Need advice about MD-PhD acceptance?

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JeeRaahL

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Hey guys... I'm an undergraduate senior in Biomedical Engineering at Columbia University with a 3.7 overall GPA and 3.8 science GPA with 4 years of research in BME. I applied to SUNY Upstate's Early Assurance program when I was a sophomore and was admitted, then I applied to their MD-PhD program without taking the MCATs (they waived the MCATs for me because I was already admitted to the MD program) and I was accepted to that as well. The location of Syracuse isn't bad at all because I enjoy the outdoors, however my concern is do you think I should reject their acceptance and take a year off to apply to other places? Or should I just enter straight to their program?
 
btw, my biggest concern is that its early Feb now, and if I want to apply to other schools I have to take the MCAT this April. Also I was worried that when I apply to other schools they'll see that I had an acceptance to SUNY Upstate, however, didn't commit to it which wouldn't look too favorable...
 
You should discuss it with someone at the SUNY's program and see what they think. However, I don't think that taking a year off to reapply the next year is going to hurt your chances at all. If anything depending on what you choose to do that year, you can only strengthen your application and resolve for an MD-PhD training. Also you might not have to reject your decision to go to SUNY, you should look into whether the school's decision is binding or not in allowing you to defer your entrance into the school for a year. Some schools allow you to defer but bind you to that school (in which you case you would have to reject their offer if you want to apply elsewhere) while other schools will simply let you defer without any restrictions. Keep in mind that regardless of the reason, if you choose to reject SUNY's offer, your chances of getting an offer from the MD-PhD Program itself will not be so favorable in the second round of applications. The MD part would most likely accept you again but the MD-PhD program might or might not. Committing to an MD-PhD program is a huge commitment (7-8 years) and it should be at a place that you truly fit in well. Taking an extra year in the grand scheme of things is not that big of a deal and might do you more good. As for your concern about other medical schools finding out about your turning down SUNY's offer, the med schools usually don't go through the trouble of sharing that information unless it is the case that the applicant is holding multiple acceptances after the May 15th deadline and in violation of the admissions rules. I could be wrong on the last one but that was my impression.
 
JeeRaahL said:
btw, my biggest concern is that its early Feb now, and if I want to apply to other schools I have to take the MCAT this April. Also I was worried that when I apply to other schools they'll see that I had an acceptance to SUNY Upstate, however, didn't commit to it which wouldn't look too favorable...

Need more information. Why don't you want to go to SUNY upstate? What's changed since you applied to their program?

You are probably right that other schools will not look favorably on the fact that you stood up SUNY Upstate after being accepted under an early assurance program. You'd have to have a good reason for not wanting to go there. And Freddytn is right that they likely won't let you back in if you don't get in anywhere else.

Also, it's difficult to judge how well you'll do in the admissions game without an MCAT score. If you cut and run from SUNY and then bomb the MCAT, you won't be a happy camper; and if you have to retake it at that point, you'll be out another year (which may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your personality and point of vivew).

So there are some good reasons not to do what you're proposing. On the other hand, you might have good reasons to do it. E.g., you might have realized that SUNY Upstate doesn't have the kind of research you want to do, or you might have personal/family reasons to prefer another location. But if your reason is 'I thought I could get into a more highly ranked school,' I don't think that will sit well with adcoms.
 
Keep in mind that regardless of the reason, if you choose to reject SUNY's offer, your chances of getting an offer from the MD-PhD Program itself will not be so favorable in the second round of applications.

i don't think i would worry about this too much. i would certainly cut and run. if you've done well at columbia doing bme, i imagine you'd do just fine on the mcats.

thinking about my program, i'm pretty sure they wouldn't need a lengthy explanation about why you decided not to stay with upstate ("i was accepted to an early-assurance program, but i decided to apply md/phd elsewhere" sounds like a perfectly good reason to me). considering that bme candidates are definitely in demand, and will be more so once the HHMI rolls out their new bme funding program (which also applies to md/phds), i doubt a school would be willing to lose a qualified candidate on these grounds.

But if your reason is 'I thought I could get into a more highly ranked school,' I don't think that will sit well with adcoms.

while i certainly agree that this rationale alone wouldn't suffice, it doesn't make sense to stick with such a long program if you feel you're selling yourself short. upstate may be a fine program, but i imagine there may be some opportunities at other well known bme schools that are worth pursuing.

it would be worth your while to call program directors, explain your situation and ask if you would still be strongly considered. i would bet they would say yes.
 
Is this widespread news? I haven't heard about any new HHMI program for engineering, but that sounds pretty cool.

no, it's coming ... i'm sure there will be more information about it this year. cornell ithaca's bme dept is forming a relationship with the tri-i to facilitate bme phds either in the city or up there with incoming funding from this initiative.
 
Dude, if you're a Columbia BME with a GPA like that, I have a feeling you'll probably do decently on the MCAT. I mean, the average GPA for you guys is like a 3, so you'e clearly done pretty well. With your background, you can probably do better than Upstate (no offense to Upstate, but it's not exactly known as a research powerhouse)
 
I'm not necessarily worried about the mcat. I'm more worried about taking that year off, b/c it is a 7 year program so I would like to get it over with asap. Also I have a friend who was a BME@Columbia with a 3.6 and a 35 on the mcat and goes to Upstate MD-PhD and he's working under someone who got a 3 million dollar grant for cancer/stem cell research. One of my professors here at columbia is an MD-PhD and he said that its not so much the name, but more about who you work under. I don't know what to do. Let me know what you guys think.
 
JeeRaahL said:
I'm not necessarily worried about the mcat. I'm more worried about taking that year off, b/c it is a 7 year program so I would like to get it over with asap.

I would suggest taking a year off because it's a 7-9 year program.

JeeRaahL said:
One of my professors here at columbia is an MD-PhD and he said that its not so much the name, but more about who you work under. I don't know what to do. Let me know what you guys think.

I agree. It took me a while to realize that it's who you work for, not what school you go to that's going to make the difference. I don't mean that you have to work for a big name PI, but you have to find the right match. Like you, I have concerns about the length of the program because I'm worried about getting burned-out. So I will probably be looking for a lab that is a bit smaller instead of taking the chance of getting lost and forgoten in a more postdoc heavy lab.

I think that my advice won't be any different from what you will hear from most people on this forum. You should choose a school that is strong in your interest area and has several people with whom you may want to work.

It sounds like you would well in the process if you choose to apply. Good Luck!
 
JeeRaahL said:
do you think I should reject their acceptance and take a year off to apply to other places? Or should I just enter straight to their program?

There are some applicants who are so good that they can call their own shots. Programs will be tripping over each other to nab these people.

For the remaining 99% of us, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (jokes aside). I wouldn't gamble with this at all. Unless you have a compelling reason to ditch Syracuse, I would go and make the most of it.
 
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