*** 2020-2021 MD/PhD cycle - Questions, Comments, and other things ***

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Anyone else applying to MUSC this year? 20 days ago they said they will have a decision in 2-3 weeks. Just now I got an email stating they have received many more applications than expected and that they will be back in touch come November. I am still under review. Bad sign, or a sign of interest but lower interest than other candidates? Was really looking forward to one more school that could pull me out of Limbo.
 
neurofanatic213 said:
Anyone else applying to MUSC this year? 20 days ago they said they will have a decision in 2-3 weeks. Just now I got an email stating they have received many more applications than expected and that they will be back in touch come November. I am still under review. Bad sign, or a sign of interest but lower interest than other candidates? Was really looking forward to one more school that could pull me out of Limbo.
Click to expand...

I'm also applying, but haven't heard that from them as of yet. I have heard that many schools received an unprecedented number of applications this year, likely because of COVID. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.
 
I've got a couple questions, and I guess @Fencer may be the best to answer them, but would love to hear from anyone who may know. If I don't get any IIs by mid-November, I was considering applying to a few PhD programs this cycle at schools that allow transfer to MD/PhD within the first two years of PhD (ex: UPenn states this in their FAQ). I'm thinking of doing this because my application is very competitive for a lot of top PhD programs, and it's mostly my low GPA that I feel would prevent me from being considered by most programs.

So, my questions are:

1. Would crushing it at the grad program make it fairly likely that I would get into the school's MD/PhD program, assuming my previous clinical activities demonstrated a clear passion for clinical care, or would I still have a hard time given my low AMCAS GPA?
2. In regards to said GPA, any idea how MD/PhD programs interpret my situation (AMCAS "cumulative undergrad gpa" = ~3.2, because of 3.5 GPA from my university averaged with ~2.8 from several semesters of college courses taken when I was 16-17)? Would I likely be screened out, or could a reviewer likely see that it is so low because of high school?

If anyone could give insight into these questions I would much appreciate it. Thank you!
 
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@Fencer When you have a moment, do you think you can give us an update regarding applicant numbers so far for this cycle? I know for previous cycles you provided brief applicant summaries (number of applicants, avg stats, etc. ) Just out of curiosity 🙂
 
DuckyLuck said:
I've got a couple questions, and I guess @Fencer may be the best to answer them, but would love to hear from anyone who may know. If I don't get any IIs by mid-November, I was considering applying to a few PhD programs this cycle at schools that allow transfer to MD/PhD within the first two years of PhD (ex: UPenn states this in their FAQ). I'm thinking of doing this because my application is very competitive for a lot of top PhD programs, and it's mostly my low GPA that I feel would prevent me from being considered by most programs.

So, my questions are:

1. Would crushing it at the grad program make it fairly likely that I would get into the school's MD/PhD program, assuming my previous clinical activities demonstrated a clear passion for clinical care, or would I still have a hard time given my low AMCAS GPA?
2. In regards to said GPA, any idea how MD/PhD programs interpret my situation (AMCAS "cumulative undergrad gpa" = ~3.2, because of 3.5 GPA from my university averaged with ~2.8 from several semesters of college courses taken when I was 16-17)? Would I likely be screened out, or could a reviewer likely see that it is so low because of high school?

If anyone could give insight into these questions I would much appreciate it. Thank you!
Click to expand...

Bumping this post, I want to know about this too
 
micro_glia said:
Bumping this post, I want to know about this too
Click to expand...

If you want to be a physician scientists, if you want the opportunity for clinical training, do an MD or MD/PhD. While there may be a small number who successfully transfer through this path, you are seriously closing off a lot of options. Penn for example is one of the most competitive MSTPs. You will still be competing with an extremely competitive applicant pool if you choose to go this route and there are no guarantees. Furthermore, the first two years of grad school outside of an MSTP are a lot of searching, classes, and teaching requirements so it’s not going to be a time where it’ll be straightforward to differentiate yourself.

If you go into a PhD program, you will most likely never get an MD unless you apply to medical school after the PhD, in which case it will most likely not be funded. I wouldn’t simultaneously apply to PhD programs unless you are comfortable with that possibility.
 
wpneuro said:
I think comparatively in terms of numbers, we're about 2 weeks behind past cycles (or at least last year's)
Click to expand...
My guess is we’d have to be at least two weeks behind because AMCAS transmission alone was delayed by two weeks. I’d estimate, given all the changes this year, that some schools are about two weeks behind and others are as far behind as four weeks.
 
