I am curious about how the subject of an applicant's undergraduate research experience is viewed by graduate admissions. Specifically, does my previous research experience have to directly relate to a faculty member's research that I am interested in? I have almost three years (6 semesters/3 summers) of research experience in innate immunity and bacterial pathogen-host interactions, but I am also interested in other sub-fields of immunology, such as autoimmunity and mucosal immunity, etc. Would I be better off further diversifying my research experiences after undergrad or does my current research experience make me competitive for immunology PhD programs?
Question about undergraduate research experience and PhD programs
in Biology
Posted
Hi all,
I am curious about how the subject of an applicant's undergraduate research experience is viewed by graduate admissions. Specifically, does my previous research experience have to directly relate to a faculty member's research that I am interested in? I have almost three years (6 semesters/3 summers) of research experience in innate immunity and bacterial pathogen-host interactions, but I am also interested in other sub-fields of immunology, such as autoimmunity and mucosal immunity, etc. Would I be better off further diversifying my research experiences after undergrad or does my current research experience make me competitive for immunology PhD programs?
Thanks for any replies.