Chance me for MSTP?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

Aspiratory

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2014
Messages
22
Reaction score
1
Hi everyone,

My name is Logan and I'm applying next cycle.

My numbers: 3.75 cGPA, 3.64 sGPA, 36 MCAT (11/11/14) <--(Took MCAT 3x, personal issues, had low 20s the first two times).

Weird trend for GPA: Fresh, Soph = GREAT! Junior...slump. Senior = GREAT! Got C+ in Organic I/II, retook, got A's.

EC's/Odd Quirks: Trained teacher, went to a teacher's college (yay scientific inquiry). Worked as an 8th Grade Science teacher for 6 months, left to go to the CDC. I'm currently in my training program, and will begin my job in about 4 weeks. During undergrad, volunteered 400+ hours at a hospital, was a counselor for youths with HIV/Aids, ran a food pantry, president of a few clubs, and wrote for the school newspaper.

Research: So, this is where it gets a bit weird.
Freshman/Sophomore year: Worked at Neuroscience Lab running cognitive studies on elderly patients

Junior year:
Got a State Dept. Grant to conduct religious violence research in Indonesia (should I even mention this as it's non-science?). Conducted 3-year longitudinal study on student performance (worked as a TA for 3 years doing that). Published in The American Educator.

Senior year:
Worked at a Chemistry Lab, published a paper. Went to the UVA SRIP program, presented, and published 2nd paper.

After college:
Secured a STEM grant for science fair participants at the Middle School I taught worth around 20K. With this job with the CDC, next December I'm flying out to Angola to conduct a health survey of the country, and I'm doing personal maternal health research in Chad. But these will not have started, nor published by the time I apply.

So...as you can see my research is all over the place. I want to be a physician scientist, but I also want to be taken seriously by adcoms. Be honest with me, do you think I have a chance?

Members don't see this ad.
 
Quick tip, using your real first name + hard numbers makes it easy for people reviewing your application to identify you. I don't know if that's too paranoid of a thought, but maybe edit this post and remove your name. Also, maybe you should adjust your GPA numbers to ~3.7, ~3.6.
 
Also, I'm not in a position to judge your application overall, but I do know that deep is preferred over broad. I.e., one three-year experience over three one-year experiences. That being said, all of your research experiences seem to have been fairly productive.

Do you have any thoughts as to what you'd want to research for your PhD? It's foolish to be tied completely to one thing, but it's not a bad idea to have it narrowed down to a department or two. You only get so many rotations before you need to pick a PI.

Can you discuss your research experiences in detail, and do you think you have the background necessary to jump into a lab studying whatever it is that you want to study?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
So...as you can see my research is all over the place. I want to be a physician scientist, but I also want to be taken seriously by adcoms. Be honest with me, do you think I have a chance?

Of course you have a chance, just about anyone posting on this board has some chance.
You just gotta evaluate your chances for the school(s) you want to apply to.
You should definitely apply out of MSTP. Other adcoms/members here can tell you you'll get the same quality of clinical/research experience at most non-MSTP.

Your GPA seems a tad lower than average for MSTP, and don't think your past MCAT scores won't show up on your AMCAS. You'll need to explain those and apply according to your stats. Apply BROADLY (this is for everyone, even 4.0 GPA and 45 MCAT)

Your research, like you said, is all over the place. What do you actually wanna do? I don't mean give me a proposal but at least narrow it down to some field because by this point i don't know if you want to do social science research or neuro or what. This will also help you in choosing which programs to apply to.

Also, why do you wanna do MD-PhD and not MD-only or MD/MS? They're all pathways to becoming a physician-scientist, so what about MD-PhD appeals to you. You'll need to know this way before you apply.

I'm a current MD-PhD applicant, so I recommend to take the advise of the adcoms/current students here with more value than mine.
Good Luck and pm me if you need further help with applications or whatever.
 
Your research experience is not typical, GPA below average, and MCAT is good (with the caveat that it was bad twice, which some may think could be an issue on licensing exams [I'm near certain that all MCAT scores will be on AMCAS]).

