Questions about posters and research

[neurologic]

I'm a senior undergrad student looking to apply to clinical psych programs next year. I have a few questions:

1) I was wondering how presenting posters at undergraduate research conferences held by my uni would be viewed in grad school admissions? I will likely have the chance to present at least one poster at an international conference, but for other projects is it okay to be present at small conferences held by my uni or should I be pushing to present at a national or international conference? Cost would be an issue here and I think I would be more likely to have a first author poster at my uni's conference (vs. 2nd or 3rd author at a larger conference)

2) For my uni's undergrad conference, we have the option to apply to do a 10 minute oral presentation instead of a poster. Is this something I should aim for or are they considered equivalent in grad school admissions?

3) How is research experience from fields outside of psychology viewed? I'm helping with a social work study and as the only undergrad and the only onenot in social work, I will likely be last author on any posters or papers that come out of this, but I am learning a lot about qualitative research. I was also looking to get involved with studies run by profs in medicine and kinesiology at my school, because they fit w my research interests and overlap w psych a bit (deal w mental health, brain injury, etc. - I'm interested in health psych and neuropsych). Would it be better to help w a psychology study that isn't related to my interests or help w a non-psych study that overlaps w my research interests?

[CozyD]

I don't really know, but my sense is:

1. Doing undergrad conferences, conferences at your own school, and small conferences is good! Doing bigger conferences is probably better, assuming they are relevant/quality conferences. Also, ideally you're presenting at conferences where lots of other people are presenting on things you are actually interested in, and getting a chance to hear those talks and meet those people. In general, it might kind of be a wash between 1st author on something small and 2nd/3rd on something bigger. Except that it could be pretty worthwhile to have at least something you're the sole/primary person on, so you can show schools what you're capable of independently. But you should really talk to someone who knows your particular research/field/opportunities to weigh the specific options in front of you. 

2. The oral presentation looks better than the poster presentation.

3. It would probably be a little easier to make your pitch for why you want to be in a psych program with more previous work done through the psych department. But what's really going to matter is connecting the research you've done with your research interests with the opportunities available at the programs you want to get into. If the research is actually relevant to your interests, and you'll be able to find clinical psych programs that match those interests, it should be okay to work with people outside your field. (For example, I do sex research. I've previously collaborated with sociologists and social workers. I've presented at interdisciplinary conferences and published in an interdisciplinary journal/book. I got into a psych program. My research interests are pretty specific and consistent, and they match the program I got into. It's possible that sex research is more friendly towards this than other subfields.)

Edited September 6, 2019 by CozyD

[neurologic]

Thank you so much!! In regards to point 3, I am involved with a psychology lab doing research in the area of psych I'm interested in. My school has 2 campuses and I happen to be at the smaller one, so this is the only psych lab here doing research in my area of interest. I will be doing my honours thesis study in this lab, but there's not really opportunities to do anything else, which is why I'm looking at non-psych labs w research relevant to my interests.

[CozyD]

I think I might have missed the direct question part of #3 ("Would it be better to help w a psychology study that isn't related to my interests or help w a non-psych study that overlaps w my research interests?")

To clarify my position: I'd say go with the non-psych study that overlaps with your interests over the psych study that isn't related.