I've been stalling on my application because the more I think about it, the more I am doubting my chances of getting into medical school.
Here's my situation:
So first of all, I am applying to the MD/PhD program, NOT just the MD program.
I decided 8 months ago to forgo a PhD and to go for the joint degree
I took my MCAT in April and got a 36O
The reason why I'm having second thoughts is because I've realized that now that I am pre-med, there are certain things that I didn't do or that I don't have that could be essential to matriculating.
So I'll start off with the good stuff first. I have a pretty high GPA (3.95) at a notoriously competitive public university. I graduated with 2 awards. One for research and another award for essentially graduating #2 out of the 400+ students in my major (biology). I have done several extracurriculars pertaining to mentoring/advising as well as tutoring/teaching at the high school and collegiate level. I think I can get very good letter of recommendations from my science professors and PIs.
So here's the bad stuff. My MCAT, although objectively good, I'm not sure if it's good enough especially for MD/PhD which is even more competitive. Despite shadowing doctors in another country, I do not have the proper paperwork to show for it. The best I can do is talk about it in my personal statement and hope that admissions officers don't think that I'm trying to lie. Even though I've done research for 3 years under 2 different research positions, I have no publications. I'm afraid admissions will think that I'm incompetent when in all honesty I just wasn't lucky enough. I hadn't realized this but apparently I need a letter of recommendation from a non-science professor. I had originally been pre-grad and only looked for science professors for letters but now realize that I've screwed myself over.
I'm starting to freak out now that the deadline is coming up. Should I decide to apply anyway, I won't be submitting my application until the end of July which can potentially be too late. Right now my options are to either apply anyway and hope for the best, or to wait another year and apply the next cycle. The only problem is that if I wait another year, I will have been 3 years out of college by the time I start school and I'm not sure if admissions is going to like that. Not only that, but the MD/PhD program is 7 years. I don't know if I'm willing to wait that long to start my career so late. I've told friends about this but I feel like they are all sugar-coating my situation which is really doing me a disservice if I end up not getting into med school. I just need brutal honesty and sound advice. It's coming down to the wire and I've never been so stressed in my life. HELP!
Here's my situation:
So first of all, I am applying to the MD/PhD program, NOT just the MD program.
I decided 8 months ago to forgo a PhD and to go for the joint degree
I took my MCAT in April and got a 36O
The reason why I'm having second thoughts is because I've realized that now that I am pre-med, there are certain things that I didn't do or that I don't have that could be essential to matriculating.
So I'll start off with the good stuff first. I have a pretty high GPA (3.95) at a notoriously competitive public university. I graduated with 2 awards. One for research and another award for essentially graduating #2 out of the 400+ students in my major (biology). I have done several extracurriculars pertaining to mentoring/advising as well as tutoring/teaching at the high school and collegiate level. I think I can get very good letter of recommendations from my science professors and PIs.
So here's the bad stuff. My MCAT, although objectively good, I'm not sure if it's good enough especially for MD/PhD which is even more competitive. Despite shadowing doctors in another country, I do not have the proper paperwork to show for it. The best I can do is talk about it in my personal statement and hope that admissions officers don't think that I'm trying to lie. Even though I've done research for 3 years under 2 different research positions, I have no publications. I'm afraid admissions will think that I'm incompetent when in all honesty I just wasn't lucky enough. I hadn't realized this but apparently I need a letter of recommendation from a non-science professor. I had originally been pre-grad and only looked for science professors for letters but now realize that I've screwed myself over.
I'm starting to freak out now that the deadline is coming up. Should I decide to apply anyway, I won't be submitting my application until the end of July which can potentially be too late. Right now my options are to either apply anyway and hope for the best, or to wait another year and apply the next cycle. The only problem is that if I wait another year, I will have been 3 years out of college by the time I start school and I'm not sure if admissions is going to like that. Not only that, but the MD/PhD program is 7 years. I don't know if I'm willing to wait that long to start my career so late. I've told friends about this but I feel like they are all sugar-coating my situation which is really doing me a disservice if I end up not getting into med school. I just need brutal honesty and sound advice. It's coming down to the wire and I've never been so stressed in my life. HELP!
