Undergrad research perspective

[Publius]

My question is regarding undergrad research. I've recently started research in Organic synthesis (Fluorine chemistry) and am curious to how adcoms view such research compared to other fields.

My premed advisor (another chemistry prof) actually frowned on it when I first brought it up, telling me that this isn't really the type of 'research' that adcoms were interested in and that I shouldn't look at devoting as much time to my current research interests. That caught me a bit off guard.

I'm not asking whether or not I should continue the research. I enjoy it and my intentions were never to conduct this research in search of a bullet. I'm just curious as to others' take on this comment.

I've recently been awarded an ACS fellowship for this summer and the only problem that I am foreseeing is speaking to my research prof and those that awarded the fellowship on how I am more interested in med school than graduate studies in organic chemistry.

All comments are welcome and appreciated.

- P

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[diosa428]

It doesn't matter what type of undergraduate research you do, as long as:
1.) You devote enough time to it to make it worth mentioning.
2.) You're actually doing research and not cleaning glassware.
3.) You can discuss your research intelligently, but also dumb it down enough to explain on applications or to interviewers, aka people who haven't taken organic chemistry in like 30 years.

Really, if O Chem is the research that interests you, stick with it. It's just doing research, getting results, and understanding how to process and present the data that's important. Also, if you're getting fellowships and could possibly publish, that's going to look great on your application. As for explaning your interest in medicine, you can always avoid it for the time being. When I started doing research, I told my PI (who was adamantly against medical school) that I was deciding between MD, PhD or MD/PhD. Just say that you're really interested in science and research (which is true). and then drop it until you need letters of recommendation.