27 MCAT, MD/PhD interview invite...need help!!

[hitsugaaya]

So I have an MCAT of 27 with a gpa of 3.86. I did 3 years of research in college and defended my thesis, but did not get published. I am very interested in research but knew my MCAT score may hinder me from getting invites from MD/PhD programs.However I applied to 3 MD/PhD programs along with numerous MDs.
I recently got an interview invite with an MD/PhD program in TX. I keep reading about how the average MCAT score is 34 or 36. I am international so its not like its a pity offer from a state school or anything.
Quite frankly I am very excited and want to kick butt at the interview so any tips are very welcome. Also, are there people who get into MD/PhD programs with >30 MCAT scores??

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[gstrub]

Also, are there people who get into MD/PhD programs with >30 MCAT scores??

I assume you meant to use the "<" symbol, which means "less than."

And yes there are. Most are URMs. That's not meant to be offensive...it is just a fact.

Good luck on you interview!

 

[hitsugaaya]

I assume you meant to use the "<" symbol, which means "less than."

And yes there are. Most are URMs. That's not meant to be offensive...it is just a fact.

Good luck on you interview!

I did. my bad. I jsut had an interview yesterday and was about to pass out for the night when I got the invite and freaked out. And im not offended, i asked a question and got a response lol
Im just gonna work extra hard at my interview and hope for the best. Do u have any tips that are exclusive to MD/PhD interviews pls?

 

[24thGrade]

"tell me about your research"- be able to respond to this thoroughly and smoothly in 5-10 min max. practice with your PI, other lab members, or anyone else who can give you good feedback.
anticipate questions about your research and know how to answer them well. be cognizant of what other people in the field are doing. even if you're research was VERY basic-science oriented, be sure to somehow connect it with how it could end up benefiting human health.

"why do you need an md and a phd to do that"- be prepared for them be be playing devil's advocate.

"if you could only get one degree what would it be and why"

"where do you see yourself in 20 years"



just an fyi, if this happens to by for UT Houston's program it was the one exception to all of my interviews.... not a single interviewer asked me to elaborate more than a sentence or two about my research and we mostly just had BS conversation. Not sure if that was specific to me or if that is what they direct their interviewers to do for some weird reason. Good luck.

 

[hitsugaaya]

"tell me about your research"- be able to respond to this thoroughly and smoothly in 5-10 min max. practice with your PI, other lab members, or anyone else who can give you good feedback.
anticipate questions about your research and know how to answer them well. be cognizant of what other people in the field are doing. even if you're research was VERY basic-science oriented, be sure to somehow connect it with how it could end up benefiting human health.

"why do you need an md and a phd to do that"- be prepared for them be be playing devil's advocate.

"if you could only get one degree what would it be and why"

"where do you see yourself in 20 years"



just an fyi, if this happens to by for UT Houston's program it was the one exception to all of my interviews.... not a single interviewer asked me to elaborate more than a sentence or two about my research and we mostly just had BS conversation. Not sure if that was specific to me or if that is what they direct their interviewers to do for some weird reason. Good luck.

Thanks for the tips. Its UTMB. Just checking, for the if you could only get one degree, is there a right answer? I would go for MD because I could still get a chance to work ina hospital, teach some clinical classesand still research, even if its not at the level of PhD.

 

[tortuga87]

Additional research questions gotten multiple times: "Tell me about a future experiment you would carry out to move your research project forward." "How do you think [insert your field of interest here] can improve clinical practice?"

I've gotten the healthcare question twice... Seems to be popular in the economic climate: "How would you change the health care system? What do you think of the health care system? What would you do about health care insurance?"

I've gotten these ethical questions once each:

"What do you think of stem cells?"

"Do you support euthanasia? Why or why not? What if it was a patient with a pscyhiatric disturbance?"

 

[IsuckatMCAT]

So I have an MCAT of 27 with a gpa of 3.86. I did 3 years of research in college and defended my thesis, but did not get published. I am very interested in research but knew my MCAT score may hinder me from getting invites from MD/PhD programs.However I applied to 3 MD/PhD programs along with numerous MDs.
I recently got an interview invite with an MD/PhD program in TX. I keep reading about how the average MCAT score is 34 or 36. I am international so its not like its a pity offer from a state school or anything.
Quite frankly I am very excited and want to kick butt at the interview so any tips are very welcome. Also, are there people who get into MD/PhD programs with >30 MCAT scores??

Hey,

If possible could you please elaborate on EC's and when you applied and where you are applying from? (you could PM if you don't want to put them on public forums). I am actually an international applicant and have a 30 MCAT but I have 3 years research as an undergrad with an honors thesis and I am currently doing post-bac at FDA with 2 publications and 2 abstracts submitted. My GPA is 3.7. I applied to 26 schools (basically every school I can apply as an international student but I have been rejected by 12 so far. The only school that have not rejected me are mostly texas schools and midwest schools. I just want to know if my EC's (minimal volunteering experiences) or my MCAT is a bigger factor? I started volunteering at the hospital, have been attending clinical rounds and also I tutor every saturday, but it might a little too late for this application cycle for those activities to take effect.

Any feedback or info will be helpful

Thank you very much