Colorado Technical University

Research experience- Which looks better for PhD admissions?

I am currently working on my master's degree, will finish in December of 2012, and will be applying to enter PhD programs in August of 2013. I have two opportunities for next year concerning unpaid research experience: 1) Working as a researcher (unpaid, volunteer) for 6 months on a city council project. There is a supervisor that I will be reporting to and completing assignments for, but this person is not affiliated with any university or academic institution. This person works for the city and does not have any doctoral qualifications in my field. 2) Working as a developmental researcher (unpaid, volunteer but academically supervised) for either 6 months or 1 year under a supervised professor and 2 PhD students. Here is my dilemma: would it be better to do each option for 6 months so I can note on my CV that I was involved in two research positions, or would it be better to do the second one for the entire year? Thanks for sharing your opinion!

Public Comments

1. Go with #2 for a year if it's going to result in you getting co-authored on a published study. If not, do both for 6 months.