I am currently a biomedical engineering major at NJIT in Newark, NJ. I am considering applying to MD/PhD programs within the next few years and need some advice. I am in the top of my class at NJIT but don't have too much research experience to speak of (approximately one summer at UMDNJ and then the last seven months at NJIT/Rutgers). I know a few current MD/PhD students and they all told me that they had 2+ years and several publications when they applied and were accepted. Anyways, I really like engineering and thought that it would be a good idea to get some more research experience so I applied to a few masters programs in Material Science Engineering (biomaterials concentration). The short of it is that I got into NJIT and Johns Hopkins University. Naturally, I am leaning towards JHU but cost is a big factor for me (~50k/yr for JHU compared to ~20 k/yr for NJIT). Does it really matter where I get a masters from if I want to apply to MD/PhD programs? A couple other considerations: when I graduate from NJIT in May, I will have 12 of 30 towards masters credits completed with most likely a 4.0 GPA (apparently I could transfer up to 6 credits from NJIT to JHU), also I am currently working on a neuroscience/materials science research project at NJIT that I think is really cool and worthwhile. I'm not sure whether I give this up to go to Johns Hopkins for a masters. Please help me out by giving your opinion/advice. Thanks.
Considering MD/PhD...need advice
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Needed: 2+ years of research. Publications, not necessary, but a fine thing to have.
Not enough to justify that gigantic cost difference.
While I'm sure you could find research at Hopkins, I think you should keep doing the research you're doing if you find yourself interested and find the work productive. You don't even really need to shell out the money for the masters if you're set on MD/PhD. Work as a lab tech for a few years, get paid, and dedicate yourself full-time to research if that's your goal. The Master's degree isn't going to significantly increase your chances more than just increasing your research experience. It will increase your salary if you decide to be an engineer, so I'd only view the Master's as a backup career. MS credits tend not to transfer to MD/PhD programs, so you may find yourself taking another 2 years of courses for a Bioengineering degree in an MD/PhD program.
At this point you'll want to shoot for a very high MCAT score as well (36+). Don't let anything distract you from that.
