Research Schools for a Mere Mortal

[harrothere]

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Similar questions have been tossed around, but this is my specific scenario:

I want to apply to an MD only program. I don't have God-like stats, but they aren't horrible. I'm sitting on a 3.55/30 and solid credentials in all the other essential admissions areas (clinical, volunteering, shadowing, letters, etc). I have much more research experience than the average applicant, as I graduated last year and have been working full time in academic research since then (and until I matriculate).

My question: Are there any well-known research friendly/oriented MD programs out there for people without the godly GPA/MCAT combo? I'm worried because the "top ranked" schools, raking in the most research funding, ultimately have the most intimidating GPA/MCAT medians. Do any med schools with more moderate entrance statistics stick out as bastions of research?

I see that UPitt and CaseW are good options and I plan to pursue them, but is there anything else that jumps out to anyone? MCW had some great projects going on when I did a SPUR there. Cheers guys.

 

[DoctorDeMan]

Schools to look into (I'm not considering state of residency):

Univ of Alabama
UWisconsin
MCW
USC -- Keck
University of Iowa
Univ of Minnesota
BU
Einstein
Cinci
UMass
... there are obviously a ton others

Pitt and Case have MCAT medians around 35.

Honestly, unless you're going to a school focused on primary care, there should be plenty of research opportunities.

Definitely look into MCW and know that their cycle starts early and they consider date of completion important (i.e. apply early)

 

[blackbird11384]

I would add Georgetown University to your list as well (3.66 avg science GPA, 3.7 avg. cumulative GPA, avg. 32 MCAT, $190 million in NIH funding)

 

[harrothere]

Yeah, I will definitely apply early all around. UMass would be great but they only accept MA residents who have lived in-state for more than 5 years. That said: I'm a MA resident who has lived here for 1 year 🙁

Which brings me to another problem with my application: I'm a state resident of nowhere, as far as med schools are concerned 👎. A big fat state school (Minnesota, which is where I am originally from) would have been nice.

 

[DoctorDeMan]

You should still apply to the U of MN, they consider your "ties" to the state. Their secondary asks about this.

 

[harrothere]

I will definitely apply to MN. Does anyone know of other programs that integrate research into their curriculum? I like how Case has a program with an extra year devoted to research work.

 

[sarahl86]

The only other school that comes to mind is Pitt (since they have mandatory research projects for students if I remember correctly), but given your numerical stats it will be difficult to get in. Pick up the MSAR and read some descriptions of schools - it should indicate which ones require research at the very least.

Why not MD/PhD if you have so much research experience?

 

[harrothere]

Well, I have two reasons.

Firstly, from what I understand, MD/PhD much more competitive than the average MD program. For this reason I feel that I shouldn't bother applying to these programs.

Secondly, I think that MD/PhD is a convoluted and not entirely necessary road to my goals. I have worked with several researchers... some MD only, some PhD only, some MD/PhD. The title itself ends up being a wash (although the NIH often seems to favor MDs).