Why? rejected from UNC MD/PHD program

[ncmatt]

TGPA: 3.6+
MCAT: TBA- 1-2 weeks time
Research Experience: 4+ years

AMCAS submitted 09/21

Secondaries received as of 10/03

1. ECU - MD
2. EMORY (MD/PHD)
3. UMDNJ (MD/PHD)
4. RWJMS (MD/PHD)
5. FIU (MD/PHD)

I received a physical letter via mail that I was rejected from UNC MD/PHD program. This seems strange and unfair that I didn't even have a chance to do a secondary for that dual program.

I'll call on MONDAY to find out, but that just seems so unfair and terrible. My research experience is through the roof (even though it was in analytical and not in biomedical) --> 2 publications in undergrad and possibly more. Currently working in lab and applying to med school.


Do any of you guys have any idea why this happened? Could it be because I submitted AMCAS in September and not earlier??? AHHH i'm so depressed!!! UNC was my first CHOICE. AHH😡

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[chessodoc]

Average GPA
No MCAT score
Late Application
2-3 MD/PhD spots per school on average
Also, the journals are important.

FIU has an MD/PhD program? you might wanna check into that again.

PS: Sorry for the rather brutal breakdown ^

 

[ncmatt]

2-3 MD/PhD spots per school on average
^

Hey is that true about 2-3 md/phd spots per school on average???
Also will this affect my chances at just MD?

 

[chessodoc]

Most schools have 2-4 in my knowledge. There are some exceptions however, UPENN has almost 20 spots, Harvard 12.

If you get rejected from MD PhD at some schools you get rejected form MD as well, others consider you for MD, so it really depends on the school.

 

[footballrules]

TGPA: 3.6+
MCAT: TBA- 1-2 weeks time
Research Experience: 4+ years

AMCAS submitted 09/21

Secondaries received as of 10/03

1. ECU - MD
2. EMORY (MD/PHD)
3. UMDNJ (MD/PHD)
4. RWJMS (MD/PHD)
5. FIU (MD/PHD)

I received a physical letter via mail that I was rejected from UNC MD/PHD program. This seems strange and unfair that I didn't even have a chance to do a secondary for that dual program.

I'll call on MONDAY to find out, but that just seems so unfair and terrible. My research experience is through the roof (even though it was in analytical and not in biomedical) --> 2 publications in undergrad and possibly more. Currently working in lab and applying to med school.


Do any of you guys have any idea why this happened? Could it be because I submitted AMCAS in September and not earlier??? AHHH i'm so depressed!!! UNC was my first CHOICE. AHH😡

A 3.6 is low for an MD/PhD application. Sorry.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Also, from your thread in the WAMC forum, you didn't mention your first MCAT was a 26L. In order to be competitive, you needed at LEAST a 7-8 point jump, and those are just really, really rare. Combined with just a so-so GPA and a fairly late application, it looks like the school decided not to hold their breath for a one-in-a-hundred MCAT jump from you.

Sorry, but I don't really see anything unfair about their decision. Your numbers and experience make you extremely competitive for a bunch of straigh PhD programs, but that 1st MCAT killed you.

 

[135892]

Also, from your thread in the WAMC forum, you didn't mention your first MCAT was a 26L. In order to be competitive, you needed at LEAST a 7-8 point jump, and those are just really, really rare. Combined with just a so-so GPA and a fairly late application, it looks like the school decided not to hold their breath for a one-in-a-hundred MCAT jump from you.

Sorry, but I don't really see anything unfair about their decision. Your numbers and experience make you extremely competitive for a bunch of straigh PhD programs, but that 1st MCAT killed you.

Wait, so the OP had a 26 MCAT?? With that MCAT (even if you did retake it), and that averge to less then average GPA, you were a longshot for MD/PhD at UNC.

