How could I become a competitive applicant for MD/PhD programs?

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I don't know dude....

One of the girls that I work with is a MD/PhD applicant. I'm not sure how much success she's seen but I do know that she interviewed at some top schools like UPenn. Let's just say, the girl doesn't even know how to properly run a gel. So having a good research background probably isn't one of the requirements lol. 🙄
 
A lot of research, great gpa, great EC's, great Mcat.
 
docforsure said:
I don't know dude....

One of the girls that I work with is a MD/PhD applicant. I'm not sure how much success she's seen but I do know that she interviewed at some top schools like UPenn. Let's just say, the girl doesn't even know how to properly run a gel. So having a good research background probably isn't one of the requirements lol. 🙄
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No.. a PhD program wants research.. Its funded by NIH for goodness sakes.
 
if you look on mdapps (granted, it's mostly SDN people...) there are practically no acceptances with GPAs below 3.7

the mcat is comparable, i think the lowest i saw was 35.

you should have a couple yrs research (and a summer or two) under your belt. a paper can only help. formal presentation is a good plus too.

besides being involved in research, you actually have to have done something substantial. the sum of your time spent in the lab should not amt to you running PCRs all day but not anything beyond that...and someone else doing all the thinking (read: you're a lab rat, essentially)
 
There is a specific forum on SDN for those who are thinking about/applying to/attending MD/PhD programs: Physician-Scientist.

And if you're curious about what makes an applicant competitive for these programs, there is also a sticky about it: What are my chances? The distillation is: high GPA, excellent MCAT, 2+ years research experience, strong letters of recommendation.

What makes it possible for someone to get into the tip-top programs, not just NIH-funded Medical Scientist Training Programs but the best of the best? No. Freaking. Idea. Luck, interviewing well, impressing someone at your interview, demonstrating interest in their school, having an interesting life story & "depth of personality." I know these things help. But where you end up--because the schools that like you and the schools that you liked might not overlap at all--is a thing of chance & stress.
 
curbye said:
if you look on mdapps (granted, it's mostly SDN people...) there are practically no acceptances with GPAs below 3.7

the mcat is comparable, i think the lowest i saw was 35.

you should have a couple yrs research (and a summer or two) under your belt. a paper can only help. formal presentation is a good plus too.

besides being involved in research, you actually have to have done something substantial. the sum of your time spent in the lab should not amt to you running PCRs all day but not anything beyond that...and someone else doing all the thinking (read: you're a lab rat, essentially)
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Well.. i actually have seen guys with a 3.5 and 28 get in, I think a lot of ppl don't even consider applying for a MD/PhD. I mean its 3 - 4 year commitment which in the end result could very well not be worth it to some. I think less and less ppl will be applying for MD/PhD, except for people like me who are divided between 2 loves like medicine and social psychology :laugh:.
 
I have just finished my application cycle for MD/PhD programs, and after meeting everyone on the interview trail, you need a very strong application to get interviews/acceptances. I would say that the minimum GPA/MCAT is 3.7/33, and even that combination will give you trouble. You should be aiming for 3.8+/35+ if you want to get into an NIH-funded MSTP.

The 2 most important aspects of your application after those numbers are your research and your LoR. 2 years is generally considered the minimum amount. As counter-intuitive as it seems, I would recommend not doing something directly clinically relevant (in other words, no patients). That's really the role of an MD/PhD. The MD/PhD should be doing basic science research. That doesn't mean it has nothing to do with medicine, but most MD/PhDs are doing bench work in model systems to figure out the basic biology of this or that pathway, not running drug trials.

Volunteering/shadowing isn't terribly important, I had very little volunteer work and no shadowing and I've been accepted to some top places. These are really just so that the MD/PhD committee can convince the MD committee to let you in.
 
docforsure said:
I don't know dude....

One of the girls that I work with is a MD/PhD applicant. I'm not sure how much success she's seen but I do know that she interviewed at some top schools like UPenn. Let's just say, the girl doesn't even know how to properly run a gel. So having a good research background probably isn't one of the requirements lol. 🙄
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So, I did MD/PhD admissions this past year. If this girl looked amazing on paper but can't run a gel, that's not going to be obvious from her application. She may have gotten interviews based on everything else in her application. But, if she sucked and didn't know what she was doing, this would come through during interviews.

