Am I competitive for T10s? I am feeling distraught...

[springfieldsimpson]

---

Members do not see this ad.

*this is not a troll post*

This is my profile
3.91 cGPA (near or below 25th percentile at almost every T10)
52x (low 520s) MCAT
1k hours doing EMT IFT
1.2k hours doing research (non wet-lab)
3 1st author pubs with a good PI connection to a top medical school
500 generic volunteer hours at a local non-profit
ORM
0 gap years
unprestegious undergrad

I can understand how this may be seen as a troll post, but if almost no applicants are being accepted with my GPA, even amongst URMs and applicants with gap years, what are my chances at T10s? Am I even realistically competitive? I obviously am going to apply to all of the T10s, but is an acceptance even likely? I feel like 2 bad grades destroyed my chances at this level

 

[AsclepiusAdvisingLLC]

When it comes to the early screening and assessment of candidates, your numbers are in the "expected" range for a competitive applicant. I wouldn't expect them to set you aside from numbers alone, but your numbers aren't going to bring you up quicker in the pack either.

Of what you've given us, the 3 1st author pubs are unique and could be an important factor for many schools. Aside from that, the other parts of your application are not "on paper" standout but that all depends on your narrative and depiction of them. I have no idea what your IFT experience was like, etc. so can't speak to them right now.

At the T10, they want candidates who are already top-tier professionals and can tell a serious story about the things they do and how it influences them. That being said, they get lots of applicants and have all the leverage. To some level, it's a game of chance.

Best piece of advice is you need to start your cycle work now - PS, LOR scouting, Experiences, etc.

The more runway you give yourself, the more opportunities you have to hone your message, the more likely you can give yourself a real shot.

 

[springfieldsimpson]

When it comes to the early screening and assessment of candidates, your numbers are in the "expected" range for a competitive applicant. I wouldn't expect them to set you aside from numbers alone, but your numbers aren't going to bring you up quicker in the pack either.

Of what you've given us, the 3 1st author pubs are unique and could be an important factor for many schools. Aside from that, the other parts of your application are not "on paper" standout but that all depends on your narrative and depiction of them. I have no idea what your IFT experience was like, etc. so can't speak to them right now.

At the T10, they want candidates who are already top-tier professionals and can tell a serious story about the things they do and how it influences them. That being said, they get lots of applicants and have all the leverage. To some level, it's a game of chance.

Best piece of advice is you need to start your cycle work now - PS, LOR scouting, Experiences, etc.

The more runway you give yourself, the more opportunities you have to hone your message, the more likely you can give yourself a real shot.

Do you think I have a good theme? I try to be involved in mental health access/stigma reduction amongst underserved/immigrant communities
- 150 hours crisis line volunteer
- One research paper is about mental health
- founded and ran small nonprofit that raised 15k and funded 50 therapy sessions for an underserved population

this is in addition to my other volunteering (non-mental health related)

 

[Goro]

*this is not a troll post*

This is my profile
3.91 cGPA (near or below 25th percentile at almost every T10)
52x (low 520s) MCAT
1k hours doing EMT IFT
1.2k hours doing research (non wet-lab)
3 1st author pubs with a good PI connection to a top medical school
500 generic volunteer hours at a local non-profit
ORM
0 gap years
unprestegious undergrad

I can understand how this may be seen as a troll post, but if almost no applicants are being accepted with my GPA, even amongst URMs and applicants with gap years, what are my chances at T10s? Am I even realistically competitive? I obviously am going to apply to all of the T10s, but is an acceptance even likely? I feel like 2 bad grades destroyed my chances at this level

Why is getting into a Top 10 school, of which there at least 15 to 20, so important to you that it's making you distraught?

If you went to Emory or the University of Rochester, would that make you less of a human being or reflect badly on your character?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Welcome to the forums.

The good news is that your GPA is within the top 25% of your researched "T10" schools. To me, there are around 40 top-10 schools, so I don't know why your goal as a physician must be realized by going to one of the top quartile of the 160 allopathic medical schools.

It's your call to provide more details, but your numbers are not going to determine your success in admissions. Your mission fit does, so you need to show us why you want to be a physician, and so far your activity descriptions give me no reason why I would want to interview you. There's nothing exciting or enticing about how you present your profile to make me choose you over anyone else with similar experience. I get not doxxing yourself, but you seem to just want to get lucky with a T25 II, and then let's see what happens.

I try to be involved in mental health access/stigma reduction amongst underserved/immigrant communities
- 150 hours crisis line volunteer
- One research paper is about mental health
- founded and ran small nonprofit that raised 15k and funded 50 therapy sessions for an underserved population

So why do you need to go to a brand-name school? Your in-state school (should you have one) will also cover mental health as part of the curriculum. Why don't you want to go into clinical psych? What is your endgame about transitioning from your founder/leader role?

150 hours of crisis line volunteering: did you follow this activity up with any in-person counseling, especially as a shelter volunteer? I concede we live in a world where telehealth and virtual therapy is more prevalent, but being a doctor still involves meeting people where they are.

