american requirements

[canadagirl]

Hi all,

I don't know much about how American md/phd apps work!

Do they actually look at your grades, or just your final GPA? I have one low year (about 3.3) followed by 3 years of 4.0 .. will they just look at my overall somewhat mediocre GPA of 3.8?

Is it really necessary for the md/phd program to have great depth of research? I've worked on four quite different research projects (like, completely different departments), none of them really medically-based. And no real publications. Does this look really bad?? I wasn't sure what area I wanted to study so I wanted to try out lots of things.

I haven't seen any threads about Stanfords md/phd program. That's pretty much the only program that I'm thinking of applying to (I know, I know, I need to apply, like, tomorrow if I'm going to follow through on it ). Anybody have any thoughts about it?

Thanks for any thoughts or comments!!

canadagirl

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[jot]

hey there canadiangirl - i'm a canadianboy (born in kingston) .. anyway. ... medschool and md/phds defaintely take note of trends, and yours is very strong. your gpa isn't mediocre - i know the translation from canadaian to us is slightly diff, but its still excellent. stanford mstp is a selective program -- but i would make sure that you qualify as a canadian (don't know much about the status thing - other people on the board do like brandonite). i would definately look at other schools as well that take canadians. its getting rather late to have apps in, and some deadlines are past, so there is a little bit of a disadvantage going in - but if you are good, nobody will say no. best of luck to you - take care..

-jot

 

[surge]

Definitely shouldn't take my word for it, but as far as I remember you have to be a US citizen/permanent resident for Stanford's MSTP. Do check it out, though, and good luck.

P.S. there are other very good (and selective ) MD/PhD programs in the US that definitely do take us foreigners...

S.

 

[canadagirl]

Thanks for the heads-up! I sent them a message last night but they haven't responded yet. I guess I will call them tomorrow morning if nothing happens!

... I had thought, though, that they would not have sent me an email about the secondary application unless they accepted Canadians? Because some of the schools that I submitted a primary application for just sent me a message telling me that I can't continue the application process because I am not American.

I was hoping to apply for Stanford because the deadline has passed for most of the programs that I submitted my primary application for, plus I want to do my PhD in computer science, where Stanford is exceptionally strong!

 

[surge]

I don't know what situation is, so it may not be an isssue for you, but also make sure that when they are talking about taking international students, they are also talking about funding. In other words, some schools may accept international students into their programs, but will not fund them (as NIH funds that support most MSTP programs are not available to foreign students). Good luck, S.

 

[brandonite]

I haven't posted in this forum in a while, but I want to assure all of you that I do read it... Med school has a way of cutting into SDN time, unfortunately.

Anyway. MSTP as a Canadian citizen without permanent residency status in the U.S. is pretty complicated. There are only a few schools that will offer you full funding. Wash U is the main one. They don't consider your citizenship when deciding on your file, which is a huge plus. Other schools might be convinced to give you funding (Original got funding from Duke as an international), but you will be considered in a completely different manner. I would suggest you would have to be pretty special to pull something like that off. I'm trying to remember exactly which other schools... Pritzker, I think. Northwestern. Maybe Mayo - I'm not too sure. You have to find schools that can afford to pay your funding from their own budget, as you can't get NIH funding for a Canadian to do an MD/PhD.

MSTP without funding (I guess not a MSTP then, just a MD/PhD) is a bit easier. There are a number of schools that will accept you as a Canadian. Duke, Harvard, Yale, WashU, and yes, Stanford. You will have to borrow the $200,000 US to pay for your med school portion (eek!!!) from the bank at a not-so-great interest rate, but you should be able to get funding from a graduate supervisor for the PhD part. And the Canadian gov't will help with that, through the CIHR or NSERC grants, both of which will fund (to the tune of about $20,000 CDN/year) people doing PhD work in the US (but not med school!).

Consider all of these options carefully... I decided to stay here to do my MD/PhD, and maybe look to the US for residency or fellowship or post-doc when the time comes. You do get a strong education up here...

Good luck! PM me with any questions.