stanford mstp

[crimson39]

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i have an interview at stanford march 29...does anyone know why they are interviewing so late? what are the chances of getting in, because i feel like they will probably have given away all their spots.

 

[looseygoosey]

I interviewed at the first session in November. To my knowlege, from speaking with other interviewees at my date, Stanford has not given out any acceptances yet.

I'd bet that Stanford MSTP's lack of organization led to extending interviewing to late March. Good luck.

 

[Habari]

they did this last year as well. the program seems to be very disorganized in this regard, and decisions are sent out very late. though i'm sure they have some sort of shortlist composed - interviewing in march does not make outright acceptance impossible.

 

[BandGeek]

See in March. I thought the date was late as well, especially since some of the other school I have interviewed at want a yes or a no by April 15th.

 

[u2psalm40]

hey has anyone who is at stanford or interviewed there heard about how mstp works with stanford's new scholar's system? I'm guessing mstp'ers are exempt from this to an extent? ?

 

[crimson39]

what's their new scholar system?

 

[u2psalm40]

sorry I meant their new "scholarly concentrations"; kind of like a med school "major"

check it out-->
http://med.stanford.edu/md/curriculum/scholarly_concentrations/index.html

 

[sumet]

The medical scholars program is part of the new curriculum at Stanford. There are "scholarly concentrations" where medical students work with faculty mentors in an specific areas. There are a couple different options and they encourage students to take time off to do research (they encourage you to take 5 years) and you can get funding for the research.

They specifically state that MD/PHD students are not eligible for the resident scholars program, but can apply for travel grants and other funding sources.


You can learn more about it at:
http://med.stanford.edu/md/curriculum/scholarly_concentrations/

and

medscholars.stanford.edu

 

[u2psalm40]

so I think we're confusing some things here:

the Med. Scholars program has been around for awhile as a way that med students could propose and complete research projects. Stanford Med students could choose to participate (often leading to the 5 year plan) or not. In that sense, they specifically said that MSTP'ers could apply for travel grants, etc...


However, to the best of my knowledge, the *new* scholarly concentrations program involves ALL of the medical students as a part of Stanford's whole shiny new medical curriculum.

My question is how does this mesh with the MSTP program because either they don't participate or they participate in that they take their own PhD courses alongside their med courses (makes sense, right?)

I know they had an interview weekend in November... would anyone care to explain or repeat any info they got on this?

thx

 

[remedy]

If you're a Stanford MSTP you're exempt from the new scholarly concentration. Rightly so, the administration understands that getting a PhD is scholarly enough!

That said, you'd still be eligible for a traveling scholars award if you choose to do that.

 

[uproarhz]

If you're a Stanford MSTP you're exempt from the new scholarly concentration. Rightly so, the administration understands that getting a PhD is scholarly enough!

That said, you'd still be eligible for a traveling scholars award if you choose to do that.

So I am still confused about this. Do MSTP applicants still answer the question about scholarly emphasis? For example, I can see how this would be required if someone was to apply to both MD and MD/PhD program. Should we write this essay with the tone that if we don't get into MSTP this would be cool because of dadadadah? Also if we aren't really interested in straight MD can we just leave it blank? There have been a couple of opinions about this on the forum, but no definitive asnwers. I would really appreciate it if someone who knows about this comments on it.
Thanks all

 

[uproarhz]

Oh I forgot, I guess the other option would also be to modify the question so MSTP applicants would be answering the question about "how the MSTP currucilum fits you and your goals?" I will e-mail Stanford but since it is a Friday, I really doubt they would get back to me before Monday and I would really like to finish their application soon.

 

[runninresearch]

You might want to still consider answering the scholarly concentration question. Ex, say you don't get an MSTP interview but get an MD interview. There are lots of ways to get non-MSTP MD/PhD funding, so just because you start out 1st year MD-only doesn't mean you have to stay MD-only.

 

[remedy]

Yah, just answer the damn question. It takes what, 10 minutes to write a response? The Stanford MSTP program sucks ass anyway - apply MD only.

 

[uproarhz]

Yah, just answer the damn question. It takes what, 10 minutes to write a response? The Stanford MSTP program sucks ass anyway - apply MD only.

well, it's been a while since I have answered the "damn question," but I was just worndering why you are so bitter about the program! Are you currently in it, or did you decide to opt out of it, or is this just your personal impression from it?
Thanks ahead for your response.