The main idea here is that we're looking for people with a strong dedication to become a physician scientist, because it's a long road, and the worst thing is for people to do a little research, go for the free MD, and then drop the PhD and high tail it for private practice.

So, research experience is key. Like a couple years, at least. What's important is that you weren't just a pipetting monkey-- that you have internalized the hypothesis, understand the rationale behind the controls, and can intelligently answer questions about follow-up experiments. We want to see genuine enthusiasm for research, that "burning desire" that our program director always talks about. What is it that drives you to explore science through research? All of these trains of thought need to be clearly expressed in the application (and more importantly, during the interview).

The purpose of the interview is to separate the people who did research for resume padding vs. the people who truly want to do nothing else with their lives (to some extent). There's a good number of people who have stellar numbers and some research experience and apply MD/PhD "because I can"-- this sort of attitude tends to come through. Very important here is a fairly good idea of what you hope your career to be in the future as a physician scientist. Some kids get burned by not having a well thought-out response to this.

In addition to the research and drive to pursue research, you will also need to have all the normal med school application stuff. Gpa, MCAT, shadowing, and (to a lesser extent) volunteering. There are people who have insane research who don't really have much of a drive to see patients and translate the research in any way, shape or form to people. Or, they're super awkward and will suck with patients. Or, they've never shadowed and somehow want to convince us that they *know* they want to be a physician. Don't have any red flags like this.

Letters-- You'll need these from your PI, and then the standard other pre-med letters. Honestly, most letters aren't "best of my career" or somehow bad. So, if it's bad in any way, that tends to stick out. This applies to the pre-med advising office cover letter as well. There was one that in the fine print, wasn't actually all that positive. This has an impact.

Essays-- The MD-only essay isn't a huge part of the screening process unless it really sucks. Less than 10% fall in this category, but just don't do this (rambling stream of consciousness, insane arrogance, extremely lame stories, complete lack of organization/structure). In the MD/PhD essay, be able to clearly explain a quick background of your research topic, the hypothesis, brief methods, results, and the implications of your findings. And anything else that drove you to that lab or anything notable.

Research activities-- I have this separate from your actual research b/c I think it's important. Be sure to clearly state any abstracts, posters, presentations or publications you've been a part of. All of this stuff shows that you had the initiative to find opportunities to present your research and get feedback.

Other-- This has been mentioned, but it really helps if you show that you have a serious interest about the school. Requests to interview w/ people working in your field, good questions about the school, and solid reasons of why you would like to go there. All this helps.

So, that's just a bit from the perspective of someone on the other side. Good luck to everyone, you sdn kids will do just fine 🙂
 
Do you think I am at a serious disadvantage if I don't have poster/presentation/publication/etc besides the mere fact that I've done research work?

I graduated in May 2009, and I've been working full-time in a biochem research lab since Sept 2009. However, I started with pretty much no experience in this field (other than textbook knwoledge), so the past few months just flew by with me learning basic lab techniques. Considering I didn't even know what "harvesting cells" meant, I think I've come a far way since Sept, but I plan on applying to med schools (I was thinking MD/PhD) this summer, and I don't have anything "solid" yet (poster session, publications, etc).

I haven't been a lab rat, just running gels and autoclaving LB for other people, but I'm *just* beginning to grow independent of the grad student who was training me - i.e. I'm just starting to think about what to try next, fine tune the experiments myself, etc. Unfortunately, it's already February.

But I think I'm also at a slight disadvantage in this regard because of the field I'm in. Even the grad student I work with - he's been at his project for the past 3 years - hasn't been able to publish or give presentations on this because there's not much to report without the final finding, which may or may not occur depending on mother nature (yay, field of crystallization and x-ray crystallography of macromolecular complexes...). I'm at a top research institution and an HHMI lab, so I don't think I have to attest to the caliber of the work in this lab, but I'm also worried that I don't have anything tangible to put on my application other than... I worked in a lab and tried really hard.

I was a pre-MD before, so I just thought, oh, having a publication will just be like an icing on a cake - great if you have it, no worries if you don't... but I'm not sure if that works the same way for the MD/PhD programs.

And well, now that I think about it, a bigger question is, do you think I won't have "enough research experience" if I try to apply this upcoming summer??
 