 

[engineeredout]

If you really feel that they shoudl have waited for your MCAT then you can call the admissions office and tell them. Touro-NY sent me an e-mail rejecting me before they recieved my MCAT. I called them up and asked why, turned out it was an e-mail glitch and I was never supposed to get rejected (yet)

 

[URHere]

It was most likely the combination of your GPA and your first MCAT score that killed your application at UNC. While MD/PhD programs do place a lot of emphasis on research, most schools require students to meet the MD program standards for admission before they are even allowed to interview or accept students to the MD/PhD program. To be honest, an MCAT score below a 30 is low even for MD-only programs, and the average GPA doesn't help at all to balance that out.

I would say that you wait to see what your new MCAT score is before you decide how to proceed on this. Unless you have a dramatic increase (most MD/PhD programs want high 35+ MCAT scores, and your score may have to be even higher to balance out your poor first attempt), it really isn't worth arguing the rejection.

 

[mterp45]

Wait, so the OP had a 26 MCAT?? With that MCAT (even if you did retake it), and that averge to less then average GPA, you were a longshot for MD/PhD at UNC.

Well, the OP paid money to apply and deserved respectable consideration from UNC's admissions committee. For them to reject him without even waiting for an MCAT score seems a bit unfair. Hey OP did you check the school's MCAT policy? some school do not wait for a second score and evaluate you immediately with the scores that you have at the time of the application. Maybe that's what happened. You got evaluated with the 26.

 

[stixx]

2-3 MD/PhD spots per school on average

I would bet this is it.

They have probably already received a dozen or so credible applicants for these positions by now and have no need to consider more. Even though it is somewhat disheartening for them to evaluate your application when you had indicated you took another MCAT on AMCAS, I think they did you a favour by letting you down now rather than later.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I would bet this is it.

They have probably already received a dozen or so credible applicants for these positions by now and have no need to consider more. Even though it is somewhat disheartening for them to evaluate your application when you had indicated you took another MCAT on AMCAS, I think they did you a favour by letting you down now rather than later.

Depends, of course. If he somehow turned that 26 into a 35, then I'm sure he won't see it as a "favor."

Just give them a call at 8:00AM tomorrow morning and find out if there's any way for them to wait until you get your new MCAT score in to fully evaluate you. The answer may be no, but you'll feel a lot better a month from now knowing you didn't leave this stone unturned.

 

[ncmatt]

Depends, of course. If he somehow turned that 26 into a 35, then I'm sure he won't see it as a "favor."

Just give them a call at 8:00AM tomorrow morning and find out if there's any way for them to wait until you get your new MCAT score in to fully evaluate you. The answer may be no, but you'll feel a lot better a month from now knowing you didn't leave this stone unturned.

Thanks everybody. You all have been very helpful. Tomorrow I will give them a call and find out what happened.

Again thanks for all ur help!!!

 

[HumidBeing]

Even though that early rejection may have been a big letdown for you, if they didn't consider your primary application to be competitive with others they are considering, it was actually more kind of them to reject you early. It saves you the suspense, expense, and time of submitting a fruitless secondary, and is nicer than just never responding and leaving you in limbo.

 

[stixx]

Depends, of course. If he somehow turned that 26 into a 35, then I'm sure he won't see it as a "favor."

Just give them a call at 8:00AM tomorrow morning and find out if there's any way for them to wait until you get your new MCAT score in to fully evaluate you. The answer may be no, but you'll feel a lot better a month from now knowing you didn't leave this stone unturned.

Well I was more thinking they may just have considered their MD/PHD program to be filled for the year. Especially if the dual program adcom is seperate and smaller/meets less often the MD adcom. Even if he got a 45, he may not have been considered fully. A pre-secondary rejection within a couple weeks strikes me as automatic.

Though calling is a good idea of course in case it was a mistake.

 

[135892]

Thanks everybody. You all have been very helpful. Tomorrow I will give them a call and find out what happened.

Again thanks for all ur help!!!

Good luck! Hopefully you'll get accepted somewhere, even if it doesn't happen to be UNC.