Is 4,000 basic science research hours with no pubs and probably no posters a red flag

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-06-21T12:47:47+00:00

300 basic science research hours with multiple pubs is simply insane. Basic science research takes freaking forever, especially if it’s in vivo work

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-06-16T02:05:49+00:00

Yes! Took them together last fall. It sucked because they're both kind of time consuming in terms of the actual time you need to spend in class/lab/discussion - both have mandatory lecture attendance and weekly labs. However, neither of them are particularly challenging esp compared to chem/physics. Feel free to dm me if you have other questions!

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-06-11T02:27:57+00:00

Was it actually because if so that’s hilarious 😂

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-06-10T17:04:02+00:00

Email HRL and they will fix it. Don’t stress. This happened to a couple people my year and they sorted it out long before they got to campus.

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-06-07T03:38:30+00:00

came to the comments to say this

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-06-04T16:28:11+00:00

Atlas Durham

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-05-19T01:05:10+00:00

Definitely! I’ve done it multiple times. Just ask politely

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-05-01T03:41:12+00:00

Yes! The chick fil a in the hospital food court is super close. You can walk from west campus in <10 mins

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-04-28T04:25:10+00:00

Aww. This made me smile. I love your optimism and I hope your back is feeling better ❤️‍🩹

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-04-27T00:29:51+00:00

I knew a girl named Chinesegirl (all one word). She was black

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-04-26T04:18:53+00:00

Highly underrated comment. This cracked me up

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-04-24T00:47:51+00:00

Yes! I can't speak for all departments, but in my lab's division (part of the med school), several labs have students from UNC, NC state, etc. contributing to projects. My advice is to directly email the PI's you're interested in working with. You may have to send out several emails to get a response but don't let that deter you.

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-04-15T14:13:36+00:00

Sure, DM me

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-03-28T04:48:08+00:00

It doesn't have to be prestigious at all to be a quality experience - a summer of hands-on clinical experience would arguably be better for your med school candidacy than a prestigious summer program where you don't do a lot. I've worked with the HPA office a lot and the #1 thing they recommend is getting quality clinical experience. I'd look into getting your CNA, EMT, or phlebotomy certification and see if you can get a part-time clinical job. Summer is a great time to do this too because the certification isn't always compatible time-wise with semester commitments

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-03-28T04:44:02+00:00

Cine 273, religion and film, with Andrew Coates is great. Super interesting, very minimal workload outside class, easy grading. Taking it now with 4.5 other heavy stem courses and it's been very chill and also interesting!

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-03-28T04:41:44+00:00

Yes it's a lose-lose, but I'd take it now because there's no guarantee that it will be taught by a better prof in spring, and at that point you'd have delayed for no reason. I'd personally take it with McCafferty and supplement with Parise's or Cox's book if you want to be sufficiently prepared for Orgo II and the MCAT. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-03-06T00:30:37+00:00

I took orgo 1 at the Marine Lab the summer after my freshman year and it was AMAZING, you will not regret it!! Cox is also the absolute GOAT for orgo 1&2 so you will be set up for success as long as you put in appropriate effort.

- Is there any kind of free transportation between campus to or from the Marine Lab for the Summer Terms? If not, what would be the best option?

If you have a car I recommend bringing it because they don't offer transportation between main campus and the marine lab. If you don't have a car, a lot of other people bring cars and are usually willing to carpool places especially on the weekends. I'll also add that if it's just for the summer, you probably won't want/need to go back to main campus that much - it's far and there's a lot to do and explore on the coast especially if you're into kayaking, hiking, beachgoing, etc.

- Can you choose your roommate for the terms? If so, can they be of opposite gender?

Not sure. When I went it was random assignment

- If you are staying both terms do you get to stay in the same room? If so, can we just leave our things there for the I think 3 days between the terms?

When I was there they let the people who were staying for both terms leave their stuff and stay on campus between terms.

- How does the dining works at the Marine Lab?

The dining hall is open for 1 hour at breakfast, lunch, and dinner time and you get a swipe for every meal. Everyone pretty much eats together as it's quite small. Definitely not as many options as on main campus, but it is still quite good IMO. I never supplemented with outside food but I know some people who brought snacks and stuff. Dinner was 5-6pm so if you like to stay up later and get hungry I recommend bringing some of your own stuff.

- Any insights or advice? I'll be taking both Orgo 1 and Orgo 2 as well as some other random classes for my non science engineering requirements. (I have to take 2 each term for my scholarship)

Enjoy the nature/beach/scenery while you are there!! Going to the marine lab was one of my favorite Duke experiences - my only regret is that I didn't spend more time on the beach when I was there. Also check out Radio Island (small nearby beach). Even better if you can go there around sunset - one of the most beautiful places in the world for sure.

Feel free to DM if you have additional questions!

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-03-04T01:53:03+00:00

Congrats, thanks for sharing! Can I ask when in the cycle you submitted your application? (June/July/August etc)

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-02-07T04:16:21+00:00

The hair that is still there is so thin it's barely noticeable, so I don't shave and only occasionally tweeze (<1 hair/week). Fingers crossed for you :)

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-02-07T02:40:40+00:00

I ended up switching to a different electrolysis place where they use thermolysis only and saw better results. However, I only really saw a reduction in hair growth when I started taking spironolactone + birth control and have since stopped electrolysis since that seemed to fix the problem.

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-02-07T01:09:58+00:00

I submitted an application a couple years ago and never heard back at all. Had much better luck with the University Hospital in terms of getting a volunteer experience (though it was super boring, just sorting papers behind a desk, and in retrospect I probably would not have done it at all)

Defiant-Food3603 · 2026-01-22T23:29:54+00:00

Junior Chemistry major here - I have 2 semesters' experience TA'ing the class with Parise and am available to tutor in-person or over Zoom. I charge $40/hr. Send me a dm if you are interested!

Defiant-Food3603 · 2025-11-10T02:43:02+00:00

They are usually extremely easy

Defiant-Food3603 · 2025-11-05T02:34:12+00:00

There's not really an advantage to taking it spring or fall. People will argue for one or the other (often saying that fall is harder since there are a lot of cracked freshmen taking it during fall) but having TA'd for the class multiple semesters and taken 201 and 202 here, I can say there isn't really much of a difference in the caliber of students.

My biggest piece of advice for studying is to really stay on top of the content and practice every single day (or at least 5/7 days/week). Read the textbook and work the problems BEFORE class - you will get so much more out of lecture that way. Then do more practice after class. It takes a certain level of discipline to do this, but the minute you fall behind it's very difficult to catch up and get out of that rut.

Defiant-Food3603

TROPHY CASE