I believe that for the non-MSTP MD/PhD programs, you still have to pay tuition for the MD years, though depending on the place, you can get a stipend for the research years
 
Well that completely kills the point lol.. I'll get a PhD after my MD/DO..
 
luckyducky87 said:
I believe that for the non-MSTP MD/PhD programs, you still have to pay tuition for the MD years, though depending on the place, you can get a stipend for the research years
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This varies by program. Our MD/PhD program (UT-Houston) is not yet NIH-funded, but provides full tuition/stipend throughout the med school years and research years. You'd need to check on this for each non-MSTP school you're interested in.
 
Most non-NIH funded programs will still provide funding for medical school. I'm sure there are a handful that don't, but the large majority will fund them. Also, your PhD will almost certainly be fully funded with a stipend no matter where you go, just like getting a PhD separately.

As for your question about your research, you're really pushing it with how little research experience you have. When I submitted my application this August, I had 2 semesters + 2 summers of research, and that was considered a low amount. By the time I matriculate in the fall, I'll only have had 4 semesters + 2 summers. However, the fact that you are doing it full time might be able to make up for it (during the semester I was only doing ~15 hours/week, summers about 50).

You definitely don't NEED posters/papers/abstracts, but they are helpful to show that what you've been doing is valuable and productive. I think I've seen that less than 50% of accepted MD/PhD students are published, but I would imagine most at least have a poster, presentation, or abstract.
 
luckyducky87 said:
Do you think I am at a serious disadvantage if I don't have poster/presentation/publication/etc besides the mere fact that I've done research work?

I graduated in May 2009, and I've been working full-time in a biochem research lab since Sept 2009. However, I started with pretty much no experience in this field (other than textbook knwoledge), so the past few months just flew by with me learning basic lab techniques. Considering I didn't even know what "harvesting cells" meant, I think I've come a far way since Sept, but I plan on applying to med schools (I was thinking MD/PhD) this summer, and I don't have anything "solid" yet (poster session, publications, etc).

I haven't been a lab rat, just running gels and autoclaving LB for other people, but I'm *just* beginning to grow independent of the grad student who was training me - i.e. I'm just starting to think about what to try next, fine tune the experiments myself, etc. Unfortunately, it's already February.

But I think I'm also at a slight disadvantage in this regard because of the field I'm in. Even the grad student I work with - he's been at his project for the past 3 years - hasn't been able to publish or give presentations on this because there's not much to report without the final finding, which may or may not occur depending on mother nature (yay, field of crystallization and x-ray crystallography of macromolecular complexes...). I'm at a top research institution and an HHMI lab, so I don't think I have to attest to the caliber of the work in this lab, but I'm also worried that I don't have anything tangible to put on my application other than... I worked in a lab and tried really hard.

I was a pre-MD before, so I just thought, oh, having a publication will just be like an icing on a cake - great if you have it, no worries if you don't... but I'm not sure if that works the same way for the MD/PhD programs.

And well, now that I think about it, a bigger question is, do you think I won't have "enough research experience" if I try to apply this upcoming summer??
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if you haven't done lab research before in a different field--say chemistry--and your total amount of time spent doing research before application is less than a year, then this experience is likely not sufficient, and you will be hurting your application if you apply MD/PhD just because you can. The MD/PhD pool is smaller but highly self-selected & competitive; at many schools if you apply for an MD/PhD they will NOT consider you for an MD-only, and at other schools if your application is eventually forwarded to the MD adcom you are at a disadvantage (with respect to time) compared to other MD applicants. If you are not serious about becoming a physician-scientist, about having research and patient contact be integral parts of your training & career, then the "free MD" is not worth it. You'd be spending 4+ years of your life getting a PhD when (in another career path) you would have just become an attending 4 years earlier. And schools know this, so they want to see significant and sustained research experiences. If you only started research after graduating, then it is likely not enough if you apply next summer. Waiting an extra year, if you are fully committed to the MD/PhD, is the best way to ensure you would be competitive.

The major disadvantage is that you haven't done research that long (if I'm understanding correctly), not so much that you don't have papers or presentations yet.
 
harvman11 said:
As for your question about your research, you're really pushing it with how little research experience you have. When I submitted my application this August, I had 2 semesters + 2 summers of research, and that was considered a low amount. By the time I matriculate in the fall, I'll only have had 4 semesters + 2 summers. However, the fact that you are doing it full time might be able to make up for it (during the semester I was only doing ~15 hours/week, summers about 50).