I have been writing a core for a P30 grant. I am done! This weekend, I will have a Wellness day and will get back to post tomorrow afternoon.

I have been tracking our national MD/PhD pool and ours. The national pool is behind in verification by 7.5%, however, the overall pool is similar or slightly larger than last cycle. The 2020 cycle has not been entirely completed. Some schools still haven't reported their outcomes. Overall, I think that the national MD/PhD cycle would be about one month delayed despite that some schools did not change their timing. This means that first week of December is the time to panic and reassess the absolute need for more applications.
 
Congrats for finishing @Fencer and thanks for sticking around to answer questions!

I have been asked to take VITA for one of the schools in addition to their normal interview. How do you foresee this being factored in with the faculty recommendations (ie one taking precedence, them being equally weighted, or one not mattering nearly as much)?

Thanks again!
 
Hi all,

I have yet to receive an MSTP II. @Fencer , I saw your post above and see you feel that the cycle is about one month behind. However, of course, I worry. Thoughts on adding a few more MSTPs this late in the game?

Thank you.
 
Lucca said:
If you want to be a physician scientists, if you want the opportunity for clinical training, do an MD or MD/PhD. While there may be a small number who successfully transfer through this path, you are seriously closing off a lot of options. Penn for example is one of the most competitive MSTPs. You will still be competing with an extremely competitive applicant pool if you choose to go this route and there are no guarantees. Furthermore, the first two years of grad school outside of an MSTP are a lot of searching, classes, and teaching requirements so it’s not going to be a time where it’ll be straightforward to differentiate yourself.

If you go into a PhD program, you will most likely never get an MD unless you apply to medical school after the PhD, in which case it will most likely not be funded. I wouldn’t simultaneously apply to PhD programs unless you are comfortable with that possibility.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the reply! I'll have my fingers crossed for getting in somewhere.. Also, does anyone know of programs similar to Harvard's HST PhD program? This is no longer the case, but I've heard that it used to be relatively straight forward to transfer into the MD/PhD program from HST since HST students take ~1.5 years of pre-clinical courses with med students. Just curious. Thanks!
 
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Here is the data for the past 11 years:

MD/PhD application cycle20202019201820172016201520142013201220112010
Total Applicants18061789183218241903185618531891182617791743
At least one MD/PhD Acceptance808803791778785749776763764773741
Withdraw After AC (WA)91738898111103120127112117111
Rescinded Acceptance (RA)10222113034
Deferral to later class (DF)1522293223222925222025
Matriculated (MA)701708672646649623626608630633601
Success to 1 Acceptance45%45%43%43%41%40%42%40%42%43%43%
Success to Matriculation39%40%37%35%34%34%34%32%35%36%34%
 
Are many programs open to deferrals to a later class? What are some valid reasons for this?
 
Here is the data for the 2021 cycle (these numbers are similar to 2020 at this point in the process):

TOTAL APPLICANTS
1737​
Withdrew before Acceptance (WB)
15​
Rejection group (PW, PW, RJ)
632​
In the running for Interviews and Acceptances
1090​
At least one MD/PhD Acceptance
0​
 
@Fencer What does "Rejection group" imply? E.g. is it anyone who has received a rejection regardless of their status at other schools they applied to MD/PhD, or is it a total rejection from all MD/PhD programs and they're out of the running?
 
jjame said:
@Fencer What does "Rejection group" imply? E.g. is it anyone who has received a rejection regardless of their status at other schools they applied to MD/PhD, or is it a total rejection from all MD/PhD programs and they're out of the running?
Click to expand...

It cannot be the former since 1090+632+15=1737 — the Rejection group must be exclusive to those who are still in the running for IIs and As. I would guess that these are applicants who have been rejected post-secondary (RJ) or failed to submit a secondary/some other requirement (passive withdrawal).
 
The national report system evaluates the sum of the best status for a MD/PhD application for each applicant. They use an algorithm that indicates that Rejection is worst than, Requesting a Secondary, or Sending an Interview, or Receiving an Acceptance. Each of the later statuses are each a better status than being placed in the bucket of Preliminary Rejection, which often has to do with each program's minimum academic benchmarks. For example, an applicant with a MCAT of 488 and GPA of 1.98 might be placed there (Rejection buckets) with or without review by each of the 12 schools that that particular applicant applied. It would then be reported by the system as "preliminary rejection" or "rejection". Passive withdrawal often is the applicant that doesn't respond to our emails. In any case, at the moment, the overwhelming number of applicants in the rejection group are within the preliminary rejection bucket.


