2024-2025 Stanford

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
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Z_C said:
If you select academic medicine for your practice scenario they also ask: Describe your most significant research experience. Include the rationale, results, and conclusions, and the role you played in each of these components (2500 ch)

which is what I wanted to whine about, that's like unfair how short it is 😭😭😭😭😭

I love to whine its my favorite thing
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wait... I don't see this pop up when I selet academic medicine?? where is this extra prompt
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I was not thinking about applying to Stanford, but my friend told me that they favor individuals with an entrepreneurial background. I run a photobooth company in the Northeast region. Is this information accurate?
 
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StraightAd57 said:
I was not thinking about applying to Stanford, but my friend told me that they favor individuals with an entrepreneurial background. I run a photobooth company in the Northeast region. Is this information accurate?
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entrepreneurial in terms of biotech/healthtech, so i dont think this would help much
 
solarflare1230 said:
Would it be detrimental to leave the optional essay blank?
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crackingmedadmissions.com

Advice from Stanford Doctors: Stand Out On Stanford Medical School Secondary Essays

How To Stand Out On Stanford Medical School Secondary Essays from Stanford Med alumns and doctors. Get prompts & Cracking Med's tips!
crackingmedadmissions.com crackingmedadmissions.com

"Answer as many questions as possible. Optional questions are NOT optional questions, in our opinions, if you want to stand out through your Stanford Medical School secondary essays."
 
for the discovery curriculum essay, is it ok to write about a business I've been working on and how I hope to continue that business in med school?

it's ed tech / healthcare related
 
truthwarrior said:
entrepreneurial in terms of biotech/healthtech, so i dont think this would help much
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I'm entrepeneurial in terms of healthtech - would the proper place to write about that in the secondaries be the discovery curriculum you think? if not where
 
pizzaluigi said:
I'm entrepeneurial in terms of healthtech - would the proper place to write about that in the secondaries be the discovery curriculum you think? if not where
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Probably in the optional "anything else" section, the curriculum prompt should be about what you want to pursue education-wise
 
also - anyone know if clicking PSTP and doing it will increase chances of A?

I'm a research heavy applicant (5k hrs research, pubs). but don't really want a career in as a physician scientist or at least am not sure. but if the added effort is positive, I'm very down to do it since I can knock the 2 extra essays out in like 4 hrs. especially considering stanford loves research kids. thanks
 
kikikat said:
Probably in the optional "anything else" section, the curriculum prompt should be about what you want to pursue education-wise
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gotcha ok thanks. separate but related question - for those optional sections (like Yale has one, Stanford, Duke, etc) - is it ok to put an essay that just talks about bonding with my mom as a kid? it's not some tragic/low-income/special scenario essay, more just like an interesting thing personal to me but completely unrelated to medicine. think like a hobby essay.
 
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Chef'n Curry said:
Don't think PSTP increases A chances. From what I can tell, they don't have a set quota for PSTP admits. Also, I hear it's pretty easy to apply internally (and get into) PSTP after getting admission to the MD-only program.
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hmm. I mean my logic is it basically doubles the time they're reviewing my app (seeing my face and story), more room to write about research (since I wouldn't have written about it anywhere else since the other prompts don't fit), and shows effort.

ima prob do it. 200 mg caffeine here we go
 
for PSTP - my understanding is that it's not like HST for harvard for example.

that it's literally a separate application process than the regular MD, and rejection from PSTP means rejection from stanford MD. is that correct? and if so, why is it so easy for people to apply into PSTP when they're at stanford MD?

like look at this ****. they don't detail at all what rejection from PSTP means in relation to the MD part

1722617329497.png
 
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pizzaluigi said:
for PSTP - my understanding is that it's not like HST for harvard for example.

that it's literally a separate application process than the regular MD, and rejection from PSTP means rejection from stanford MD. is that correct? and if so, why is it so easy for people to apply into PSTP when they're at stanford MD?

like look at this ****. they don't detail at all what rejection from PSTP means in relation to the MD part

View attachment 390283
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I think you read “MD acceptance means PSTP acceptance” and assumed the contrapositive was true, but it doesn’t appear to be. The way I interpreted this is that PSTP is not a separate application, they just want to understand your interest through the 2 essays. It’s not a competitive application process with limited spots in the same way HST is, so you can’t be rejected from it.
 
jovialfly said:
I think you read “MD acceptance means PSTP acceptance” and assumed the contrapositive was true, but it doesn’t appear to be. The way I interpreted this is that PSTP is not a separate application, they just want to understand your interest through the 2 essays. It’s not a competitive application process with limited spots in the same way HST is, so you can’t be rejected from it.
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but isn't PSTP a separate interview from MD? i'm just confused on whether PSTP or MD are 2 separate programs in terms of application rn, or if rejection to PSTP still keeps you in race for MD
 
does question "Was your enrollment status ever interrupted during your undergraduate or graduate program, not including summer term (e.g. medical, personal, or academic reasons, military service, other)?" mean COVID question?
 
cats222 said:
Stats?
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Is that a kind or necessary question?

edited to add: I wasn't trying to start a fuss over here, but want to remind you all that this is a tough process. Asking someone who just found out they were rejected a bunch of questions like what their stats were is kind of like kicking a guy when he's down.
Be thoughtful, as you would like to be treated in their place. Thanks, wysdoc
 
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fellow_applicant said:
If we apply for the PSTP program, we essentially get asked twice why we want to pursue this path. Once in the "Practice setting" question at the beginning and once in the PSTP-specific essay. Do you guys know if it is ok if our answered is partially repeated? Both ask for motivation.
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Yeah some overlap is fine but iirc the practice setting question was about what prepared you to be an academic physician and PTSP asks what motivates you to become one
 
LivinLike-Larry said:
I was looking back at my application and noticed for the question, "How will you take advantage of the Stanford Medicine Discovery Curriculum and scholarly concentration requirement to achieve your personal career goals?" For some reason I had respectfully declined by saying I didn't seek to participate in the Discovery Curriculum but did want to participate in the scholarly concentration program.

