Advice on School List

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

pipettequeen

Full Member
10+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Hi all,

I'm not really sure how competitive I am for MD/PhD programs, so I was hoping for some advice. Here are my stats:



Extracurriculars:
Lab work for 2 years, senior thesis planned for upcoming 3rd year
President of a nationally ranked club sports team.

Job experience:
Worked in the billing department of a surgery center for 1 year
Scribe for going on 3 years

Concerns:
No publications.
No grants for basic science research projects.
GPA not competitive enough for top MSTP

School list:
Hopkins
Harvard
UPenn
UChicago
Stanford
Columbia
Cornell
Emory
Dartmouth
Baylor
UWash
UI-Urbana
UI-Chicago
Wisconsin
Michigan
UCLA
UC-SanFran
USC Keck
UPitt
Vanderbilt
UMaryland (I am a Maryland resident)
Virginia
LSU New Orleans
Einstein
Wake Forest
Temple
Drexel
VCU
UAB

Reapplying is my worst nightmare.
 
Last edited:
I think you will do well. Your GPA is fine even with a merely good MCAT, but with a 40 I don't think "numbers" will hold you back anywhere. Publications are nice, and I'm positive it helped me to have a first-author pub, but it's by no means a requirement. I don't think anyone will care about not having a basic science grant. Make sure to have a great handle on your research, why you did what you did, why it makes you want to pursue an MD/PhD; 2 years is on the low end of what you want when you're applying.
 
With your numbers and experience, you could probably cut some schools from your list. I think you'll do quite well.
 
Agreed with the above posters. Senior thesis should be good enough experience research wise.
Don't **** up your application/interviews and be ready to pick from (almost) any program in the country.