You definitely don't NEED posters/papers/abstracts, but they are helpful to show that what you've been doing is valuable and productive. I think I've seen that less than 50% of accepted MD/PhD students are published, but I would imagine most at least have a poster, presentation, or abstract.
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(first of all, ooh, sorry for the confusion! definitely misunderstood the NIH-funded vs. not-NIH-funded schools' operating systems, tuition wise)

And darn... well. Okay. I'm in a little bit of a weird situation in that I have additional research experience from college, but I wasn't sure I wanted to list it on my app, since it might incur more questions than acceptance.

To make it brief, this undergrad experience lasted for 2 part-time summers (I was taking summer classes) + 1 part-time semester. I admit, I wasn't the most committed person in lab (I had other things, like classes, that I made my priority...), but the PI is also kinda crazy (this is known in the dept... and unfortunately unknown to me when I joined the lab). This was a synthetic organic chemistry lab with some inorganic/metal-chemistry background (so the work I did was very different from what I do now). I have my name on 2 publications from this lab, but I took no part in the writing process, and they were both published after I left the lab (and I literally, completely, parted from it; it was THAT bad of an experience), so I didn't even know about it until much after the fact.

But since the PI and I also left off in bad terms, I wasn't gonna ask her for a rec letter. I consulted many others who knows this PI (including another prof in the dept that I knew well), and they all suggested I don't ask her for a rec letter either (i.e... more risky than beneficial, since these are confidential letters).

Sigh, should I just add this back to my research exp then? And ask for a LoR from this evil PI? I'm not sure what to do :-/ Listing this but not getting a LoR would definitely raise a red-flag, and I'm guessing most MD/PhD programs require LoR from all PI's in the first place...


PS: I did, for about 5 minutes, consider staying in this lab for 3 full years as opposed to the current plan of 2 years. But especially given the long length of the MD/PhD program, I really don't want to keep taking additional years off 🙁

And also, working full time in a research lab has definitely changed my opinions about research (already, even if it's just been 5.5 months). I wouldn't say that I'm going for the free-MD aspect of this journey, and I'm pretty serious about research. I did consider doing just a PhD program and forgetting the MD part for a while... before settling on the MD/PhD. But now I'm not sure about my competitiveness.
 
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oh okay, I think I remember your post in the physician-scientist forum? Either that or it was someone else with a duck avatar. You're in a tough situation but you need to ask this PI, in person, "Would you be comfortable writing a strong, positive letter of recommendation for me in support of my application to MD/PhD programs?" Acknowledge that you had a bad experience in the past, BUT if your experience was based on a personality conflict and NOT on your behavior (not showing up to lab, disrespectful names, etc), then there is hope that this person would be professional and discuss your scientific skills and contributions, not whatever personality clash occurred.

And yes, you absolutely need to list this research experience, especially since there are two publications with your name on it floating out there. I have no idea if adcoms PubMed their applicants, but if by some reason they stumble upon your paper and find out you did NOT list it in your app, that's a pretty weird/red flag. But then also, programs do expect a letter of recommendation from PIs. But I actually did not have letters from every PI I worked with--the PI I worked with freshman year essentially shut down his lab, and since it wasn't molecular bio or basic science, and since I already had 8 other letters, I thought it would be unnecessary to ask him for a letter as well. BUT I do think programs ask for a certain number of research letters, which I believe is two. In my case, I had 2 other labs I had sustained experiences with (one for every summer, one for the full school year) so that was 2 PIs, but then I also asked for a letter from the post-doc who directly mentored me. Maybe there is someone else from the lab who was in a position to assess your ability that you could ask?
 
Firstly do not make duplicate posts. Secondly it'll look ok on your transcript. If you were enrolled at Harvard as a undergrad that would look better. So frankly in 3 - 4 years of undergrad you'll have things which will look much better like research or studying abroad for a semester.

To be competitive for MD/PHD you should have :
- 1 year of research + (
- a high college gpa ( high school gpa won't matter after you enroll in college)
- high mcat ( 30+, a 35+ would be best)
-clinical volunteering ( 150+ hours of experience over the course of 1year)
- leadership ( be a ranking member of a club or 3)
- non-medical volunteering ( soup kitchen or reading to children)

Btw since your still in high school I personally believe you should chill and really not worry about this stuff. Especially since your interested in MD/PhD which means you've already somehow established that research interest you.
 
i heard if you ever took a class in community college you're toast for md/phd
 
serenade said:
Firstly do not make duplicate posts. Secondly it'll look ok on your transcript. If you were enrolled at Harvard as a undergrad that would look better. So frankly in 3 - 4 years of undergrad you'll have things which will look much better like research or studying abroad for a semester.

