Pre-application tours MD/PhD

[futuremdphd2026]

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What is the best way to go about reaching out to schools/programs before applying? I’d like to visit a couple of my top schools and talk to someone to get my name out there. Who is the best person to contact and how should I go about it?

 

[Lifeblood_20]

Do you have any specific questions about their program that you can’t find on their websites, or do you just want to bother busy people just to say hi?

 

[futuremdphd2026]

Do you have any specific questions about their program that you can’t find on their websites, or do you just want to bother busy people just to say hi?

Of course I would have some program-specific questions, but I had also heard that it’s good to put yourself on the radar of potential faculty advisors/PIs.

 

[raisinbrain]

Though email is sooo much more convenient for everyone involved, including PDs and PIs. And you.

If it’s the rare type of program/institution where you get admitted and already have a lab picked out (again, much more rare in MSTP than in straight PhD because of the two year lag), then getting on a PIs radar is going to mean showing interest in their work, etc.

 

[p0wder]

I am visiting a city (for other reasons) with a school that I am interested in applying to this upcoming cycle as well and had the same question.

I'm obviously not trying to "bother busy people just to say hi," but I'm not sure that I'll have access to the school's facilities without reaching out to the program's secretary and/or director first. I'm definitely going to walk around the campus, but I'm not sure if I should leave it at...

 

[Fencer]

Send a brief email to the program coordinator and ask if you could meet with a student in your area of interest... Every year, we get at least a dozen of these requests.