Looking back I don't think this is what the question was asking at all but while reading about it on their website it said that it was "optional" so that's why I answered it like that. Did I completely butcher my chances at an interview? I doubt I would be able to email their admissions committee to address it.
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Oh dear, haha. The discovery curriculum = general MD curriculum, so everybody participates. Im not sure what you're referencing as being "optional."

I'd guess its probably too late to do anything. That answer is a blunder in the sense that it shows you didn't properly research/understand the question, but perhaps they will overlook it if everything else in your application is strong. Good luck!!
 
Chef'n Curry said:
i think "optional" as in the 5/6-year pathways that are offered as options in the Discovery Curriculum

as a side note, this is why i NEVER reopen applications i've already submitted. but i agree - i think you'll be okay. doesn't help to stress about it now
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haha, you may want to re-open them when those IIs start coming your way (best of luck!)
 
I don't remember, some time in mid july? I'm a pretty unusual applicant so I'm not sure that number is going to be very useful to your estimation
 
For those of you who got an II, did they respond to your email confirming the interview invite? I replied to their email as they asked, but they never responded me back. I wonder if that is something I should follow up.
 
Just realized I selected the wrong option on my stanford secondary for the multiple choice question on most likely practice scenario -- I clicked academic medicine instead of global health. My essay starts with "I want to pursue a career in global health..." though, and that's the path I intend to pursue even though I messed up the selection question.

Should I email and correct it? Or does this not matter too much? Or does it matter, but there's nothing I can realistically do about it? Am also worried that they'll have different people read the responses based on the selection for the question, which could mean having the incorrect one checked off would potentially hurt my app?
 
nz356 said:
Just realized I selected the wrong option on my stanford secondary for the multiple choice question on most likely practice scenario -- I clicked academic medicine instead of global health. My essay starts with "I want to pursue a career in global health..." though, and that's the path I intend to pursue even though I messed up the selection question.

Should I email and correct it? Or does this not matter too much? Or does it matter, but there's nothing I can realistically do about it? Am also worried that they'll have different people read the responses based on the selection for the question, which could mean having the incorrect one checked off would potentially hurt my app?
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impossible to say exactly how it will impact your app but I highly doubt it will make a big difference on whether you get an interview or not. i wouldn't email them to bring attention to it, i'd just let it go.
 
Hey guys for the PSTP reesarch essay should I talk about one specific project that is most meaningful or does your "most meaningful research experience" entail the entirety of your lab experience? for example, I was with my lab for 3 years but my question is if I should write about my most meaningful project within the lab or summarize my longitudinal involvement in diff projects?
 
goge69 said:
Hey guys for the PSTP reesarch essay should I talk about one specific project that is most meaningful or does your "most meaningful research experience" entail the entirety of your lab experience? for example, I was with my lab for 3 years but my question is if I should write about my most meaningful project within the lab or summarize my longitudinal involvement in diff projects?
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Hi! I also worked in my undergrad lab for several years and worked on three different projects. I went with the option to describe one specific project that was most meaningful to me. The character limit is not too long but focusing on one project allowed me to go into a bit of background/rationale and more fully discuss my results, so this is why I preferred the option of discussing one project.
 
Ms. miRNA said:
Hi! I also worked in my undergrad lab for several years and worked on three different projects. I went with the option to describe one specific project that was most meaningful to me. The character limit is not too long but focusing on one project allowed me to go into a bit of background/rationale and more fully discuss my results, so this is why I preferred the option of discussing one project.
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really appreciate your response! I had originally wrote it the same way as you, however I asked my PI today and she gave the opposite advice, suggesting I write about my research experience as a whole. She reviews MSTP/PhD apps so I feel really conflicted. Maybe she skimmed it but the wording of the prompt makes it sound like one specific project tho

This is the prompt again: "
Describe your most significant research experience. Include the rationale, results, and conclusions, and the role you played in each of these components.

Please be very specific, including the dates and amount of time you were engaged; mention publications or presentations that resulted or will result from this work. Please refer to publications by the last name of first author followed by the year (e.g. Last name, 2020). Full citations of your publications should be included in the “peer-reviewed publications” section of this application."
 
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goge69 said:
really appreciate your response! I had originally wrote it the same way as you, however I asked my PI today and she gave the opposite advice, suggesting I write about my research experience as a whole. She reviews MSTP/PhD apps so I feel really conflicted. Maybe she skimmed it but the wording of the prompt makes it sound like one specific project tho

This is the prompt again: "
Describe your most significant research experience. Include the rationale, results, and conclusions, and the role you played in each of these components.

Please be very specific, including the dates and amount of time you were engaged; mention publications or presentations that resulted or will result from this work. Please refer to publications by the last name of first author followed by the year (e.g. Last name, 2020). Full citations of your publications should be included in the “peer-reviewed publications” section of this application."
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I think either way is acceptable and if you feel more comfortable with it, I would go with what your PI suggested! I will add that I didn’t apply to PSTP but to the MSTP and had the same question on the secondary. Since I also had the significant research experience essay on my primary where I went in-depth on all of the projects I worked on, I thought it was a good idea to focus on just one here.
 
Ms. miRNA said:
I think either way is acceptable and if you feel more comfortable with it, I would go with what your PI suggested! I will add that I didn’t apply to PSTP but to the MSTP and had the same question on the secondary. Since I also had the significant research experience essay on my primary where I went in-depth on all of the projects I worked on, I thought it was a good idea to focus on just one here.
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makes sense!
 
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