Advice from Previous MD-PhD Waitlistees Who Successfully Reapplied

[UniCrys]

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Hello Everyone,

I hope this message finds you well. I'm currently in the process of reapplying for MD-PhD programs, and I find myself in a bit of a predicament. I am currently on the waitlist for several programs I applied to, and while I'm grateful for the opportunity, but I feel a bit uncertain about what my next steps should be.

It is a bit late in the cycle, and I am losing hope in the results of this cycle. I already know one weakness of mine is my MCAT. I've seen data that suggests that reapplicants are frowned upon, and it makes me a bit worried for the future.

I am eager to learn stories of individuals who were once on the waitlist for MD-PhD programs and successfully reapplied; and I hope to learn from their experiences and gather insights into what improvements they made on their applications to increase their chances of acceptance.

If there's anyone here who has been in a similar situation and was placed on the waitlist for MD-PhD programs, I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to connect with you. I'm interested in learning about the strategies you implemented during the reapplication process, any additional experiences or qualifications you acquired, and any other advice or insights you might have to offer.

If you're comfortable sharing your experiences and insights with me, please feel free to respond to this post or send me a private message. Your guidance would be immensely valuable to me as I navigate this challenging and competitive application process.

Thank you so much for considering my request.

 

[ddhopeful]

Re-applicants are not frowned upon in all places. Some of my friends/acquaintances got into programs last cycle that they didn’t/could’t have gotten into in the prior cycle, without any change in stats. A couple of them had sub-510 MCAT and got into MSTPs! They did research during the gap year and 50 hours or so of shadowing.

Many programs value the grit and persistence you display as a re-applicant. Also, you will be a year older and hopefully more mature, which makes you better prepared for the 8 year MD-PhD journey. It’s possible that they may have interviewed better the next time around.

 

[crispr9cas9lol]

Re-applicants are not frowned upon in all places. Some of my friends/acquaintances got into programs last cycle that they didn’t/could’t have gotten into in the prior cycle, without any change in stats. A couple of them had sub-510 MCAT and got into MSTPs! They did research during the gap year and 50 hours or so of shadowing.

Many programs value the grit and persistence you display as a re-applicant. Also, you will be a year older and hopefully more mature, which makes you better prepared for the 8 year MD-PhD journey. It’s possible that they may have interviewed better the next time around.

What schools if you do not mind me asking? I also have a lower MCAT score so I am trying to create an MD/PhD school list.

 

[ddhopeful]

What schools if you do not mind me asking? I also have a lower MCAT score so I am trying to create an MD/PhD school list.

Kentucky, UAB, Wisconsin, MCW, LSU, Tulane, Wayne State, Toledo.

 

[crispr9cas9lol]

Kentucky, UAB, Wisconsin, MCW, LSU, Tulane, Wayne State, Toledo.

Oh wow! And they all got these acceptances from these schools' MD/PhD programs with a sub 510 MCAT?

 

[ddhopeful]

Oh wow! And they all got these acceptances from these schools' MD/PhD programs with a sub 510 MCAT?

Yes and they were regular ORMs with 2500+ research hours at the time of applying.

 

[Neuronix]

I've seen data that suggests that reapplicants are frowned upon, and it makes me a bit worried for the future.

I look favorably upon reapplicants. Like me, I know a lot of adcoms see re-applications as evidence of determination for this path.

The reasons why reapplicants can still fail year after year are complicated. I have seen bad essays, bad interviews, bad letters, etc. Some of these factors are difficult to detect or difficult to fix. Thus, if you can't succeed, getting candid feedback from an MD/PhD program or your undergrad can help.

Certainly if you haven't improved anything since your last application, that can be an issue to re-apply since you haven't address your weaknesses. If your weakness is MCAT, we'd expect an improved re-take. If it wasn't enough research experience, that's probably the easiest thing to fix assuming you put strong effort in the lab during the gap year.