CA Applicant, MD/PhD, Help with school list

[Espertinho]

Male, East Asian, 25 (B.S. Neurosci in 2011) so slightly non-trad? I dunno.

cGPA: 3.38 trending upward: 2.75 / 3.35 / 3.59 / 3.74 / 4.0 in 3 classes post bac
sGPA: 3.37 trending upward: 2.45 / 3.27 / 3.55 / 3.79 / 4.0 in 3 classes post bac

MCAT: 42 GRE: 170/170/4.5 though this probably doesn't matter?

Clinical (hospital) volunteering: 600 hours during high school, 100 during college, none since 2012

Non-clinical volunteering: 2 yrs (50 hrs) giving capoeira demos for elementary aged kids through STAR & summer school programs

Research:
1 yr undergraduate research (~500 hrs) - no pub, poster presentation as part of undergrad req.
9/13 - present (~1.5 yrs) volunteering in neurology lab. Jumped in at the start of the project, no pub yet.

Shadowing: 10 hrs shadowing an uncle (psychiatry)

Employment:
7/2011 - 4/2012: 1 month front office in outpatient surgical clinic, then 9 months managing the electronic medical records dept. Caveat: operation was shady (lawsuits pending) so I quit.
2012-present: MCAT tutor with Kaplan and then independent tutor for MCAT + related subjects

EC's:
1 yr Magic Castle member (fees too expensive to continue) - card sleights, still keep in practice
3 yrs assistant instructor at college for capoeira and boxing classes
2 yrs swim coach after swimming competitively for 8 yrs (competed in US Open/Nationals)
Backup dancing/fight scene stuntperson for independent movies (I'm in LA )
Violin - started when I was 5, performed some, competed some, now just for pleasure.


In a nutshell: literally AWOL for most of college, dicked around some more after, then ~2 yrs ago life events + soul searching got me starting to pull my **** together.

Pretty set on dual degree because I want to apply computational cognitive neuroscience to hopefully improve psychiatric nosology and practice.
MD to provide clinical perspective needed to effectively translate research into practical clinical practice. (Also b/c I like teaching & individual interaction)
PhD to provide training in research methodology and also because I need the structure & time to properly assimilate the requisite math/engr/cs/cog sci with the more familiar biochem & cellular neuro.

Drastically divergent (thanks for the appropriate adj Doug) credentials, so I'm in dire need of assistance putting together a reasonable school list (or alternative plan of action). Please and thank you.

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[referee3]

Honestly your research is a little weak for MD/PhD. Solid for pure md though. Your clinical co,uttering and clinical experience is low as well. Nothing from HS counts.

My advice: if your MCAT isn't going to expire soon complete a SMP and apply from there. You can beef up your clinical experience during that time as well.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Your stats are pretty divergent with a legendary MCAT and kind of a sad GPA. This makes you kind of a tough candidate to place for the insanely competitive MD/Ph.D admissions process.

 

[Espertinho]

Honestly your research is a little weak for MD/PhD. Solid for pure md though. Your clinical co,uttering and clinical experience is low as well. Nothing from HS counts.

My advice: if your MCAT isn't going to expire soon complete a SMP and apply from there. You can beef up your clinical experience during that time as well.

Ref, appreciate your input. MCAT is from 4/14 so I should have another year on it. An SMP would help my gpa woes (right?) but I've already wasted a few years so I'm concerned I might be wasting more time rehashing things I've already learned. Do you know if there SMPs that would allow me to maybe learn computer science control theory or Bayesian machine learning as it applies to cognitive psychology? But hey, if there's a consensus that I just need to suck it up and do the SMP I'll do it, so spectators please chime in if you've got an opinion.

Your stats are pretty divergent with a legendary MCAT and kind of a sad GPA. This makes you kind of a tough candidate to place for the insanely competitive MD/Ph.D admissions process.

Doug, thanks for responding. Yeah, I know my GPA blows chunks; it's courtesy of me not showing up for tests & quizzes in basic, freebie fr/so classes. Any thoughts as to where on the hierarchy of schools I should aim?

 

[referee3]

Ref, appreciate your input. MCAT is from 4/14 so I should have another year on it. An SMP would help my gpa woes (right?) but I've already wasted a few years so I'm concerned I might be wasting more time rehashing things I've already learned. Do you know if there SMPs that would allow me to maybe learn computer science control theory or Bayesian machine learning as it applies to cognitive psychology? But hey, if there's a consensus that I just need to suck it up and do the SMP I'll do it, so spectators please chime in if you've got an opinion.



