A few answers/opinions for a possible aspiring MD/PhD?

[warypremed]

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Hi folks! I'm new to this forum.

I'm a rising senior and only recently decided to pursue a dual MD/PhD after wanting to solely pursue a PhD for awhile. Yeah, late in the game... some of us are just late bloomers!

Well I just have a couple of questions I wanted to ask since there is now a plethora of people to solicit answers/opinions from. So here goes... I appreciate any and honest responses! 😀

1) I took a weird course my first year of college, that basically was a full year of introductory biology, chemistry, and physics all rolled into one. And yes, it was as bad as it sounds... This was a course newly offered and open to students by application. I wasn't premed at the time, so didn't really put any thought into what medical schools would think of this class, applied and got in the course. This counted as 2 courses a semester (probably about 8 credits for those who have a normal credit system) and did include labs. Once I finished this, I got to take any upper division courses in biology, chemistry, physics my sophomore year. Whoo!

Okay, so the problem is: I got a B- both semesters. That's a pretty big whammy on my GPA, seeing as how it was worth a total of 16 credits for the year. I think the bad grade stems from the fact that I had a pretty weak high school science background, especially in physics, which the class was heavily dominated with. The class was fast-paced, intensive, and I probably just wasn't academically prepared for it my very first year of college compared to other students in the class. Dropping it after first semester though just seemed pointless, since then I would have to start over with all 3 introductory science classes, setting me back pretty far. The other problem is that the amount of biology covered is not equivalent to a regular introductory biology course (funny they tell you this AFTER you finish the course). The department just said for any premeds to just compensate this by taking upper division courses, which I have.

So before moving on to other questions, what are your initial thoughts on this? Is it absolutely terrible I took this course, and got a B-? The rest of my science classes are mostly an upward trend:

B- Genetics (... sometimes an instructor ruins everything, not trying to make excuses)
A-, B+ Organic Chemistry
A, Ecology
A, Molecular Biology Lab Seminar
A, Cell Biology of Disease
B+ (probably...) Biochemistry

Yeah, it's kind of all over the place. My non-science GPA is fine (lowest is B+ freshman year, the rest are A/A-). So whaddya think? Suggestions on how to compensate for this?

2) I had to transfer schools after sophomore year because private college became too expensive. I had to take a semester off of classes full time to apply to schools as a transfer student. Whilst doing this, I took 2 classes part time (calculus 2 and biomedical ethics, both As) and started working in a research lab at a prominent teaching hospital 40 hrs/wk that I am continuing to work in (~25 hrs/wk + full time courses this semester). Do you think it's bad that I took this semester off of a full course load? The reason was that I didn't know whether my credits would transfer so didn't want to pay tuition for a bunch of credits that might not be worth anything.

3) Regarding my LORs, do you think it's absolutely necessary that I get a letter from my previous school? I will probably at least be requesting LORs from my current PI, my PI for a summer program at Harvard, and a professor from my current school. All 3 of these should be strong, and the most important will probably be my current PI, who says I am one of the best undergraduates he's had. Also, it's probably been answered already, but since I'm asking away, is a non-science LOR needed for MD/PhD applicants?

4) I'm still working in the lab I started in August last semester, and will through the summer. But do you think I should stop next academic year to really focus on making a strong finish for my grades senior year? I would really like to continue working though, because I think this definitely helps me and I really enjoy it. People are chill, learning a ton, enjoy the research, get to attend seminars, etc. I expect to be coauthored for a paper that we are starting to put together based off of the work I've been doing these past 8 months. I also need to find more time to add clinical experience and other activities that I just seriously miss doing (volunteering). Should I just keep working, but ask for less time? I do NOT plan on applying in the 2012 cycle. Probably 2013 or 2014: I am potentially thinking of applying for an NIH IRTA or another postbaccalaureate fellowship.

