MD/PhD School List Help!

[ejay19955]

• GA resident. ORM.
• GPA: 4.0
• MCAT: 37
• Major: Biomedical Engineering. Not sure yet if I will pursue the PhD in BME as well.
• 3 publications (1 first-author article already published, 2 second-author articles in press or submitted)
• 3 conference posters/abstracts
• Worked for 6 labs - got letters from the most recent 3. Combined total of ~4,000 hours (2,500 in one lab which my significant research experience essay was based on).
• ~130 hours shadowing, ~300 hours of clinical volunteering, ~50 hours of non-clinical volunteering
• internship at a medical device company (~600 hours)
• ~700 hours of TA'ing (~4 semesters).
• ~200 hours of minor leadership positions. Also mentioned my duty as a manager/project leader in one of my labs.

I have applied for 24 schools already, but my list is super top-heavy. I feel like I should add more schools... Here's my current list:

• Harvard
• Stanford
• UCSF
• JHU
• U of Penn
• WUSTL
• Yale
• Columbia
• Duke
• U Mich
• U Wash
• Vandy
• U Pitt
• Baylor
• Emory
• Case Western
• UVA
• Mayo
• Georgia Regents (MD-only)
• Mercer (MD-only)
• UTSW
• U of Chicago
• VCU
• U Illinois at Chicago

Schools I am considering to apply additionally are:
Penn State
UNC
Cornell
Mount Sinai

While I really want to gain an acceptance this cycle, I do not want to apply to "too many" schools. I would appreciate any sort of advice on my school list! Thanks in advance!

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[ejay19955]

Just added Cornell and UTSA. Now my list stands at 26. I am receiving FAP so I guess I may be able to afford a couple more schools.

 

[Lucca]

Perhaps you should browse graduate programs you might be interested in and then do some slimming? You will probably get in somewhere ( and somewhere very impressive at that ) with your qualifications but maybe don't burn yourself out on secondaries and interviews? That or apply very broadly and then be extremely judicious with which applications you decide to fill out a secondary for/attend interviews. 26 seems like overkill to me, you can probably use location and graduate programs to narrow this list down to 15-20.

 

[ejay19955]

^ Thanks for the comment! Yeah I think I will see how far I can get with secondaries. Here's hoping I will be able to finish all of them but if I don't I guess I can cut out a few.

 

[gbwillner]

Your list is good- don't add more. Focus on what the best PhD departments of interest are for ranking. For example, if you wanted to do genetics, you should focus on Baylor, Harvard, WUSTL, maybe only a few others. If you were interested in Neuroscience, your list would look different.

And finally, don't take rejections personally. Your stats will yield lots of interviews- know that you need to be personable and authentic to get through. Someone will need to vouch for you. Some of it will be up to you, some of it is totally out of your hands and up to serendipity.

Enjoy the ride.

 

[LoveMed25]

Definitely apply to Mayo Medical School - their MD-PhD program is outstanding. Some of the best research in the world comes from Mayo!

 

[Shifty B]

I agree with the above. You should be trying to focus on which schools have good departments in your area of interest, including a track record of people going through the department you are interested in. For instance, if you wanted to do BME (which you may or may not, as you said), not all of these schools have well integrated engineering departments that are achievable for an MD/PhD.