ThinkNeuro unbiased review (read before applying)
Hi this is my review for Think Neuro as a spring intensive intern in bibliometrics. My group just finished our poster so I think i have everything I need to write a review. My main motivation for this review is because I do think the program gives good results but there are some criticisms I have and want prospective applicants to hear about them before applying.
So first, the structure of the program is r programming, bibibliometric analysis, and then a poster/abstract. I think it's fairly straightforward and makes sense. Ok let's start with R - this was probably the most I learned from the internship program as before I did not know how to code at all. The modules were made by Caltech CS Careers so definitely credible and they also had live classes on the weekend which were super helpful just to learn and ask questions. That being said, the second week felt very rushed - the modules were difficult to comprehend and were not as good as the first week. ThinkNeuro did host extra live classes to answer questions and give more lecture content, as some interns complained on the slack. Tbh it wasn't that bad but the first instructor was A LOT better than the second one like in general a lot more helpful.
Second I want to talk about the lectures from the harvard/stanford faculty. For the first lecturer from Harvard Medicine, he had to reschedule two lectures the same day of which I found to be unprofessional. However, i guess it just goes to show these are real doctors and professionals, as he was in the operating room and went overtime if I remember correctly. His lecture was recorded and shared after the lecture time was over since some interns had to miss it since it was rescheduled last minute. However, by far, he was the best lecturer of them all in terms of engagement, answering questions, and content. So I can't complain too much about this part.
For the bibliometric analysis and poster, I was given the co-associate leadership role but I heard if you don't get it (it's like a 10-20% acceptance) you're kinda screwed. So yeah you have to apply for leadership after you are accepted to the program. Me and my associate and maybe 3 other interns did all the work and we had 2 inactive interns who just leeched off our work which wasn't really fun. We are trying to see if we can get them removed from the authorship but yeah just know there will be inactive people.
I think overall, I would give this program a 7/10. It teaches you the fundamental skills to be successful in future research opportunities and also allows you to show that you did produce something original from the experience - a poster, abstract, and presentation. Unlike what a lot of the previous discussions on reddit, a bibliometric analysis is ORIGINAL research. You are synthesizing data and info from previous research papers but the overall analysis you do on R and excel and the results you find are original. My associate is currently submitting our poster to the national undergrad conferences at Princeton/Brown/UPenn/Harvard, so I will update if we are accepted. This is a good opportunity if you are starting out in research and if you want to learn the foundations, but I don't think you need to do it more than once unless you choose a different subtopic. For me, I was able to talk about my spring experience in an interview with a uni professor (T50 state school) and I got a summer position this summer in his lab in person so I will not be doing ThinkNeuro again. I think it's not perfect and has lots of inefficiencies but overall I did get a good foundation out of it and it helped me secure a lab position which I am grateful for. I can answer questions for anyone thinking about applying.