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I'm trying to finalize my list of MD/PhD programs to apply to this year and I'm having some trouble. My stats are okay for most MD/PhD programs but I don't think I'm a spectacular candidate. I'm most worried about my MCAT score and the fact that my graduate interests are in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (which is a little more niche than Immunology or Neuroscience).
My stats:
A top 5 public university
Graduated with BS in Computational Biology (minors: Chemistry & Computer Science)
3.95 GPA (both science and cumulative)
35 MCAT
100 hrs shadowing
40 hrs clinical volunteering
500 hrs important non-clinical volunteering
2 publications (1 first author in medium-impact journal)
1 peer-review poster publication at national conference
2 short term summer labs, 2 year long labs, currently working full-time as a research tech
Studied abroad (and in general have a lot of unique life experiences)
Intercollegiate athlete
Relatively good at interviews (I hope!)
My current list is:
Stanford
UCSD
UCSF
UC Denver
UChicago
UMass
UMinnesota
WashU
Albert Einstein
Columbia
Tri-I
NYU
UNC
Pitt/CMU
Vanderbilt
UW
Wisconsin
Mt. Sinai
I only want to apply to 15 but I'm afraid my list is too top heavy. I've already nixed even more competitive schools that I realize I have less interest in like Johns Hopkins, UPenn, Yale, and UMich. I'm keeping UW, Stanford, and UCSF on as schools that I'd love to go to although I realize I might not be competitive for. I would also love to live in a big city (or nearby). Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!
My stats:
A top 5 public university
Graduated with BS in Computational Biology (minors: Chemistry & Computer Science)
3.95 GPA (both science and cumulative)
35 MCAT
100 hrs shadowing
40 hrs clinical volunteering
500 hrs important non-clinical volunteering
2 publications (1 first author in medium-impact journal)
1 peer-review poster publication at national conference
2 short term summer labs, 2 year long labs, currently working full-time as a research tech
Studied abroad (and in general have a lot of unique life experiences)
Intercollegiate athlete
Relatively good at interviews (I hope!)
My current list is:
Stanford
UCSD
UCSF
UC Denver
UChicago
UMass
UMinnesota
WashU
Albert Einstein
Columbia
Tri-I
NYU
UNC
Pitt/CMU
Vanderbilt
UW
Wisconsin
Mt. Sinai
I only want to apply to 15 but I'm afraid my list is too top heavy. I've already nixed even more competitive schools that I realize I have less interest in like Johns Hopkins, UPenn, Yale, and UMich. I'm keeping UW, Stanford, and UCSF on as schools that I'd love to go to although I realize I might not be competitive for. I would also love to live in a big city (or nearby). Any help or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!
