8 IIs ----> No As Feeling lost and hopeless, need advice for reapp

[driverfearless]

Hi all,

I was a first time MD-PhD applicant this cycle and was fortunate enough to receive 9 IIs (8 MSTP, 1 MD/PhD), but I only attended 8 due to scheduling conflicts. My current results are: 3 rejections, 1 hold, and 1 waitlist. I'm waiting to hear back from 3 programs.

Stats: 4.0 cGPA, 515 MCAT

Research Experiences (total 4k hours):

1. 3 years in undergrad in a nanoparticle synthesis lab. 2 first-author publications from this experience, and an honors thesis.
2. Currently doing NIH IRTA studying chronic fatigue in cancer patients. This is a more clinical/translational lab.

Posters/Presentations:

1. 1 first-author poster presented at an international conference
2. 1 oral presentation at a department seminar

Clinical Experiences:

1. Volunteer patient companion at a university hospital across 4 years (160 hours). The hours are a bit low because I couldn't volunteer for 3.5 semesters during COVID, but I was able to get a nice letter of rec from my volunteer supervisor.

Shadowing:

1. 90 hours shadowing two different internists
2. 20 hours shadowing a neurologist

Honors/Awards:

1. American Chemical Society award for the best undergraduate researcher at the university
2. Won a couple of fellowships to fund summer research

Other ECs:

1. Volunteer teaching assistant for freshmen research writing class (500 hours)
2. Paid science tutor (250 hours)

Problems I noticed during interviews:

1. My undergrad research, though I have two first-author publications from it, is in a very niche nanotechnology field. I didn't do any biomedical applications, and my research was focused on synthesizing different types of nanoparticles and understanding how they're formed using a novel laser synthesis technique my lab pioneered. Some PhD interviewers have been hostile toward it, and even though I discussed the future potential clinical applications of the nanoparticles I synthesized, they seem dissatisfied that I didn't do specific biomedical applications during my undergrad.
2. My NIH lab focuses on studying chronic fatigue in cancer patients. We have a number of protocols where we measure the fatigue levels of patients who enroll with a battery of different tests. Our nurse practitioners mainly do this (I'm in the National Institute of Nursing Research). On the lab side, we collect patient samples (blood, saliva, urine, buccal swab), and our plan is to detect possible biomarkers of fatigue using PCR, RNA-seq, ELISA, and Western blots. But, ever since I joined the lab, my main job has really just been pre-processing the patient samples and storing them for future analysis. I've been bugging my PI to let me run experiments, but he says we have to wait because we don't have enough samples yet. This has been a problem in interviews because although I know all the background of the research and the future research directions, I have had a hard time articulating what I specifically do, as really, all I have been doing so far is pre-processing patient samples. I met with my current PI to discuss this issue, and he told me that all I can really do is know the background thoroughly and tell the interviewers the future research directions as well as discuss with them a number of hypotheses I have been formulating based on the lab's past results and my own literature searching. Even though I did my best to discuss with interviewers the hypotheses I am coming up with and experiments that I plan to run to test these hypotheses, some interviewers have not been pleased when I tell them we're still waiting to run proper analyses and assays on our samples.

Overall though, the problems I discussed above didn't happen at all the programs I interviewed at. Some interviewers really liked the uniqueness of my undergrad research and explicitly told me that it added diversity to their program. Others seemed to really be engaged when I was explaining to them my logic for the hypotheses and experimental plans I am coming up with in my NIH lab and didn't seem to have a problem that I hadn't run any proper analyses or assays yet because we don't have enough participant samples yet. At one program where I got a post-II R literally today, one interviewer gave me tons of praise and told me he would give his highest recommendation to the admissions committee.

Sorry for the detailed post, but I am just really lost on why I am struggling to get one A this cycle even though I attended 8 interviews. I feel really hopeless right now and wanted to see if I could get some insight on possibly why I couldn't land an A and ways to improve for a possible reapplication. Maybe some adcoms like Fencer could help me out? I tried to reach out to programs to ask for feedback, but they all said they don't give feedback to applicants. Thank you so much!!

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[VaultArmitage]

I was on two waitlists until April and then ended up with 2 acceptances. It truly isn't over until it's over. With 2 waitlists and 3 schools you haven't heard back from I wouldn't panic just yet.

Glancing through your app it looks very competitive, and 8 II is a ridiculously high amount of interviews to receive. That implies to me that you may struggle in the interview process. Having had the chance to interview applicants at our program I will say I had several apps that looked amazing but the applicant really struggled in the interview itself. Did you do any practice interviews?

 

[tr]

Agree with above, too early to panic. Just hold tight and contact the schools where you are on the waitlist letting them know you are very interested. MSTPs can go deep into the waitlist because so many candidates apply to all the same programs.

 

[Fencer]

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