Am I out of the race for competitive research schools

[el799]

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Heres my story so far... lets assume im ok enough to get somewhere between a 510 and 515 on MCAT (don't grill me on saying this... just a hopeful guide). I just got my grades from the last semester and despite trying my hardest in an insanely difficult honors o chem class I got a B and sacrificed my time in bio to study for chem and got a B in that too currently a sophomore
stats:
3.5 GPA
approx. 3.45 sGPA
100 tutoring/volunteer hours
approx. 1000 research hours
50 hours shadowing (anesthesia)
150 hours clinical volunteering(gunna get a lot more working as a phlebotomist this summer)
2 low author publications in medium impact scientific journals (can expect about 1-2 pubs per year for the next 2 years)
1 first author pub in low impact clinical journal
very good LOR's from my PI's two of whom are also respected MD's at schools I'm applying to
senior editor for my schools undergrad science journal


So whats all of your opinions on if my main goal is to be a research centered physician. Am I screwed?

and before those of you come in saying why not Ph.D.- my clinical experience was mind blowing and I really can't imagine not spending part of my time working with patients in addition to research

 

[Goro]

Heres my story so far... lets assume im ok enough to get somewhere between a 510 and 515 on MCAT (don't grill me on saying this... just a hopeful guide). I just got my grades from the last semester and despite trying my hardest in an insanely difficult honors o chem class I got a B and sacrificed my time in bio to study for chem and got a B in that too currently a sophomore
stats:
3.5 GPA
approx. 3.45 sGPA
100 tutoring/volunteer hours
approx. 1000 research hours
50 hours shadowing (anesthesia)
150 hours clinical volunteering(gunna get a lot more working as a phlebotomist this summer)
2 low author publications in medium impact scientific journals (can expect about 1-2 pubs per year for the next 2 years)
1 first author pub in low impact clinical journal
very good LOR's from my PI's two of whom are also respected MD's at schools I'm applying to
senior editor for my schools undergrad science journal


So whats all of your opinions on if my main goal is to be a research centered physician. Am I screwed?

and before those of you come in saying why not Ph.D.- my clinical experience was mind blowing and I really can't imagine not spending part of my time working with patients in addition to research

Can't sugar coat this, but yup. Your GPAs are well below their 10th %iles.

Your ECs are very cookie cutter, and telegraph that you'd rather be in the lab than the clinic. Concerning the bold, people who get into the Really Top Schools have double, if not even quintuple the ECs hours you have for patient contact experience and non-clinical volunteering.

 

[Master Thinker]

For top research schools, your GPA and projected MCAT scores will be too low. For any MD school, you have a good shot if your MCAT is closer to the 515 end and if you have an upward GPA trend. Frankly, I don't know why so many focus on the most competitive research schools...you can get research anywhere and you will become a doctor no matter where you go.

 

[el799]

For top research schools, your GPA and projected MCAT scores will be too low. For any MD school, you have a good shot if your MCAT is closer to the 515 end and if you have an upward GPA trend. Frankly, I don't know why so many focus on the most competitive research schools...you can get research anywhere and you will become a doctor no matter where you go.

My goal is to run a lab while practicing medicine- easiest to do this if you go to a research center for med school and then a research center for residency.

 

[el799]

Can't sugar coat this, but yup. Your GPAs are well below their 10th %iles.

Your ECs are very cookie cutter, and telegraph that you'd rather be in the lab than the clinic. Concerning the bold, people who get into the Really Top Schools have double, if not even quintuple the ECs hours you have for patient contact experience and non-clinical volunteering.

I’m planning on applying to school in 4 years (2 gap years) by that time I should have 400-500 volunteering hours and about the same for clinical if that helps

 

[Goro]

I’m planning on applying to school in 4 years (2 gap years) by that time I should have 400-500 volunteering hours and about the same for clinical if that helps

That's not going to salvage your GPAs. The service loving schools like SLU, Drexel, Gtown and Netter will love you, though.

 

[doc05]

My goal is to run a lab while practicing medicine- easiest to do this if you go to a research center for med school and then a research center for residency.

Sounds nice. Also incredibly unrealistic.

