not more, imo) to put on your application, even without a publication.

 

That being said, if you submit something at the end of the summer, for either project, you probably won't officially 'publish' until winter. I've gone through the submission cycle for a paper a couple times, and it basically goes: submit, wait a month, get a list of 100 revisions to make from reviewers, send again, wait a month, repeat.

 

I guess there are pros and cons for each project. The first has a guaranteed publication in a short amount of time, while for the other, the fact that you were in charge of the project could be a good thing to mention on applications and interviews.

[RandomGuy]

Along the lines of what Dr. Horrible is saying, it's unlikely that either paper will be published in time for med school applications (October 1st). Best case scenario, you'll be able to list a publication as "submitted".

[confused007]

Thanks for your replies. I was wondering, if neither would be published, would it still make a difference if one is submitted for publication while the other is not?