anxious to apply

[PBandJ]

---

Members do not see this ad.

hi guys!

i guess i wasn't really thinking about it until now, but i am a non-trad as well. i just graduated with my BS in biomedical engineering and i have taken on a 2-year job as a bioengineer/medical research assistant. i'm planning on applying for fall 2007...i'm most likely going to be applying to MSTP and other MD/PhD programs.

anyways, here are my questions:

1) when is it possible and/or appropriate to start working on application stuff? i just took the MCAT this august and I am waiting for my scores (prob. mid-october) to see where i would be a competitive applicant. but i'm getting anxious about starting the application process.

2) i guess this one would be better directed towards the MD/PhD forum, but f i'm working in a clinical and research setting (will have 1 full year in once i start applying), and i have several years previous research experience, do i need to add volunteer experience to that as well?

thanks y'all! 😉

 

[Anastasis]

hi guys!

i guess i wasn't really thinking about it until now, but i am a non-trad as well. i just graduated with my BS in biomedical engineering and i have taken on a 2-year job as a bioengineer/medical research assistant. i'm planning on applying for fall 2007...i'm most likely going to be applying to MSTP and other MD/PhD programs.

anyways, here are my questions:

1) when is it possible and/or appropriate to start working on application stuff? i just took the MCAT this august and I am waiting for my scores (prob. mid-october) to see where i would be a competitive applicant. but i'm getting anxious about starting the application process.

2) i guess this one would be better directed towards the MD/PhD forum, but f i'm working in a clinical and research setting (will have 1 full year in once i start applying), and i have several years previous research experience, do i need to add volunteer experience to that as well?

thanks y'all! 😉

If you're applying for fall 2007 you're a bit ahead of the game aren't you? I am applying for then as well and I won't take the MCAT til April. Maybe it's different with MD/PhD. But if it isn't you really don't need to start worrying about the details til Jan (like LoR and stuff like that).

I would say that at least some volunteer exp would be good (but then I'm not applying MD/Ph.D) plus I am a volunteer junkie so I think we all like to think what we have the most exp in is the most important and it might not be. Maybe even a couple of days shadowing a doc or one shift a month at a hospital? But, that sounds like great research exp! You're set there!

You might want to post this in the MD/Ph.D. forum too - just to get that perspective.

 

[PBandJ]

You might want to post this in the MD/Ph.D. forum too - just to get that perspective.

thanks! i think i'll do that! 🙂

 

[QofQuimica]

i guess i wasn't really thinking about it until now, but i am a non-trad as well. i just graduated with my BS in biomedical engineering and i have taken on a 2-year job as a bioengineer/medical research assistant. i'm planning on applying for fall 2007...i'm most likely going to be applying to MSTP and other MD/PhD programs.

1) when is it possible and/or appropriate to start working on application stuff? i just took the MCAT this august and I am waiting for my scores (prob. mid-october) to see where i would be a competitive applicant. but i'm getting anxious about starting the application process.

2) i guess this one would be better directed towards the MD/PhD forum, but f i'm working in a clinical and research setting (will have 1 full year in once i start applying), and i have several years previous research experience, do i need to add volunteer experience to that as well?

1) I also took my MCAT in Aug. during the year before I applied, and I think it was great that you did it, because you are really ahead of the game. You will get your scores in Oct, and then you will unfortunately have to sit and wait to apply....for about eight months. 😛 It is lousy having to wait, but there are some things you can do in the meantime:
a) Start thinking about your PS, and maybe even write a draft of it. First show it to people who know you (family and friends), then show it to some people who don't know you well (co-workers, a pre-med advisor) and ask for their comments.
b) Start volunteering, and start doing it TODAY. Yes, medical schools look for service to others, and yes, you will probably suffer later if you don't have any volunteer experience, even if you have great stats and a research background.
c) Make pre-application appointments with the admissions directors at your state schools, go visit the schools, and speak to the admissions directors about how to improve your app. Bring your transcripts, MCAT score report if you have it by then, and a list of your activities or a CV. If there's something more you should be doing, they'll tell you. Plus, you'll make a good contact at the school for when you officially apply.
d) Start figuring out whom you will approach for LORs, and talk to these people. You want the letters to be less than a year old, so don't have them write them now, but it would be great to start asking people to do it after the New Year so that they're all ready to go by the summer.

2) I don't know how MSTP programs will weight this (I'm doing my degrees separately), and grad schools don't care at all about your volunteer activities, but I can tell you that MD-only programs care a lot. Medicine is a service-oriented profession, and there must be SOME way that you can help others. Even if you mentor students in your lab or teach science to kids, that shows that you care about other people and are interested in helping them. Considering how easy and rewarding it is to find some kind of activity that you like, even science itself, and share it with others, I don't see why anyone would balk at volunteering.

Best of luck to you with your app.

 

[PBandJ]

1) I also took my MCAT in Aug. during the year before I applied, and I think it was great that you did it, because you are really ahead of the game. You will get your scores in Oct, and then you will unfortunately have to sit and wait to apply....for about eight months. 😛 It is lousy having to wait, but there are some things you can do in the meantime:
a) Start thinking about your PS, and maybe even write a draft of it. First show it to people who know you (family and friends), then show it to some people who don't know you well (co-workers, a pre-med advisor) and ask for their comments.
b) Start volunteering, and start doing it TODAY. Yes, medical schools look for service to others, and yes, you will probably suffer later if you don't have any volunteer experience, even if you have great stats and a research background.
c) Make pre-application appointments with the admissions directors at your state schools, go visit the schools, and speak to the admissions directors about how to improve your app. Bring your transcripts, MCAT score report if you have it by then, and a list of your activities or a CV. If there's something more you should be doing, they'll tell you. Plus, you'll make a good contact at the school for when you officially apply.
d) Start figuring out whom you will approach for LORs, and talk to these people. You want the letters to be less than a year old, so don't have them write them now, but it would be great to start asking people to do it after the New Year so that they're all ready to go by the summer.

2) I don't know how MSTP programs will weight this (I'm doing my degrees separately), and grad schools don't care at all about your volunteer activities, but I can tell you that MD-only programs care a lot. Medicine is a service-oriented profession, and there must be SOME way that you can help others. Even if you mentor students in your lab or teach science to kids, that shows that you care about other people and are interested in helping them. Considering how easy and rewarding it is to find some kind of activity that you like, even science itself, and share it with others, I don't see why anyone would balk at volunteering.

Best of luck to you with your app.

Thanks, Q! i'm planning on meeting with a pre-med advisor at my school once i get mcat scores to talk about how my app is shaping up, and if i don't find my own ways to volunteer by then, i know they have some great resources too. i appreciate the advice!