need some general advice

[whiteshadodw]

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i'm in a weird situation. back in sophomore year i was thinking MD, then PhD, then MD/PhD, then at the end of junior year i was thinking PhD, then by senior year I was set on MD. between all that thinking i had some family issues to take care of and so i don't think i have the volunteer/research experience i should have. but atleast now i'm set on applying for an MSTP program. here are some of my extracurriculars

senior yr highschool to freshman year of college - volunteer/intern at cardiologist (10 hours a week for 36 weeks, 20 hours a week for 4 weeks), member of a club (5 hours a week). working at pulmonologist clinic (fat monitoring, taking vitals, some clerical, etc) 40 hours/week 14 weeks.

sophomore year of college - no volunteering (here is where family issues came up). volunteered at a research lab (15 hours a week for 6 months)

junior year - volunteer assistant soccer coach (2 hours/week). vice president of unicef club @ university. clinical volunteering at the end of junior year (5 hours/week). i also go into the competitive undergraduate research program. so i started doing research full-time for the summer (40 hrs/week for 14 weeks). i was also a TA for a class (paid position).

senior year - more research (20 hours/week). . TA (paid position) but this time i was teaching 2 sections. poster, presented at the undergraduate research conference, will be presenting again at a ASBMB/ACS supported conference on campus. more clinical volunteering.

stats that probably matter just as much:
-major: biochemistry/MCB
~3.87 sGPA/OA, that's including some Bs from high school dual entrollment
-MCAT? I guess the magic number is 36?
-volunteering all together - 100 hours at a free clinic, 100 hours at a hospital. 100 hours for soccer coaching. i was also part of a religious political group and played a big part in fundraisers.

now my question is, i keep hearing 2+ years of research. by the time I apply i will only have 1.5 years of research. since i'm a graduating senior, i also need to find something to do next year. taking a year off isn't going to look good. volunteering/etc will continue, but i have to pay bills and what not. so these are the possible options:

-continue to work in my current lab, but it'll become an unpaid position because the grant that supports me right now is only for undergrads (i'm graduating in may). as such, it'd become 10 hours/week of research at most. i'd probably end up TAing full time to pay the bills and i'd also take a few classes maybe 6-12 units?

-apply for a clinical research position that's paid, 40 hours/week. i'd be working in a clinical trial:

"Duties would include collecting & processing of blood specimens, performing electrocardiograms, obtaining vital signs, and other clerical & patient related responsibilities. The position is ideal for recent or soon-to-be graduates hoping to transition into medical school as there is daily contact with patients and the opportunity to shadow the doctors."

-not really an option, but i'd be willing to consider going back to my mom's house (she really has a need for me, she's a single mother, and i've got two younger brothers). i could try to find a job there and do volunteering, etc. all the options i've listed above are available in a city that is 100 miles away from my mom's place.

i'm not going to make this post longer, but i'm in a weird situation. hoping i can get some advice from someone who has applied MSTP and has some insight. also, does the "be complete by June 1" rule still apply for MSTP, or is it more relaxed? as it stands, i'm taking 19 units, and studying EXPLICITLY for the MCAT is hard, but in a lot of my classes i'm finding that we're covering basic physics, chemistry, bio concepts in a lot more detail. so is it find to take the MCAT june 1st, or should I make every possible effort to take it earlier? thanks, appreciate the help, in advance.

 

[reine1jb]

without an MCAT score it's hard to predict exactly what your chances are. If you get a reasonably high MCAT (def above 35, maybe someone could add to that), you may not need the "two years" I know some people I interviewed with had less research experience but a higher MCAT than I did and they got in and I didn't. Note that I'm only an n=1 and my MCAT score was very weak but I think generally this applies, the higher the MCAT the more likely a committee will take you without an extreme amount of experience (you still obviously need to be convincing that a life primarily dedicated to research is what you want).

June 1st is probably cutting it a little close but I do not think that it's too late. I totally forget how AMCAS works but I think you could fill out your application and submit it to be verified prior to getting your mcat score back (like do it between the time that you take it and the time you would get your score). No school is going to do anything with it before they get an mcat score though. maybe you can't be verified without an MCAT score I honestly don't remember. I would look that up if I were you.

all that being said, there are options to find paid research positions for a year off (I would recommend this route personally). Look at the NIH post-bacc for instance. Or look at your state university for a tech position or something (although this one might be harder because most PI's are probably look for at least a two year commitment) again someone else on the forum is likely to give you some more options for year off research positions.

best of luck

 

[DendWrite]

You have plenty of clincial volunteering for MD/PhD programs. The clinical research deal sounds pretty sweet if you were going into MD only, but I honestly don't think it's going to give you that much of a boost at MD/PhD programs. The money is sweet, but it sounds like you'll mostly be collecting data and not actually designing / performing experiments / analyzing data. Also, it's clincial and not basic science. Not saying that it's not valuable experience, but as far as what you're likely to be doing as a PhD student, I don't think it's going to be as relevant.

I agree with trying to talk to the lab you are currently in and seeing if they could pay you to work as a research assistant or something for the year. Or try an NIH post-bacc.

If you get a 36+ on the MCAT and will be doing research throughout your gap year, I think you have a good shot at MSTP programs. You will be an "excellent" in two of the three "Neuronix" categories (see the "What are my chances" thread at the top of the forum). And your GPA is above the mean -- "Applicants who received more than one offer: GPA 3.82 (SD .15)/MCAT 35.7 (2.5)" Obviously you don't know how much research experience they had (likely 2+ years), but I think that you are in the running. The higher the MCAT of course, the better, and the better that you are able to convince them in your interviews and personal statement why you want to go into research, the better off you'll be.

 

[whiteshadodw]

thanks for the advice. i'm applying for the clinical research position anyways just to interview and try to see what they do. if its too much of a lab rat position i think i'm out. however, i just want to keep my chances open. i'll also be applying to the NIH-post bacc program i think (thanks for pointing this one out). but at the NIH do i get my own projects and get to design my own experiments, etc? orrr...???