Medical Am I competitive for an MD/PhD?

[Goro]

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Hi all,

I'm trying to get a sense of where I stand in terms of competitiveness for a top-tier MD/PhD program.

I graduated with a degree in biological science and a degree in chemistry from a community college and received a full scholarship to a top 50 university known for research. I finished CC with a 3.81 GPA, and I currently have a 3.7 gPA at my university. However, that was with a C and a D in my first semester (difficulty acclimating to a completely different environment initially: I bit off more than I could chew). However, I will graduate two years from now and I expect to finish with around a 3.75-3.8 cGPA at my university (with a BS in molecular biology and BS in behavioral neuroscience).

I currently have 500 hours of clinical research experience, 1000+ hours of social/behavioral research, and (thus far) a few hundred hours of laboratory research. I have three first author publications, and two co-authored publications. I was also at one time the President of my community college's student senate, and I am now participating in a fellowship program aimed at bettering maternal health in low-income countries. Finally, I have also recently been selected to be a United Nations Youth Representative, where I advocate for the advancement of health in under-served populations as it relates to noncommunicable diseases.

I am concerned about two things: 1) the slow first semester at my university and 2) repeating biochemistry I twice and repeating Physics 2 once. I ended up getting pretty much straight A's in several other upper-level biology, math, and chemistry courses after those hiccups, though. I've done all this while working full-time hours at my local hospital as an emergency department technician (I don't come from the best financial situation- I've always had to work for my own money).

Will MD/PhD programs be super turned off by the couple of blemishes on my academic transcript? I certainly plan on addressing it (without making it sound as if I'm making excuses), but it's beyond difficult to work full-time hours and still succeed highly academically. However, I would argue that it is a great strength that I will end up with a 3.8 AND worked full time while doing so in addition to my ECs. Maybe I'm just being a bit paranoid, but I'm so used to being the "underdog" and I don't know enough people familiar with the MD/PhD admissions process and how these things will be viewed. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much.

P.S. I am also a non-traditional student who used to work as a full-time retail manager. I am currently in my early twenties.

Impossible to answer without an MCAT.

 

[Goro]

Forgot to mention that, thanks for pointing this out! My MCAT score is 524

You should be competitive. I believe in the worst-case your name goes into the general in the only pool.

 

[GoSpursGo]

When your final stats are 3.8/524 I honestly would not waste space addressing perceived blemishes. Focus on your positives. You are very competitive at every program.

 

[lord999]

You're at the place where those won't be blemishes if you have a good PI to recommend you. Especially if your upper division classes were fine, it's not going to be a problem. Hopefully, you're not going for Biochemistry/Chemistry.

 

[AlteredScale]

Agree with above, focus on your strengths. Those small hiccups are simply that. I would obviously just have a good reason should they ask you about them but I wouldn't waste anytime exposing on any portion of your application because with your MCAT and GPA you are quite competitive. I would suggest trying to have a good focus on what kind of research you are interested in and have good letter from the PI in that realm.

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Don't focus on negatives...only positives. Your app is competitive and you are going to be competitive most places.