Doug, thanks for responding. Yeah, I know my GPA blows chunks; it's courtesy of me not showing up for tests & quizzes in basic, freebie fr/so classes. Any thoughts as to where on the hierarchy of schools I should aim?

To answer your question about SMPs, no. They are only made up of the med school prereqs. And I really think you make have to suck it up. Depending on how much money you have you can apply this year while you start a SMP and if you get lucky and get in just drop the SMP. Otherwise you would continue the SMP and apply the following year after it's completion. You have to be careful about thst cause it you make you a re applicant.

This is a really tough situation since your GPA is so divergent from your MCAT.

 

[Vain Brother]

honestly i think the biggest thing hampering your MD/PhD chances is your relative lack of research experience. with a 3.4/42, you'll have no problem getting into a very good MD school. you can do plenty of research as a plain MD, and many schools offer PhD tracks for its students after you've been admitted.

i think it's fine to apply to some MSTP programs, but i'd have in the back of your mind that the most likely path is going to be a straight MD, with the option to do PhD should you choose later on.

 

[Catalystik]

Male, East Asian, 25 (B.S. Neurosci in 2011) so slightly non-trad? I dunno.

cGPA: 3.38 trending steadily upward from 2.75 fr to 4.0 in 3 classes post bac
sGPA: 3.37 trending steadily upward from 2.5 fr to 4.0 in 3 classes post bac

MCAT: 42

Clinical (hospital) volunteering: 600 hours during high school, 100 during college, none since 2012

Non-clinical volunteering: 2 yrs (50 hrs) giving capoeira demos for elementary aged kids through STAR & summer school programs

Research:
1 yr undergraduate research (~500 hrs) - no pub
9/13 - present (~1.5 yrs) volunteering in neurology lab. Jumped in at the start of the project, no pub yet.

Shadowing: 10 hrs shadowing an uncle (psychiatry)

Employment:
7/2011 - 4/2012: 1 month front office in outpatient surgical clinic, then 9 months managing the electronic medical records dept. Caveat: operation was shady (lawsuits pending) so I quit.
2012-present: MCAT tutor with Kaplan and then independent tutor for MCAT + related subjects

EC's:
1 yr Magic Castle member (fees too expensive to continue) - card sleights, still keep in practice
3 yrs assistant instructor at college for capoeira and boxing classes
2 yrs swim coach after swimming competitively for 8 yrs (competed in US Open/Nationals)
Backup dancing/fight scene stuntperson for independent movies (I'm in LA )
Violin - started when I was 5, performed some, competed some, now just for pleasure.


In a nutshell: literally AWOL for college (lived w/ gf at a diff college), dicked around some more after, then ~2 yrs ago life events + soul searching got me starting to pull my **** together.

Pretty set on dual degree because I want to apply computational cognitive neuroscience to hopefully improve psychiatric nosology and practice.
MD to provide clinical perspective needed to effectively translate research into practical clinical practice. (Also b/c I like teaching & individual interaction)
PhD to provide training in research methodology and also because I need the structure & time to properly assimilate the requisite math/engr/cs/cog sci with the more familiar biochem & cellular neuro.

Drastically divergent (thanks for the appropriate adj Doug) credentials, so I'm in dire need of assistance putting together a reasonable school list (or alternative plan of action). Please and thank you.

I agree with @Doug Underhill that your GPAs will work against you. And with @Vain Brother about a strategic approach to your goal of an MD and a PhD.

 

[Espertinho]

Thanks @Vain Brother, that's a good tip. I'll look into that.

@Catalystik, appreciate the concise feedback.

What do you guys think about doing a SMP to improve GPA and then applying MD/PhD (not even necessarily MSTP) next year?

 

[Goro]

I can't see how three classes of As will salvage your GPA just now. You'll need a year of that type of evidence.

Stick with MD and you'll still have plenty of room for research. There are schools that reward reinvention. Think Case, Duke and Vandy.

 

[Espertinho]

@Goro Yeah, I knew taking 1 class at a time might not be enough to make a difference, but I was afraid that my grades would suffer if I were to take more classes while continuing to work and volunteer. But thanks for the heads up about the schools, I'll be sure to include them.