Hello, I'm a junior looking to apply MSTP this coming cycle. Looking for advise on school list and final touches for my application! Thanks!
Academics:
- Major: Biology, Minor: Chemistry & CS
- cGPA: 3.91, sGPA: 3.88
- MCAT: 522 (129/131/131/131)
State of Residence: PA
Ethnicity: White/Asian
Undergraduate Institution: Top 10 research university
Research Experience:
- Epstein-Barr Virus Cancer Biology Lab (3 years, ~2500 hours):
- Upcoming submission as co-first author to mid-level journal
- Howard Hughes Research Fellow (funding + poster presentation)
- Other Epstein-Barr Virus Lab (2 summers, ~500 hours):
- Was high-school volunteer, but did the same work as the independent study students
- 3rd author on publication in mid-level journal
- Can I include this even though it was high school? If so, do I need a recommendation from my PI?
Clinical Volunteering:
- Cancer Resource Center Volunteer (~100 hours): Connected patients with institutional resources to assist them during their treatment and provided educational materials on their condition.
- Nursing Home Volunteer (~20 hours): Provided company for patients with various disabilities/Alzheimer's. Was a component of a sociology course I took.
Non-Clinical Volunteering:
- Science Outreach Club President (3 years, ~100 hours): Work with low-income public elementary schools to provide after-school science activities and demonstrations. As president, I designed the curriculum, distributed materials for lessons, coordinated with school officials, and managed the placement of volunteers. Additionally, I personally ran lessons at one of the sites.
Shadowing Experience:
- Oncology (~25 hours): Shadowing MD/PhD through my department this semester
- Can get additional shadowing experience (Ophthalmology) through family friends if necessary...
Other Activities:
- Research Mentor (1 year, ~10 hours): Provide guidance to incoming students on available research opportunities and fellowships.
- Clinical Research Experience Program (1 year, ~20 hours): Got to meet lots of translational researchers at my university and hear about their research / experiences in medicine.
- Club running (3 years): Was part of the club national cross-country team for my university twice. Running is basically what keeps me sane...
School List:
Preliminary ideas (too top heavy?):
- Harvard
- Stanford
- UCSF
- Penn
- WashU
- Duke
- Columbia
- Yale
- UChicago
- University of Washington
- Northwestern
- UMich
- Pitt
- UNC
- NYU
- USC
- UVA
- Mayo
- Emory
- Wisconsin