 

[remedy]

well, it's been a while since I have answered the "damn question," but I was just worndering why you are so bitter about the program! Are you currently in it, or did you decide to opt out of it, or is this just your personal impression from it?
Thanks ahead for your response.

Nah, no bitterness. Just in a weird sarcastic mood yesterday - on a per-PI basis I would classify Stanford's basic research as #1 in the country, and an MSTPer certainly has their pick of some of the biggest names in the field (and even the smaller names are up-and-comers and will carry the torch for Stanford in the future, so you can't really go wrong no matter the lab as long as it's the right fit).

That said, too many people seem to look to StudentDoctor webpage as the end-all be-all of advice. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to contact the medical school directly to find out the answer if you're unsure about something.

 

[uproarhz]

That said, too many people seem to look to StudentDoctor webpage as the end-all be-all of advice. Sometimes it doesn't hurt to contact the medical school directly to find out the answer if you're unsure about something.

In general I would agree with your statement as we see questions ranging from "what should I do with my life" to "what MCAT do I need to get into so and so school."
That said, I don't see how that applies to my question. You made the statement that Stanford MSTP sucks and I was just curious to see what perspecitive you have for making that conclusion. And yes, you can call the schools all day long about how good or bad they are, but obviously no school is gonna put themselves down, even if they are weak in an area or two. That's why I think it is important to hear different insider perspectives, that of current or past faculty and students. The reason I asked you was because my general impression of the program is that it is pretty good, so I was kind of shocked when you said that.

If your comment was towards my earlier question of how best to answer the question, I did mention that I was going to e-mail the school, which I did. But I was asking since it was over a weekend, when the schools wouldn't get back to me, and I was eager to get the application out.

 

[tedrik]

I was also very interested to hear what negative things remedy has to say about the program. I was surprised to hear that the program wasn't so good, but what specifically is the problem?

Also, uproarhz, I submitted the Stanford secondary before I found out that MD/PhD students do not have to do the scholarly concentration. I answered the question in full, talking about how awesome it would be to supplement your thesis work with additional research in another area, possibly learning a new technique. I was worried that they would think I was stupid for answering that question and that it might make me look like I didn't research their MSTP thoroughly, but since I got an interview I guess that it didn't matter.

One more thing, if it takes you "10 minutes" to answer the "damn question," then you should have been done with all of your secondaries back in July.

 

[stillsmilin]

I was also very interested to hear what negative things remedy has to say about the program. I was surprised to hear that the program wasn't so good, but what specifically is the problem?

It may be interesting to note that on their website they refer to the "PhD-MD" program and really describe their mission to train scientists. Perhaps there is not as much of a drive towards patient-oriented /translational research and more of a focus on training scientists whose goals are informed by medicine. PhD first, MD second. Whether that's a negative depends on your career goals.

 

[uproarhz]

I was also very interested to hear what negative things remedy has to say about the program. I was surprised to hear that the program wasn't so good, but what specifically is the problem?

Also, uproarhz, I submitted the Stanford secondary before I found out that MD/PhD students do not have to do the scholarly concentration. I answered the question in full, talking about how awesome it would be to supplement your thesis work with additional research in another area, possibly learning a new technique. I was worried that they would think I was stupid for answering that question and that it might make me look like I didn't research their MSTP thoroughly, but since I got an interview I guess that it didn't matter.

One more thing, if it takes you "10 minutes" to answer the "damn question," then you should have been done with all of your secondaries back in July.

Yeah I agree that these essays don't take 10 minutes. At least not for me. To give an intelligent response you have to do searched, write a cohesive essay and edit it gazillion times, but I may be a little too perfectionist 😳

But as far as answering that question, I still answered it like "oh it would be great to do my MSTP in a school where my other colleagues are also into research and I would have a lot more opportunities for collaboration within class than if all the MDs aren't research oriented." But I don't know how they will take it, since I haven't heard anything from them yet. Then again, it hasn't been too long since I submitted it, so I don't really expect to hear anytime soon 🙁

Good luck to all, and Remedy: Cheer up man!!! 😉

 

[tedrik]

It may be interesting to note that on their website they refer to the "PhD-MD" program and really describe their mission to train scientists.

Thanks stillsmilin, that's a good observation. I can definitely see how this could be a turnoff for a lot of people.

uproarz, I think you're essay shows them that you are the type of applicant that they are looking for: someone who appreciates their focus on research training even for their MD class.

good luck guys!