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Hey Everyone,
I'm a little new at this so I would love your input.
My story is a bit cliche; I did my undergraduate degree in bioengineering at a decent engineering school. As junior year approached, I was pretty reluctant to continue on with science, as my performance hadn't been stellar (frankly, I graduated with a 3.02).
For all of senior year I thought I would switch fields, and maybe enter into consulting or something industry related upon graduation in 2011. I landed my first job at a biotech company as a manufacturing engineer/IT analyst; wouldn't you know I hated how unsavory and dry of a job it was. Startlingly enough, I was laid off after 4 months since the company was about to be acquired by a larger conglomerate (pity, the money was actually quite good).
During my summers in undergrad I had done research in neuroscience/genetics at a well respected laboratory. Thus I asked them if I could give it another shot, and graciously enough, they let me come back. A couple months in, I began to LOVE research; enough to make me concurrently pursue my masters in biomedical engineering. You can call it an arranged marriage of sorts; not a passionate love story, but built slowly with hard, dedicated work.
I've come to the point to take the next step, and have decided I would like to take the MD/PhD route. As I mentioned before, my undergraduate stats are no laughing matter, but I have fully redeemed myself in my masters program (4.0 for two semesters so far). I have done extensive research, and have published a few papers (second authorships). As the projects wind down at my current post, I have gotten a position at a respected hospital where I will gain clinical research experience and hopefully a publication or two in the next year. I am taking the MCAT this summer, so that will be out of the way shortly (hopefully).
I know that was probably a lot to take in, but if you have made it this far, I'm wondering how I will fare against my competition? My extracurriculars in undergrad were sparse; will that play against me? Do programs look down upon someone doing their masters/specifically favor freshly graduated undergrads? And foremost, can doing well on the MCAT and my graduate studies balance out the disaster that was undergrad?
If you have any pointers, criticisms, or suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I'm a little new at this so I would love your input.
My story is a bit cliche; I did my undergraduate degree in bioengineering at a decent engineering school. As junior year approached, I was pretty reluctant to continue on with science, as my performance hadn't been stellar (frankly, I graduated with a 3.02).
For all of senior year I thought I would switch fields, and maybe enter into consulting or something industry related upon graduation in 2011. I landed my first job at a biotech company as a manufacturing engineer/IT analyst; wouldn't you know I hated how unsavory and dry of a job it was. Startlingly enough, I was laid off after 4 months since the company was about to be acquired by a larger conglomerate (pity, the money was actually quite good).
During my summers in undergrad I had done research in neuroscience/genetics at a well respected laboratory. Thus I asked them if I could give it another shot, and graciously enough, they let me come back. A couple months in, I began to LOVE research; enough to make me concurrently pursue my masters in biomedical engineering. You can call it an arranged marriage of sorts; not a passionate love story, but built slowly with hard, dedicated work.
I've come to the point to take the next step, and have decided I would like to take the MD/PhD route. As I mentioned before, my undergraduate stats are no laughing matter, but I have fully redeemed myself in my masters program (4.0 for two semesters so far). I have done extensive research, and have published a few papers (second authorships). As the projects wind down at my current post, I have gotten a position at a respected hospital where I will gain clinical research experience and hopefully a publication or two in the next year. I am taking the MCAT this summer, so that will be out of the way shortly (hopefully).
I know that was probably a lot to take in, but if you have made it this far, I'm wondering how I will fare against my competition? My extracurriculars in undergrad were sparse; will that play against me? Do programs look down upon someone doing their masters/specifically favor freshly graduated undergrads? And foremost, can doing well on the MCAT and my graduate studies balance out the disaster that was undergrad?
If you have any pointers, criticisms, or suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
