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.