To be competitive for MD/PHD you should have :
- 1 year of research + (
- a high college gpa ( high school gpa won't matter after you enroll in college)
- high mcat ( 30+, a 35+ would be best)
-clinical volunteering ( 150+ hours of experience over the course of 1year)
- leadership ( be a ranking member of a club or 3)
- non-medical volunteering ( soup kitchen or reading to children)
Click to expand...

this is largely pretty crappy advice.

The classes at harvard in high school won't matter. just wait, and put your energy into getting into a good college.

To get into md/phd: you need to have a rocking gpa, 3.8 minimum. MCAT is crucial, 33+ minimum for non MSTP programs, and MSTP's average something around 35-37.

Research is crucial, and not just one year. You need to demonstrate a passion for research, 2 years minimum i would say, and >3 is much better.

Much of what the above poster put down is important to any generic MD applicant. But for md/phd, they are more interested that you have demonstrated sufficient interest to the MD portion with clinical experience. But research #1!! any abstracts or other pubs are not a must, but will be very very helpful.
 
I'd say 2 years minimum for research, and publications are golden (but not required). High stats, as mentioned, with sufficient clinical exposure.

Basically, it's an MD application, but with higher stats (note the average 3-6 points higher on the MCAT) and with more research (2+ years).
 
Stixman28 said:
this is largely pretty crappy advice.

The classes at harvard in high school won't matter. just wait, and put your energy into getting into a good college.

To get into md/phd: you need to have a rocking gpa, 3.8 minimum. MCAT is crucial, 33+ minimum for non MSTP programs, and MSTP's average something around 35-37.

Research is crucial, and not just one year. You need to demonstrate a passion for research, 2 years minimum i would say, and >3 is much better.

Much of what the above poster put down is important to any generic MD applicant. But for md/phd, they are more interested that you have demonstrated sufficient interest to the MD portion with clinical experience. But research #1!! any abstracts or other pubs are not a must, but will be very very helpful.
Click to expand...

You do know that + means more right? Anyway I dont see any cut off for MD/PHD programs for below 33 mcats. I know personally my sister in law got into a MD/PHD program with a 3.9/31. Also you'll still need leadership maybe even more leadership then a regular MD app. You'll also still need that clinical experience too, no one can get into medical school with out sufficent clinical experience.
 
There's a vast difference between a 3.9 and a 3.8 or 3.7. This is why people with 3.9's have it a lot easier than, say, a 3.6 applicant.
 
Not to be nitpicky, but why do you keep making these threads in pre-allo? There is a dedicated SDN forum for current/aspiring physician-scientists (which there are many ways to become, MD/PhD programs being a traditional/debt-free option).
 
Morsetlis said:
There's a vast difference between a 3.9 and a 3.8 or 3.7. This is why people with 3.9's have it a lot easier than, say, a 3.6 applicant.
Click to expand...

The benefits dwindle rapidly following like a 3.65 or so.
 
wordswordswords said:
Not to be nitpicky, but why do you keep making these threads in pre-allo? There is a dedicated SDN forum for current/aspiring physician-scientists (which there are many ways to become, MD/PhD programs being a traditional/debt-free option).
Click to expand...

I created a double thread. My topic in the MSTP forum has the same title as this. What happened was I accidentally hit return from the drop down menu and my latest thread title came up and I clicked submit. I meant for this thread to be in the one entitled "Leadership." As for my previous thread, well...I'm new to these forums. I apologize. Lastly, I'm pretty sure going to a community college won't hurt me whatsoever.
 
Krypton36 said:
Lastly, I'm pretty sure going to a community college won't hurt me whatsoever.
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I don't think it would hurt you either. The only concern is whether or not you would have access to a lab you could work/volunteer in. I don't think I made any sort of comment on going to a cc though.
 
Krypton36 said:
Lastly, I'm pretty sure going to a community college won't hurt me whatsoever.
Click to expand...
I think it would hurt you in the sense that the same research opportunities that you'd find at a university won't be found at community college. If you're aspiring to be an MD/PhD, you'd want to have a solid/productive research experience in undergrad.