Now, adding schools.... If you were verified prior to/or on September 4 and have not received invitations to interview, you must add schools. If you were verified in the last 4 weeks, you can give it 3-4 weeks after verification, then add schools if no invitations to interview.
 
Fencer said:
The national report system evaluates the sum of the best status for a MD/PhD application for each applicant. They use an algorithm that indicates that Rejection is worst than, Requesting a Secondary, or Sending an Interview, or Receiving an Acceptance. Each of the later statuses are each a better status than being placed in the bucket of Preliminary Rejection, which often has to do with each program's minimum academic benchmarks. For example, an applicant with a MCAT of 488 and GPA of 1.98 might be placed there (Rejection buckets) with or without review by each of the 12 schools that that particular applicant applied. It would then be reported by the system as "preliminary rejection" or "rejection". Passive withdrawal often is the applicant that doesn't respond to our emails. In any case, at the moment, the overwhelming number of applicants in the rejection group are within the preliminary rejection bucket.


Now, adding schools.... If you were verified prior to/or on September 4 and have not received invitations to interview, you must add schools. If you were verified in the last 4 weeks, you can give it 3-4 weeks after verification, then add schools if no invitations to interview.
Click to expand...
So if we have been placed on a waitlist for interviews at some schools, and have not heard from the vast majority of others, would you say it’s time to add more options? I’m only asking because I’ve submitted 35 secondaries and I don’t think I can even afford to do more in my current circumstances.
 
Here is the data for the 2021 cycle as of overnight sync reported on 10/15/2020 (these numbers are slightly higher ~7.5% than in 2020 at this point in the process):

TOTAL APPLICANTS1839
Withdrew before Acceptance (WB)18
Rejection group (PW, PW, RJ)874
In the running for Interviews and Acceptances947
At least one MD/PhD Acceptance0

For the 1800 MD/PhD applicants with new MCAT, their average science GPA is 3.61 and cGPA of 3.68, with MCAT score of 511.45. Please note that each applicant is calculated as their own "average" of all MCAT scores taken, not just the highest score.

For the 2020 cycle, the applicants who received at least one MD/PhD acceptance had an average science GPA of 3.77, cGPA of 3.80, and MCAT of 516.2. The matriculating class had essentially the same academic benchmarks.
 
Hi Fencer, thank you for the update. If these numbers are algorithm-based, how does an applicant move from "being considered" to "Rejection group"? I noticed that 150 applicants have been moved to the "Rejected" group since your previous update.

Also, to clarify based on your previous comment, applicants in the "preliminary rejection" bucket and can be moved to "In the running" upon receiving interviews? Thanks for answering in advance.
 
Let's say that you applied to 8 schools in June, all Ivy League type. By September, assume that all those programs reject this applicant. In the system, the algorithm examines every night the decisions from all 8 schools, and eventually when the last program rejects the applicant, the algorithm places the applicant in the rejected bucket. The applicant has received a couple of formal rejections and no invitations. The applicant decides to apply to 10 more programs after reading Fencer's advice 🙂... As schools receive this application, they request secondary applications and evaluate the applicant. The day that the schools receive the application (and place it in the No Action or Request Secondary bucket) is the night when the applicant is moved by the algorithm from rejection to available buckets because the applicant is now available to 10 schools but not the 8 schools... However, these rejections are not final until each of the institutions make them final...
 
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Hi, not sure that this is the appropriate place to ask this, but will there be an MD/PhD Acceptance thread, similar to the interview invite thread?
 
plsletmebeadoctor said:
Hi, not sure that this is the appropriate place to ask this, but will there be an MD/PhD Acceptance thread, similar to the interview invite thread?
Click to expand...

There usually is, but the strangeness of this pandemic
cycle as well as how stress-inducing the acceptance thread can be during its cycle has likely delayed anyone making it. In all honesty, it would be nicer to make an acceptance thread towards April/May when decisions have largely been released, but anyone can make the thread using last year’s format of they’d like. If someone creates the thread, I caution against checking it frequently—according to PDs at interview wrap-ups, decisions will mostly be released in the spring for many schools with some exceptions.

Overall, I encourage an MD/PhD Acceptance thread to be delayed until spring and for acceptances to be reported within school-specific threads or to see Fencer’s periodic updates.
 
Over 300 people, out the eventual 800 applicants who will get at least one MD/PhD acceptance, are notified within the October to December months.

