- Joined
- Feb 25, 2013
- Messages
- 222
- Reaction score
- 101
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.
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)
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.
- 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:
- Random thoughts:
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.