5) I've been trying to find clinical work to do to get some experience, but do you think I need to compensate my poor GPA with extra EC hours? I'd be glad to do so, just need to find the time... I don't know how you crazy people do it all at once. The thing is, I am really interested in education issues and aspects like mentoring. I do know that no matter what I want this to be an aspect in my career. This semester I started volunteering at an elementary school with a high percentage of low-income students as a reading/learning buddy of sorts with 2nd graders. It is wonderful, simply stated. I'm hoping to continue this next academic year. Do non-clinical experiences matter all that much to adcoms? It's not as if I don't care about health care or public health issues, but this opportunity rose and easily worked with my schedule this semester. At my previous school, access to clinical experience was severely limited due to transportation issues (and again I wasn't thinking about MD then), so I focused my time more on other activities, these mostly being working with the admissions office and the student activities office. I've been searching for clinical experience this year, but with 25 hrs/wk work and then school, it's been put on the backburner this semester...

6) As a side note if you're trying to gauge my app as a whole, I don't expect my MCAT to be in the 40s are anything to wow the adcoms. I'm just not a great test taker. Obviously my goal is to do the best I can. I'm taking the MCAT in August and am going to try to study my butt off this summer while working in lab full time. Taking a Kaplan MCAT course that started a couple weeks ago. Still don't have a set idea of where I'm at since I haven't taken a full length practice test yet.

Thanks folks! I know I had another question/concern but I can't pinpoint it right now... anyways. Any help is appreciated for a newbie 😀

 

[Maebea]

1&2 Your academic history has a lot of stuff that deviates from the norm, and will be scrutinized by admissions committees. The upward trend is a positive, but reviewers will wonder if that was due to switching to a less competitive environment. (Since you did not characterize your first school, I do not know this to be the case. If the private school is considered to be more competitive than the public school you are currently attending, then we would probably apply some sort of discount to your recent grades.) Not much you can do about it now, except continue to get good grades and score well on the MCAT.

3 LORs would only be needed if you had significant research experiences at the previous school.


4 Leaving a lab will probably cause admissions committees to question your commitment to research. Given your decision to switch schools (yes, I know that it was for financial reasons, but we might not understand that when reviewing your application), we may wonder if you are able to commit to anything for an extended period of time.

5 EC's are the least productive investment of your time. While we like our students to be interesting , well-rounded individuals, we are most interested in their potential to become outstanding research scientists. Get a little clinical exposure to make sure you want to be a clinician, but your main focus has to be on research and academics.

 

[warypremed]

The upward trend is a positive, but reviewers will wonder if that was due to switching to a less competitive environment. (Since you did not characterize your first school, I do not know this to be the case. If the private school is considered to be more competitive than the public school you are currently attending, then we would probably apply some sort of discount to your recent grades.) Not much you can do about it now, except continue to get good grades and score well on the MCAT.

That's what I was worried about. I went to a small LAC that is pretty well-regarded. Had a very high acceptance rate to medical school, and as far as I remember many students who went on to graduate school. Now I go to a branch campus of a state university. I was accepted into my state's well-regarded flagship university, but there were financial reasons along with others I chose not to go. And my introductory science course would not be accepted as transfer credit, i.e. I basically would have to start college over again. Name on the diploma didn't seem worth it to do that.

Leaving a lab will probably cause admissions committees to question your commitment to research. Given your decision to switch schools (yes, I know that it was for financial reasons, but we might not understand that when reviewing your application), we may wonder if you are able to commit to anything for an extended period of time.

Good to know. Will probably stick with it since I wanted to anyway, as does my lab.

Does anyone recommend then how I should make up for the academic deficiency besides continuing the upward trend?

 

[obscurehero]

get a kick-a score on your MCAT...graduate with honors (not sure if that will help, or if you can)...do a post-bac and do amazing at it.

At this point, get a 4.0 this coming senior year. Study for the MCAT once you've got your 4.0 and apply in the 2012-2013 cycle. A total of a two-year break between graduation from undergrad and matriculation to medical school. During that break, keep doing research...and maybe get published.