Should I apply MD/PhD?

[aspiringmdphd19]

Hi, I’m a bit nervous about putting my info out here but would appreciate any insight/advice you may have about applying MD/PhD!

I am a current 4th year undergraduate student at a big school and intending to apply MD/PhD this upcoming June (2023). I am currently preparing to take the MCAT so I don’t have that score yet, but I am a bit worried that my GPA is too low to have my application considered by MD/PhD admission committees. I currently have a cGPA of 3.55 (unsure on sGPA but I imagine it’s a little lower). My GPA has been on a consistent upward trend from freshman year until now — I did struggle in some STEM classes along the way (specifically Ochem/calculus/upper division chemistry courses) but have excelled in upper level/graduate level biology courses. I mainly struggled with my GPA because of the adjustment to college but then in my sophomore year of college, I was also enrolled in a full-time paramedic program on top of a full course-load at my university so I think I was just trying to do too much at once.

My academic record is less than perfect but I am super involved in both research (have approx 3000 hours currently and will be working full time in a lab in my gap year) and clinical practice (have 8000 clinical hours from the past 5 years working as an EMT and paramedic). Research-wise, I have 5 poster presentations (and likely 1-2 more within the next few months), will be finishing a senior thesis, have given a selected oral presentation at a conference, working on a pretty big first-author paper (in a genetics lab) to be published within the next few months, am 3rd author on 2 other papers (in a translational bio lab), and have been awarded several research awards. I am also working on 2 other/smaller co-first author papers with two of my mentees which should also be published at the time of my application. To protect anonymity, I cannot reveal specifics about my other jobs, but I have a very high leadership position running a HCO which I founded, and have very meaningful clinical experiences which relate to my research. I believe I have a pretty compelling story and am pretty set on pursuing MD/PhD, but how much will my GPA hurt my application, and is there an MCAT score I should aim to meet minimum to “make up” for my GPA (I know neither of those are really a thing, but I am worried how adcoms will view my academic capabilities)? Can LORs make up for this in any way? Or do I have no chance?

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[pierty]

You can relax. While no one here can guarantee you (or anyone else) an acceptance, in general, there are many programs that will excuse a lower GPA if other aspects of your application are strong.

If you are planning on taking the MCAT within the next half-year and applying within your gap year, focus on getting as strong an MCAT score as you can within reason. In general, an evenly distributed score is preferred, with diminishing returns after a score > 519-520. That being said, you do not need that score (and do not even need to be in the upper range) to be accepted, and there is no single score that will guarantee/deny you an acceptance. It's a sliding scale. There are some resources you can find about individual program statistics, if you want a ballpark of ranges that programs will accept: MSTP Information

If it is within your financial means, you can also take a second gap year to space out your studying after you graduate and work on (potentially) publishing in your position (whether it's a good or bad thing, many students are taking multiple gap years before matriculating to MD/PhD programs. The average is ~2 years). That being said, you do not need to do so if you strongly prefer to apply this year, or it's not within your means.

If your school has a strong pre-health office, I would consult with them and with trusted mentors in your life. Be sure to have at least a couple people read over your essays before submitting (and yes, letters of recommendation are very important).