 

[Grainagainst]

MCAT will be the thing that keeps you out of those top schools. Nobody will care about your 3.5 GPA if you drop a 520 on the MCAT. Easier said than done though if you're struggling with intro Bio and OChem.

 

[el_duderino]

My goal is to run a lab while practicing medicine- easiest to do this if you go to a research center for med school and then a research center for residency.

I think this isn't something that happens much anymore, and you really need to choose between the two.

 

[Dwan]

My goal is to run a lab while practicing medicine- easiest to do this if you go to a research center for med school and then a research center for residency.

You very likely won't be running a lab in the future, and if you do, you won't be doing much clinical medicine. If you're interested in becoming a PI, then you'll probably want to consider an MD/PhD, as medical school won't teach you how to do that. Regardless, best to be open-minded and have other reasons for wanting to get an MD, as even many MD/PhDs from top schools don't get the career you're seeking.

 

[WedgeDawg]

MCAT will be the thing that keeps you out of those top schools. Nobody will care about your 3.5 GPA if you drop a 520 on the MCAT. Easier said than done though if you're struggling with intro Bio and OChem.

Not necessarily true... there are plenty of applicants with 520s MCAT who also have 3.7-4.0 GPAs AND strong ECs that a strong MCAT would just cause adcoms to overlook the below average but not terrible GPA.

OP, you probably are out of or almost out of the race for schools like Hopkins and WashU and Duke etc. The good news is you can become a physician scientist from many non-top MD schools, and depending on your MCAT, you're not at all out of the running for MD yet (though you should really aim for >515 rather than 510-515). Many physician scientists, including those with their own labs, are MD only and don't have a PhD. If you want more research experience or to develop more skills, you can take a year off in the middle of med school to do a masters in some sort of research area. I'm not going to lie, PhD or not, it's a tough path and competitive even after you're out of training, but you can realistically be on the right track to reach your goals even if you're not MD/PhD at Harvard.

 

[studpremed]

First off, don't feel bad on a B in OChem-if you worked hard for it and did everything in your power to study than you are fine. Second, running a lab usually means having a research-focused career. In that case, consider doing a PhD or MS in your field of interest. But if you see practicing medicine is very important to who you are as a person-then yeah you definitely have a chance at the top research schools. You still have two more years -you can still raise your gpa to an acceptable level and nail the MCAT.

 

[Lucca]

Check out the (newly updated) stickies in the Physician Scientist forum here on SDN to see what is competitive or not for MD/PhD and also to learn about different paths to becoming a physician scientist.

I agree with Wedge. Without both a very strong mcat score and something very impressive on your resume or something like it then you are most likely out of the running for the T10. However that does not mean you cannot accomplish your stated goals. Not by a long shot rly.

 

[IlDestriero]

My goal is to run a lab while practicing medicine- easiest to do this if you go to a research center for med school and then a research center for residency.

No, it’s easiest to do that with an MD, PhD.
If that’s really what you want, that’s your easiest pathway.

 

[LukaDoncicLuk]

I received an interview from what is generally considered a top 10/20 school and I have a ~3.3 GPA, ~3.2 sGPA with average/slightly below average ECs and am ORM.

I do have significant life experience that relates to my interest in medicine and I received a 100th percentile MCAT score (>523).

Based on your gpa and ECs I don't think you're out of the running if you can manage to pull off a >520 MCAT score. N=1 and I'm just speaking from my limited personal experience but it is certainly not impossible to receive some attention from top tier schools even if you have a low mark in a particular metric.

 

[Goro]

I received an interview from what is generally considered a top 10/20 school and I have a ~3.3 GPA, ~3.2 sGPA with average/slightly below average ECs and am ORM.

I do have significant life experience that relates to my interest in medicine and I received a 100th percentile MCAT score (>523).

Based on your gpa and ECs I don't think you're out of the running if you can manage to pull off a >520 MCAT score. N=1 and I'm just speaking from my limited personal experience but it is certainly not impossible to receive some attention from top tier schools even if you have a low mark in a particular metric.

Outlier.

 

[Walter Raleigh]

Agreed. Guy could have been a combat medic with a huge upward trend. And he doesn't have an acceptance yet.