Am I competitive enough?

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lumpyduster

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I just graduated in May (Chemistry BS) and will likely apply next cycle to focus my research interests a bit. My research experience is in biophysics, physical virology, and nanotechnology, which my state school doesn't really have. These fields are really what I am interested in, but that's likely because that's what I have been exposed to the most.

  • My stats:

MCAT: 35 (11, 11, 13)
GPA: 3.9 (both science and cumulative)

Research:
3 years in same lab. A first author paper in JACS, likely a second one (probably not in JACS lol) if I stay with this lab for my gap year. 1 presentation at national conference, 2 at local conferences.

Shadowing: ~150 hours

Clinical volunteering: 250 hours (combination of hospital and hospice volunteering)

Non-clinical volunteering: 200 hours Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor, 100 hours science outreach volunteering through a few college clubs

Teaching: AI for gen chem lab and intro bio. Tutor for chemistry and math for 2.5 years

Awards: nothing super prestigious - always got Dean's List, Phi Beta Kappa, won multiple awards for my research from the chemistry department, Goldwater nominee (lol that's not on my resume, I swear)

Hobbies: Hiking, swimming, programming (a lot of tinkering around with Arduinos and Raspberry Pi's), I do a lot of reading (novels mostly)

  • Gap year(s) plans:
Scribe and work in a lab. I will either be working in a lab at my state's medical school (have several upcoming interviews) or in my current lab (love the familiarity and the fact I'm in the position to publish more, but I think it would be better to move to something new).

  • Random thoughts:
I am tempted to just apply regular MD to my state school this cycle via EDP and then apply to their MSTP when I am a med student (especially if I was already working for a faculty member at this school).

The reason I discounted MD/PhD a year ago is because I didn't think I like research enough and just wanted to work with patients (and I thought if I changed my mind I could still do basic science research with just an MD - MD/PhD is a long road!), but now I think I might be interested in running my own lab one day or being involved in academic medicine and I wonder how much of an uphill battle it would be with just an MD.

Other questions - how much does school reputation matter if you want to be a professor at a medical school with a lab?

Would I even be competitive enough for places like Northwestern or Case Western? If I can only get into places with similar rankings to my state school even after a gap year or two I will probably go ahead and apply this cycle to just my state school.

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Read FAQ
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/what-are-my-chances-read-before-asking.539268/

If that doesn't answer your questions, let me know specifically what else you're concerned about.

Other questions - how much does school reputation matter if you want to be a professor at a medical school with a lab?

Not much. All the MSTPs are very strong medical schools. Your residency and fellowship will mean more. Getting those has more to do with your performance in medical school than anything else.

I have no idea why you would want to do MD then transfer to MD/PhD. Maybe you like paying a year or two of med school tuition when you don't have to. Seems like a waste to me.

Yes you are competitive enough for NWU or CWRU.
 
Sounds pretty strong. I don't know why you wouldn't put Goldwater nominee on your résumé though. Perhaps it's just my institution but you have to compete for the nomination and it's pretty cut-throat. Perhaps I'm wrong?
 
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The Goldwater nomination process is pretty difficult at my university, too. On the other hand, that isn't true everywhere, so I would rather the adcoms not be led to look for things that may have kept a nominee from being a winner.
 
You are competitive for not only NW and CWRU, but all top MSTPs.

A 1st author pub in JACS is huge. I know many people on SDN say pubs don't matter much for MSTP admissions, and it's true if you're a middle author on a 20-author paper (even if the pub is in N/C/S). But, JACS is a top chemistry journal, and being able to produce research at that quality as an undergraduate is very impressive, congratulations on that. 1st author publications in a journal like JACS are NOT a dime-a-dozen among MD/PhD applicants. Your GPA and MCAT will get your application a serious read at any top program. The attention will then turn to what MSTP admissions committees value more than anything- research. And one glance at your research experience, then at the rest of your application, should get you interviews. Go on enough interviews at top programs, and you're likely to net at least one.

Also, note that is absolutely fine to apply with one long, sustained research experience in a single lab. Don't feel that for your applications "it would be better to try something new." It would be better to stay, and publish another first-author paper. That kind of commitment and productivity is much more valuable to an admissions committee. You're saying you could apply with 4 years of research in one lab, and 2 quality 1st author pubs to show for it? MSTP committees want to see dedication to research and potential to complete the long program, and you'd sound like you could be a very successful graduate student.

If I were you, I would've planned to apply early this cycle, and broadly- but with as many top programs as interested in. But, if this is no longer possible for you, because you don't think you could complete early applications everywhere or you don't have the resources to apply to 12-15 programs, or whatever reason, then wait till next cycle. If you're in the earliest batches of completed applications, I honestly think you'd be looking at at least 1 top MSTP accepting you by this October/November.

Unless you have a specific reason for applying ED MD to one school, this is a terrible idea. Thinking about doing that and then applying MSTP internally makes you sound severely misinformed. As Neuronix said, you'd pay for 1 or 2 years of med school. You also might not get in internally. You could have a plethora of MSTP choices by going all in and applying early and broadly to MSTP programs.
 
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