I agree that it's great you have 3 first-author papers, but I don't know what these papers are about, nor do I see how you want to leverage this fact into your career as a physician. One paper is about mental health, so what about the other two? Again, why don't you want to do a PsyD? You know better than me, you don't need an MD to help others with mental health unless you have designs to prescribe. Is that really worth 4 years of medical education for the few weeks/months of a psych rotation... and just to be able to prescribe?

 

[polymerization]

100% my opinion, but I think admissions is a different animal than it was >20 years ago. I just don't think there is room in the apparatus for applicants to muster up the kind of confidence I think you want to have (I suffer from a different flavor of the same diagnosis, to be fair). Just having good numbers isn't enough, and it's clear you're feeling the squeeze.

Applicants in this era that are competing at the very top stratum have things that are very difficult if not impossible to attain in the time you're in undergrad (both logistically and due to age). You'll never compete with the guy who completed a PhD doing cancer research, for example—on top of the scores. You're also not competing with the people who have tens of thousands of clinical hours (as nurse practitioners and PAs), the people who hold one or more national scholarships, prestigious forms of military or government service, Olympic-level athletic achievements, or are uniquely acclaimed in some way that makes looking past them harder for objective, obvious reasons.

On the other hand, as great as being uniquely distinguished in some area may be for your chances, it invites questions about whether you're focused enough on medicine proper. Admissions discourse ends up becoming a series of double-binds that make it impossible to go through this process without a considerable degree of insecurity. I wonder if the pressure cooker of admissions is a sort of marshmallow test, too.

Either way, your chances are not bolstered or shot over two classes. The game you thought you were playing is far, far, far removed from some EMT hours and an interest in mental health. But my heart goes out to you. It's rough out here.

 

[AsclepiusAdvisingLLC]

Do you think I have a good theme? I try to be involved in mental health access/stigma reduction amongst underserved/immigrant communities
- 150 hours crisis line volunteer
- One research paper is about mental health
- founded and ran small nonprofit that raised 15k and funded 50 therapy sessions for an underserved population

this is in addition to my other volunteering (non-mental health related)

DM to discuss more. It will be quicker and easier.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I should throw in: if you wish to play in the high-metrics applicant pool, you should have at least 250 hours of food bank work when you submitted your application. I need more information about your responsibilities with 500 hours of "generic non-profit" work.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I think having a T10 school as a goal is a little ridiculous. They reject tons of incredibly qualified people every single year. And it’s not like they produce better physicians. They produce physicians with better academic pedigrees (which is frankly of dubious benefit)

If you want to be a dermatologist you can still do that at your state school. I’m not saying not to apply to T10s, I’m just saying you gotta be realistic. Even if you had a 4.0 it’s not like your odds would be very good

A related tangent: medicine has bigger issues anyway in America than what specialty you match into. I think we’re approaching the era where the money is actually going to start leaving. Which is fine for the people who are just in it for the patients, but if you’re like most gunners who want the money and lifestyle, I’d reflect on your decision to be a doctor in general. Medicine isn’t what it once was.

 

[Heyigotnoclue]

I think having a T10 school as a goal is a little ridiculous. They reject tons of incredibly qualified people every single year. And it’s not like they produce better physicians. They produce physicians with better academic pedigrees (which is frankly of dubious benefit)

If you want to be a dermatologist you can still do that at your state school. I’m not saying not to apply to T10s, I’m just saying you gotta be realistic. Even if you had a 4.0 it’s not like your odds would be very good

A related tangent: medicine has bigger issues anyway in America than what specialty you match into. I think we’re approaching the era where the money is actually going to start leaving. Which is fine for the people who are just in it for the patients, but if you’re like most gunners who want the money and lifestyle, I’d reflect on your decision to be a doctor in general. Medicine isn’t what it once was.

I am one of those people in it for the patients. I do, however, want to be able to eat and pay off my loans. This sentiment that money will leave medicine will be a deterrent. What other profession demands as many years of study and sacrifice than being a physician. I've 2 family members (one gastro and one vascular) who constantly tell me of the problems with what is going on in medicine with private equity in the mix. I do not want some business guy/gal telling me I cannot order a much needed procedure. It remains to be seen how this unfolds, but I am not optimistic.

 

[Hollow Knight]

I am one of those people in it for the patients. I do, however, want to be able to eat and pay off my loans. This sentiment that money will leave medicine will be a deterrent. What other profession demands as many years of study and sacrifice than being a physician. I've 2 family members (one gastro and one vascular) who constantly tell me of the problems with what is going on in medicine with private equity in the mix. I do not want some business guy/gal telling me I cannot order a much needed procedure. It remains to be seen how this unfolds, but I am not optimistic.

Yeah. I'm all for doctors getting paid well. I just think money is a stupid reason to choose the field these days given the trends I unfortunately see.

I don't think we are going to be able to out-lobby the mega corporations that want us all to get paid less.