Also, are you a HS student then? If so, I don't think you should be worrying about things like MD/PhD programs right now. Spend some time in a research lab first before deciding that you want to pursue a research career. Not every person likes doing bench research. The idea might sound interesting, but you might find the act of doing the research to be unpleasant.
 
Krypton36 said:
For MD/PhD or MD?
Click to expand...

Sorry, that was for both (which essentially means MD only, given the relative numbers), so I guess it's not that relevant. That statistic also assumes a decent (30+) GPA.
 
Krypton36 said:
http://www.summer.harvard.edu/2010/visiting/

I'm currently enrolled part time in HS and at a community college this year and will be graduating in June. I was curious to know if taking a couple of Harvard classes would look good on my resume.
Click to expand...

My advice? Finish high school or get your GED. Then come back and ask that question when you reach your sophomore year of college.

Honestly. I say it every time I see a high schooler here, but it never sticks. Don't worry about your application yet. You're not even going to a University yet! Do ridiculous, irresponsible things. Travel. Hang out with your friends. Play like the child you are - you have no idea how lucky you are to not be an out-in-the-world adult yet, and you'll regret it if you try to fast-track it to a career, especially in medicine.

When you get to college full-time, take classes you haven't considered yet. Anthropology? Sure. Art history? Why not? Environmental science or accounting or computer science? Sounds great. You're still developing. You might end up a doctor, and taking these classes won't hurt. But you might discover something else you love, and there's no shame in that.

I came into college planning to major in linguistics and join the Peace Corps after graduation. I happened to take a Japanese class and an Anthropology class, and ended up changing to those majors. I still planned on the Peace Corps. But then I started working with the Red Cross, volunteering at hospitals, and embracing various other opportunities that came my way, and somehow I wound up determined to work in health care. The decision to become a doctor came in my sophomore year, and I don't regret that one bit.

So: who knows what could happen with you. Maybe someday you'll be a great doctor. Maybe you won't. Now's not the time to be thinking about that. Don't think about research or volunteering or ECs yet. Just concentrate on doing what you like, embrace opportunities as they come your way, and things ought to work out.

/lecture
 
US high school kids are somehow so much dumber than their European/Asian counterparts that they can't decide on a career before finishing college?
 
Kaushik said:
I think it would hurt you in the sense that the same research opportunities that you'd find at a university won't be found at community college. If you're aspiring to be an MD/PhD, you'd want to have a solid/productive research experience in undergrad.

Also, are you a HS student then? If so, I don't think you should be worrying about things like MD/PhD programs right now. Spend some time in a research lab first before deciding that you want to pursue a research career. Not every person likes doing bench research. The idea might sound interesting, but you might find the act of doing the research to be unpleasant.
Click to expand...

There are plenty of labs around here that I have access to. I see what you mean though, since there will not be any research opportunities within my college.
 
Janieve said:
My advice? Finish high school or get your GED. Then come back and ask that question when you reach your sophomore year of college.

Honestly. I say it every time I see a high schooler here, but it never sticks. Don't worry about your application yet. You're not even going to a University yet! Do ridiculous, irresponsible things. Travel. Hang out with your friends. Play like the child you are - you have no idea how lucky you are to not be an out-in-the-world adult yet, and you'll regret it if you try to fast-track it to a career, especially in medicine.

When you get to college full-time, take classes you haven't considered yet. Anthropology? Sure. Art history? Why not? Environmental science or accounting or computer science? Sounds great. You're still developing. You might end up a doctor, and taking these classes won't hurt. But you might discover something else you love, and there's no shame in that.

I came into college planning to major in linguistics and join the Peace Corps after graduation. I happened to take a Japanese class and an Anthropology class, and ended up changing to those majors. I still planned on the Peace Corps. But then I started working with the Red Cross, volunteering at hospitals, and embracing various other opportunities that came my way, and somehow I wound up determined to work in health care. The decision to become a doctor came in my sophomore year, and I don't regret that one bit.

So: who knows what could happen with you. Maybe someday you'll be a great doctor. Maybe you won't. Now's not the time to be thinking about that. Don't think about research or volunteering or ECs yet. Just concentrate on doing what you like, embrace opportunities as they come your way, and things ought to work out.

/lecture
Click to expand...

Sorry. I'm enrolled in HS full time and I'm a senior. Part time DE at the CC.
 
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