Competitiveness question

[Bushido416]

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How much does the writing score matter to MD/phD programs matter? I got an M on mine because my hand writing sucks because I did fine in my practice courses and I've actually won awards in the past for my writing (typed) unfortunately I did pen n paper MCAT. I got a 34 number score and an M. I also got a 3.95GPA lots of club involvements / peer mentoring 2 yrs/ medical mission trip / summer internship and name on manuscript in preparation/ recommenders i became good friends with / volunteer at hispanic clinic for 4 months and continuing/ graduate with 160 hours 2.5yrs after my high school graduation/ I know this might sound ridiculous but I'm actually worried because so far I've got one interview and 2 rejections and the 2 rejections were from places lower on my list so i'm worried about the other schools from the top rejecting me. Is this a valid concern? Anyone got any advice?

 

[RxnMan]

As long as you can write above cro magnon level, I don't think anyone cares what your score is.

Is english your second language? That's something that you can tell folks in the interview. If they ask.

How many programs have you applied to? If you've only applied to the three you list, understand that you could be Savant and you'd still need to cast a wider net.

 

[Bushido416]

Nope english is my first language and i applied to 15 md/phd programs. My handwriting is pretty much crap especially in pen.

 

[RxnMan]

Ok - I saw 'bushido' and thought that might explain the M. Yup, if they can't read it, they don't know what you wrote, so handwriting is part of your score.

15 programs is about how many MD programs most people apply to. I'm not as familiar about the MD/PhD acceptance rates, but you've got some responses and it's still pretty early in the season, so consider playing it cool. You're getting into the interview phase of things anyways, so start boning up on that and worrying about the things you can control. You can search for my screen name and 'interview' to see my posts on interview prep tips.

And just for laughs - you put in the part about getting writing awards, right? The dichotomy would blow ADCOM minds.

 

[dr.z]

How much does the writing score matter to MD/phD programs matter? I got an M on mine because my hand writing sucks because I did fine in my practice courses and I've actually won awards in the past for my writing (typed) unfortunately I did pen n paper MCAT. I got a 34 number score and an M. I also got a 3.95GPA lots of club involvements / peer mentoring 2 yrs/ medical mission trip / summer internship and name on manuscript in preparation/ recommenders i became good friends with / volunteer at hispanic clinic for 4 months and continuing/ graduate with 160 hours 2.5yrs after my high school graduation/ I know this might sound ridiculous but I'm actually worried because so far I've got one interview and 2 rejections and the 2 rejections were from places lower on my list so i'm worried about the other schools from the top rejecting me. Is this a valid concern? Anyone got any advice?

I doubt it makes that big of a difference with your stats.

 

[Neuronix]

Very few people will even look at your writing score, and of those nobody will care very much. The adcoms can look at your essays and see how good or bad your writing is. Don't worry about your writing score. I had an O myself 😉.

 

[Bushido416]

So should I be worried about those two deferrals to MD only review? If any of yall folks in a MD/PhD could contact me via AIM my screen name is Bushido416. I've only known 2 people who were MD/PhD students at the Medical University of SC that I did research at and I've got some general questions. Infact I dont think anyone from my university has ever attempted MD/PhD program. So this is kind of new territory that no one has really been able to advise me on. Any information such as what are the interviews like and on basic stats and activities is my application competitive at most places or only mid rung md/phd programs etc. My one interview came about 4 days after I submitted my application to medical university of SC because I worked there and they invited me to start my PhD there this past summer so I think they were anxious to recruit someone familiar with their program. I didnt accept the offer because I wanted to go on a medical missions trip and accepting it would have pretty much rooted me to that school for the next 7yrs which isnt bad but I want to see other programs. So enough rambling any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Lailala_D]

You sound very competitive to me. It just depends on what the school is looking for in their future student. School have different agendas; that's how my friend was rejected from UChicago but accepted to Harvard's PhD program. A huge factor is also what you want to research... some school just won't need a student with your interests in the next few years.

You seem like a nice person too, so make sure you remain approachable, friendly, and dedicated during your interview. Also, getting into MD/PhD is not a program (well... at least when it gets competitive it isn't). They don't just enter great GPA check, high MCAT score check, clinical experience check, research experience check, publications check, presentations check, volunteer experience check, etc.

Don't be sad you got rejected from those schools; I don't think it reflects on your competitiveness. Schools are looking for a FIT.

By the way, why don't you try contacting some profs whose research you like at the undecided schools? They may just be interested in working for you and put in a good word. It's a long-shot but at least it might give you an idea of whether you really do want to go to that school. Happen to a friend of mine for UMich who contacted a prof with interesting research... he happened to be on the admissions board too.