You are not a guaranteed candidate by any means, but you do have a shot. You need to apply to 15-20+ programs (with a broad range of competitiveness, not all top programs) and apply to MD programs (~5-10) as a backup (if you would go to an MD program if you do not get into an MD/PhD program). Because your application is atypical, you should apply to more programs than average.

Also, depending on your scientific goals (which you should list here), an MD by itself supplemented with a one-year research program (or similar) may be preferable to an MD/PhD program if you want to be a physician scientist.

Many MD's are physician scientists too, so don't think you need the PhD.
 
Your research experience is not typical, GPA below average, and MCAT is good (with the caveat that it was bad twice, which some may think could be an issue on licensing exams [I'm near certain that all MCAT scores will be on AMCAS]).

You are not a guaranteed candidate by any means, but you do have a shot. You need to apply to 15-20+ programs (with a broad range of competitiveness, not all top programs) and apply to MD programs (~5-10) as a backup (if you would go to an MD program if you do not get into an MD/PhD program). Because your application is atypical, you should apply to more programs than average.

Also, depending on your scientific goals (which you should list here), an MD by itself supplemented with a one-year research program (or similar) may be preferable to an MD/PhD program if you want to be a physician scientist.

Many MD's are physician scientists too, so don't think you need the PhD.


To be honest, I think my stats are a bit below average for even a regular MD program, and that's the main reason I'm hesitant to apply to MD/PhD.

I want to apply to an MSTP program because I want to enter academic medicine, while being a clinician seems great, I think I'd like a good amount of research in my career. If I were to study a subject, it would definitely be Biostatistics, but if that's not an option, I'd go with Epidemiology.
 
To be honest, I think my stats are a bit below average for even a regular MD program, and that's the main reason I'm hesitant to apply to MD/PhD.

I want to apply to an MSTP program because I want to enter academic medicine, while being a clinician seems great, I think I'd like a good amount of research in my career. If I were to study a subject, it would definitely be Biostatistics, but if that's not an option, I'd go with Epidemiology.

I think you would fare significantly better in MD admissions and potentially get into a very highly ranked program. From there you could consider a year off program and hone the skills that you are seeking (or you could do research during/after your residency training).

For biostats/epidemiology, you do not need a PhD. Depending on exactly what your career goals are, for most of them I'd highly recommend you not do the Ph.D. Only if you want to run a research lab [ie: spend ~80-100% of your time and 100% of your effort doing research] then you should consider a Ph.D.

What specifically do you want to do (or be able to do) in biostats?
 
If I were reviewing your application, these would be the notes I would make: Academic- Why the junior slump? Illness? C+ in Orgo 1&2. A's on retake, but did you retake at the same school with the same course load as the first time? How rigorous was your curriculum overall? Were you at a competitive undergrad institution? Research- Unfocused, at best. Dilettante? Limited exposure to hypothesis-driven mechanistic studies (which most programs are biased towards). Except for early cognitive research, experiences have been relatively short. Biostats/Epi interest-unusual for most MD-PhD programs. LOR? Motivation for MD-PhD? My recommendation: Do not interview. This is just one program director's evaluation, and I expect other directors might be more positive. (Fencer might have a different opinion.)
 
You don't need a Ph.D. Apply to MD programs and take a year off to do research or get a MS in biostat/epidemiology if you feel like it.
 
If I were reviewing your application, these would be the notes I would make: Academic- Why the junior slump? Illness? C+ in Orgo 1&2. A's on retake, but did you retake at the same school with the same course load as the first time? How rigorous was your curriculum overall? Were you at a competitive undergrad institution? Research- Unfocused, at best. Dilettante? Limited exposure to hypothesis-driven mechanistic studies (which most programs are biased towards). Except for early cognitive research, experiences have been relatively short. Biostats/Epi interest-unusual for most MD-PhD programs. LOR? Motivation for MD-PhD? My recommendation: Do not interview. This is just one program director's evaluation, and I expect other directors might be more positive. (Fencer might have a different opinion.)

I don't know. I think I'm going to throw some feelers out there and apply for 2 or 3 MSTP's.
 
Don't apply for 2 or 3. Go in whole hog or not at all (or at least apply to a mix of MD/PhD and straight MD). It's too expensive, too time-consuming, and too stressful to do as a lark.
 
Top