Here is data for overnight sync on:
  • 11/01/2019 - 53 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
  • 11/16/2019 - 101 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
  • 12/01/2019 - 135 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
  • 12/16/2019 - 215 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
  • 1/1/2020 - 314 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
 
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Here is our national MD/PhD data as the overnight sync. Overall, moving as in prior cycles, perhaps only a week or two slower than prior years. As compared to last year, we had nationally 53 applicants with at least one MD/PhD acceptance as of 11/01/2019 (see post #131).

2021 MD/PhD cycle (as of 11/01/2020)
Total No.​
total MCAT​
Total GPA Mean​
Total MD/PhD Applicants
1924​
510.8​
3.67​
Withdraw before AC
16​
515.0​
3.79​
Rejected Groups (PR,PW,RJ)
962​
511.2​
3.66​
Available Groups for INT/AC
946​
510.3​
3.68​
At least 1 MD/PhD Acceptance
44​
516.8​
3.82​
 
Fencer said:
Over 300 people, out the eventual 800 applicants who will get at least one MD/PhD acceptance, are notified within the October to December months.

Here is data for overnight sync on:
  • 11/01/2019 - 53 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
  • 11/16/2019 - 101 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
  • 12/01/2019 - 135 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
  • 12/16/2019 - 215 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
  • 1/1/2020 - 314 applicants w at least 1 MD/PhD acceptance
Click to expand...
Is this data available anywhere publically for previous application cycles? If available, I wanted to play with visualization of the data (the MD/PhD acceptance threads are missing too much data).
 
Here is our national MD/PhD data as the overnight sync. Overall, moving as in prior cycles, perhaps only a week or two slower than prior years. As compared to last year, we had nationally 88 (vs 101) applicants with at least one MD/PhD acceptance as of 11/16/2019 (see post #131).

ActionnTotal GPA MeanTotal MCAT
TOTAL APPLICANTS20313.66510.6
Withdraw Before AC223.75512.1
Rejected (PR, RJ, PW)11093.65511.0
At least 1 MD/PhD AC883.82517.4
Available for AC (NA,HO,AL,RS,IN)8123.65509.2

Edited due to a mistake copying the rejected group. Thank you, @cowhorse for noticing it!
 
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AZDev said:
@Fencer - Can you please add a glossary of these two letter acronyms? I'm having trouble deciphering what they all mean.
Click to expand...
Hey there! I saw this on another page, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. Best of luck!

AC = acceptance

PR = preliminary rejection

RJ = rejected ☹

PW = passive withdrawal

NA = no action

HO = hold

AL = alternate list

RS = request secondary

IN = interview
 
This report concerns me regarding the diversity of our MD/PhD and STEM pipelines:

www.insidehighered.com

College applications are decreasing

Common Application reports declines of 8 percent. Applications for first-generation students and those eligible for fee waivers are down 16 percent.
www.insidehighered.com www.insidehighered.com
 
Fencer said:
This report concerns me regarding the diversity of our MD/PhD and STEM pipelines:

www.insidehighered.com

College applications are decreasing

Common Application reports declines of 8 percent. Applications for first-generation students and those eligible for fee waivers are down 16 percent.
www.insidehighered.com www.insidehighered.com
Click to expand...
My little sister is in this boat. She is a senior in highschool and has told me that a lot of her friends have a level of uncertainty about the coming years for college particularly due to Covid. Some have said they don't want to pay full price for an online education.

We come from a financially disadvantaged background but have not had Covid disrupt our household income too much. Others families we know have had a much greater disruption. For the college age students in those families, the general consensus is that college has to be put on the back-burner until things pick up again.

I think it's fair to say there may definitely be a drop of representation of lower-income areas in the coming years. What worries me is if those students who take a break on classes now don't ever go back to their classes. I've definitely seen this happen even when the economy is booming. Hopefully there is a push to get students back on track once we are in a better place.
 
Fencer said:
This report concerns me regarding the diversity of our MD/PhD and STEM pipelines:

www.insidehighered.com

College applications are decreasing

Common Application reports declines of 8 percent. Applications for first-generation students and those eligible for fee waivers are down 16 percent.
www.insidehighered.com www.insidehighered.com
Click to expand...

This is regrettable and will have negative repercussions for our society down the line, but with the explosion of tuition, the collapse of the economy, and the artificial scarcity of education fueled by our nation's obsession with pedigree, in conjunction with the damage covid has done, it's hard to blame anyone considering they should skip college and go straight to work. As for undergrads, the most popular professions here in Silicon Valley are "venture capitalist" and "software engineer".

