neuroyale

Is it hard to publish a paper in Nature or Science or Cell as an undergraduate??? with a first authorship?? is this almost a shoo in to Harvard HST or Johns Hopkins and other top medical schools??

i_wanna_be_Brown

yes it is very hard, i've seen on this site with no idea of it's validity a stat that only 5% of med school applicants have any publications. Most scientists will never have a paper in Science/Nature.

no it is definitely not a shoo in. Publishing 1st author in Science or Nature is a different skill set from being a physician. That being said, it will certainly help with research oriented schools.

As has been said to you on this forum before, why don't you just focus on doing your best and doing well rather than finding the golden ticket to JHU Med or HMS?

neuroyale

yup... i was just wondering how much of an impact such a publication in those journals has on one's medical application....especially those research oriented schools as HMS and JHUSOM

kristin5792

I think your time would be better spent improving your GPA and otherwise improving your application than trying to scheme ways to be a shoo in at Harvard and Hopkins.

The fact of the matter is, there's no such thing. If it were as easy as you wish it were, everyone would be doing it.

But let's say you're right, and that a Nature or Science pub is a shoo in. The thing is, you don't just "get published in Nature." Most reputable scientists who have years of experience in their field don't get published in Nature. The amount of work and effort, not to mention novel thought about a complicated process, an undergraduate would have to do to get published in Nature is extraordinary. And at that point, the Nature pub isn't the cool thing. It's the work you did to get there that they care about.

And that stands true for all applicants to all medical schools. You have to be at the top of your game if you're going to be accepted and you're going to excel. Looking for the easy way out isn't the answer.

feathr

The issue that prevents many scientists from publishing in Nature and Science isn't that their research is not great, it's just that Nature and Science are sticklers in selecting manuscripts with original and high real world impact/applicability.

mmmcdowe

I would be surprised if more than handful of applicants each year have a Nature/Science publication, let alone a first authorship.

feathr

^ an undergrad with first authorship in nature... that's a walk on to any phD program in the world.

MiamiDAP

Not needed / required. I would not spend too much time on that.

Somerset

If you are asking this question, it's probably out of the question.

Same for the rest of us mortals. And even if you did, it is not a "shoo-in".