MSTP Chances and building a school list

[medicscientist]

Hi all,

So I am definitely set on applying to MSTP programs this summer, and just wanted your thoughts on which schools would be good match and reach schools for me to apply. My stats/important experiences are:

GPA: 3.9

MCAT: Will take in May (37 on latest AMCAS practice test, still studying)

Research: Currently 2 years + 1 summer in same lab (I plan to spend another year and summer in same lab), funded fellowship, 2 local poster presentations, 2 local talks, will present poster at international conference, accepted honors thesis project, currently writing small paper (will be 1st author) that will go to mediocre journal probably this summer, most likely second author on paper with post-doc sometime next year (probably not before interview). Working on getting a second lab position for this summer and next year to learn a new field while concurrently staying in former lab.

Medical experience: summer shadowing, hospital volunteering

Other notable ECs: service fellowship, president of tutoring club, journal clubs, student advising, others.

LORs: PI (should be good, hopefully great), Faculty Advisor/Professor for a bio course (should be great), Professor for lab course/faculty member I TA for (should be great), another professor I TA's for (should be great), might add another.

Background: First generation college attendee and low-income household growing-up, NOT URM (not sure if this affects my application).

According to the sticky I should be excellent in GPA and MCAT (if all goes well) and okay in research (although I am very good at talking about my research and feel very comfortable with it.)

If you'd like additional info just ask. I'm not quite sure which schools would be good matches for me. I want to apply to around 15 fully funded MSTP programs (good mix of match/(safety) and some reaches).

Thanks!

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[debateg]

You're competitive at most top programs. That by no means guarantees admission into a top program, but it means that if you apply to a good range of schools, you'll get in somewhere. Congrats. Choosing a school list is difficult to do since there are so many good ones, but I think for a competitive applicant, geography and MD/PhD class size (bigger = better IMHO) can be big differentiators.

 

[medicscientist]

You're competitive at most top programs. That by no means guarantees admission into a top program, but it means that if you apply to a good range of schools, you'll get in somewhere. Congrats. Choosing a school list is difficult to do since there are so many good ones, but I think for a competitive applicant, geography and MD/PhD class size (bigger = better IMHO) can be big differentiators.

Thanks for the input! I'm not really bound anywhere geographically, but I prefer the East coast. Why do you think bigger class size is better?

 

[latebutterflu]

Thanks for the input! I'm not really bound anywhere geographically, but I prefer the East coast. Why do you think bigger class size is better?

I will be starting this summer, so haven't matriculated yet, but my thoughts: With a larger class size, there will be an MSTP community. There will likely be established events like retreats, MSTP rounds, dinners, etc. People you know and are probably close with will still be around once the rest of your MD class graduates while you are still in lab. A larger class size also means that the MSTP is probably well-established at the medical school and so you will be less likely to run into issues trying to merge the medical school/graduate school sides because many students have already gone through the process.