When I'm on the pediatrics wards and ask kids what they want to be when they grow up the most common answers I get are "influencer", "youtuber", "streamer". I also cant help but think the past 4 years have seriously damaged the social perception on what value is derived from intellectual work or improving yourself beyond simple marketable skill acquisition. If we dont de-commodify education and re-emphasize the civic importance of an educated populace, I think higher ed will continue to suffer and science along with it.
 
Thank you, Lucca for bringing up your viewpoint/experience. Indeed, the social perception of the value of Science has decreased with the distorted opinion (rather than factual news) media. Masks are not political, they work to reduce community spread of aerosolized viruses. Vaccines work and do not cause autism. These are scientific facts. Unfortunately, another by-product of the devaluation of Science is diminishing our pipeline of scientists, physicians, and other STEM contributors.

Lucca said:
This is regrettable and will have negative repercussions for our society down the line, but with the explosion of tuition, the collapse of the economy, and the artificial scarcity of education fueled by our nation's obsession with pedigree, in conjunction with the damage covid has done, it's hard to blame anyone considering they should skip college and go straight to work. As for undergrads, the most popular professions here in Silicon Valley are "venture capitalist" and "software engineer".

When I'm on the pediatrics wards and ask kids what they want to be when they grow up the most common answers I get are "influencer", "youtuber", "streamer". I also cant help but think the past 4 years have seriously damaged the social perception on what value is derived from intellectual work or improving yourself beyond simple marketable skill acquisition. If we dont de-commodify education and re-emphasize the civic importance of an educated populace, I think higher ed will continue to suffer and science along with it.
Click to expand...
 
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This is an update from yesterday's overnight sync - 12/01/2020

Action
n​
Total GPA Mean​
Total MCAT​
Total Applicants
2043​
3.66​
510.6​
Withdrew Before AC (WB)
30​
3.78​
510.9​
Rejected (PR, PW, RJ)
1108​
3.64​
510.5​
Defer to MD app (DR)
18​
3.76​
515.8​
At least one MD/PhD AC
143​
3.81​
517.5​
Additional applicants available for interviews
744​
3.65​
509.1​

Please note that we have caught up in terms of the number of people with at least one MD/PhD acceptance by 12/01 as compared to prior years. The other notable milestone is that this is the first cycle that I am aware that exceeds 2000 applications... (and I am aware of past 15+ years). See post #117.
 
When is it late in the cycle to receive interview invites for MD/Ph.D. programs and when do most schools wrap up interviewing for MD/Ph.D.? From one of the schools I interviewed at recently, they said we were the last group of MD/Ph.D. interviews, so I was wondering if this meant most programs have completed interviews for MD/Ph.D. at this point
 
As per the national calendar, there are MD/PhD interviews scheduled in Dec, Jan and Feb. In general, programs release invitations at least 3-6 weeks prior to interview date. Furthermore, as applicants cancel interviews due to receiving acceptances, slots might be available still in early January. Having said that, I believe that the majority of interview slots will be released on or before Friday, Dec. 18. My program, for example, has 2 committee meetings in Dec., one that focuses upon interview invitations and the other on acceptances. As in prior years, I would also ask for a few (3-5) candidates who will be in our bucket of Interview Alternates to use for the cancelled interview slots. Anecdotally, I have matriculated applicants who were Interview Alternates. The competitiveness of applicants is improving, and the selection work by the committee is imperfect. Nevertheless, over 90% of our interviewees matriculate into MD/PhD or research-intensive MD programs, and we do take some chances with some invitations...

Now, the biggest question is whether accepted applicants will be hoarding acceptances due to waiting for 2nd visits to occur. That would be problematic. Our institution's President released recently a memo indicating that the were extending the suspension of domestic and international business travel for faculty, staff and students through March 31, 2021. They justified the ban as necessary to protect our university community members from the risk of infection and spread of the COVID-19 virus. While this and other similar bans might be altered as conditions improve, I suspect that the few programs hosting 2nd visits would do that only in the last 10 days of April 2021, just prior to the deadline. Thus, another cycle of MD/PhD applicants will need to make decisions using virtual means.
 
bildb111 said:
Mr. Fencer,

Do most schools notify students of a rejection when they know that he or she will not be interviewed? I have heard from former students that some schools either did not say anything until the very, very end of the cycle to send a mass rejection or never gave them a rejection at all. For most schools, should we expect a definitive rejection in the next few weeks in alignment with the fact that most schools will fill out their remaining interview slots in that timeframe?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
Dependent on school...
source: as a re-re-reapplicant, I received MSTP rejections even after fall matriculations.
 
Fencer said:
As per the national calendar, there are MD/PhD interviews scheduled in Dec, Jan and Feb. In general, programs release invitations at least 3-6 weeks prior to interview date. Furthermore, as applicants cancel interviews due to receiving acceptances, slots might be available still in early January. Having said that, I believe that the majority of interview slots will be released on or before Friday, Dec. 18. My program, for example, has 2 committee meetings in Dec., one that focuses upon interview invitations and the other on acceptances. As in prior years, I would also ask for a few (3-5) candidates who will be in our bucket of Interview Alternates to use for the cancelled interview slots. Anecdotally, I have matriculated applicants who were Interview Alternates. The competitiveness of applicants is improving, and the selection work by the committee is imperfect. Nevertheless, over 90% of our interviewees matriculate into MD/PhD or research-intensive MD programs, and we do take some chances with some invitations...

Now, the biggest question is whether accepted applicants will be hoarding acceptances due to waiting for 2nd visits to occur. That would be problematic. Our institution's President released recently a memo indicating that the were extending the suspension of domestic and international business travel for faculty, staff and students through March 31, 2021. They justified the ban as necessary to protect our university community members from the risk of infection and spread of the COVID-19 virus. While this and other similar bans might be altered as conditions improve, I suspect that the few programs hosting 2nd visits would do that only in the last 10 days of April 2021, just prior to the deadline. Thus, another cycle of MD/PhD applicants will need to make decisions using virtual means.
Click to expand...

Hi Fencer,

What would you recommend to applicants that do not get in this cycle, that believe their fate was determined based on applying late, to improve their application for next cycle?

Do they have to change their primary & secondaries significantly?
 
In that particular situation, your application would be about 8-10 months more mature for a June/July submission. Start by reflecting... What did you do during those months to be a better applicant? For example, did you submit an abstract for a national virtual conference? did you take a few online classes? Did you do any volunteering such as be a phone-based contact tracer for COVID (they actually have to take a history over the phone)? Or... would it be the same song, but released a bit earlier?
 
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Thank you.

Shifting things back towards this cycle: For applicants that have received some II but have had radio silence about others, is it appropriate to send letters of interest if we haven't heard back for the past 3 months? What do you recommend goes into these letters?

And for schools that we've interviewed at but haven't received an acceptance - is it appropriate to continue sending messages? If so, how frequent? Should they be addressed to the PD or just the admissions admin?
 
Hi Fencer, on this topic, is a more "mature" application enough to distinguish a reapplicant from the previous cycle, or does one typically need a significant new addition to their application? To clarify, can some extra classes/conferences/volunteering/research hours (the status quo but with better numbers) as you described above be enough to improve an unsuccessful applicant for a future cycle?

("Significant new addition" such as MCAT retake, publication, major new research opportunity, etc)
 
Update on the MD/PhD Cycle as of overnight sync last night (12.15.2020)

Total MD/PhD Applicants
2052​
Withdraw Before Acceptance
21​
Rejected (PR, PW, RJ) group
1354​
At least 1 MD/PhD Acceptance
187​
Withdraw After Acceptance
1​
Available for Interview or Acceptance
480​

The reality is that people applied to more programs, and people who are currently in the Rejected bucket (Preliminary Rejection 240, Passive Withdrawal 9, and Rejection 1105) will need to be taken out into the available bucket. It happens every year. In general, the bucket of at least 1 AC will eventually have a few more than 800.

For corrections
See below...
 
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Fencer said:
Update on the MD/PhD Cycle as of overnight sync last night (12.15.2020)

Total MD/PhD Applicants
2052​
Withdraw Before Acceptance
21​
Rejected (PR, PW, RJ) group
1354​
At least 1 MD/PhD Acceptance
187​
Withdraw After Acceptance
1​
Available for Interview or Acceptance
489​

The reality is that people applied to more programs, and people who are currently in the Rejected bucket (Preliminary Rejection 240, Passive Withdrawal 9, and Rejection 1105) will need to be taken out into the available bucket. It happens every year. In general, the bucket of at least 1 AC will eventually have a few more than 800.
Click to expand...


Sorry, could you clarify what you mean? The numbers currently in the Available bucket are lower than they actually are? Or could you reiterate what you mean by "will need to be taken out into the available bucket."

Additionally, would you be able to share the accepted applicant profile stats, like you did in a previous post?

Thanks so much for helping to make this very complicated process a little bit more transparent.

Do you anticipate a big increase in acceptances prior to Christmas?
 
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trilobites10294814
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