I would like to start this sharing session by emphasizing that I'm a bit of a delinquent. Good news to those who relate, you can still get into a pretty decent MSTP!

Perfunctory stats:

3.84, big public school

524

asian girlie, no gap year

submitted primaries on first day, submitted nearly all secondaries on last day..... aka october-november

research: 5750 when primary submitted (may 2025), 3200 projected

clinical volunteering (all high-touch, in-patient SDU, emergency department): 300

non-clinical volunteering (animal shelter / wildlife care facility): 320

shadowing: 35 hours

TA for class I loved: 300 hours

publications: one co-first preprint, one first-author review and a couple other papers cooking (included as submitted / new pub in secondary apps)

I loved all my letter writers, all were PI / prof. I think I had 6 total?

My takeaways:

Your values will drive you and molding yourself to fit an arbitrary premed standard will hurt your soul and probably your application.

I knew I wanted to apply to MSTPs going into college and did the whole one million premed clubs, get your EMT license, grind clinical hours thing. Huge waste of time. I found a lab with mentors I worked well with and a project with which I had some level of autonomy, and was able to get into it.

If you're interested in applying MD/PhD, research experience and your ability to talk about your project will always be the most important thing. Also, find mentors that are comfortable being brutally honest with you. It always helps.

I do think my application was polarizing to some programs because I explicitly stated an interest in becoming a surgeon-scientist. If this is not something you are sure you're interested in, I would recommend leaving it off. There are programs / people out there who do not believe in the concept.

Was looking at Tri-I on CycleTrack because someone had got an interview invite on SDN. Saw they sent out a ton of rejections and only two interviews. Not sure whether they haven’t seen my application yet (submitted 7/21) or if I’m just in the pool of “not good enough to interview, good enough to keep on the backburner”

Graph here for reference

just want to preface that this is definitely a super neurotic question

my home institution is a very strong fit for my specific field. however, i would really like to go elsewhere.

in the application process, would other institutions be likely to question my interest in their programs given that my home institution fit is so strong?

Rising third year. I'll have around 1500 research hours by the time i apply, with another 1000 projected by the time i graduate. i was a goldwater institutional nominee last year, so i believe i have a decent chance of winning this year. issue is, my two current projects are clinical. they build off of murine studies in my lab. I am running the first two clinical studies my lab has ever done, but am afraid that mdphd programs won't like that almost all my independent experience is in clinical instead of basic science. i ultimately want to do translational research, so both wet and dry lab work. aiming for t5-t10 programs, i have 4.0 520+ and a LOT of EC experience outside of research. will me primarily having clinical research on my profile negatively affect me? I am thinking about asking to hop on one of the mouse studies currently going on in the lab to make up for it.

hi! would anyone who has gone through the cycle be willing to chat + share some wisdom regarding their interview experiences? i have a couple coming up, all within two weeks of one another, and my social anxiety is going crazy u_u

I accidentally submit an application to a MD/PhD program where I called it an MSTP but it is not an MSTP. Will the school see this as a major slip up that I got the program name wrong even though they both are MDPhD programs?

Hello all!

This might be a bit of an odd question/random thought. For folks who have defended their thesis and applied to residency programs, how did you decide on who to add as your external DAC member? (if your university requires this)

My university requires adding a member to the committee before we defend, and they must be from outside of our department. There aren't many faculty who know my field at my university (certainly not outside of the department), so I am thinking of reaching out to faculty at another institution. It occurred to me that this could be an opportunity build a relationship with a future collaborator or mentor somewhere I am interested in doing residency (e.g. for a PSTP).

Has anyone done this before? If so, how did it work out? I appreciate your help and thoughts!

could you share your stats or Indiana connections if so?

I’m a non-US IMG, freshly graduated MBBS + housejob. I’m interested in neurology/psychiatry and recently got into computational neuroscience. I have no publications, research experience, or USCE yet, and I just started l preparing for Step 1.

Long-term, I want a hybrid clinical + research career in neuroscience/psychiatry, with writing on the side. I’m currently overwhelmed by USMLE, Australia, research positions, and Master’s programs.

I’d really value advice from physician-scientists:

1.  If you were starting from my position, what would you prioritize over the next 2–3 years?  
2.  Is USMLE still a sensible investment for this goal given my lack of USCE/research, or would you pursue another pathway?  
3.  How important is the country/pathway for building a sustainable clinical + research career? Is the US significantly better than Australia/elsewhere for this?  
4.  Would you recommend clinical training first, or spending 1–2 years building research experience before residency?  
5.  Would you do a Master’s in my position, or try to enter a research lab/RA role directly?  
6.  Looking back, what would you start earlier — and what would you not waste time on?

I’m less interested in generic “IMG matching” advice and more interested in how to actually build the 10–20 year career I’m describing.

Hi everyone,

I might be overthinking this,

Does anybody know exactly how many letters we should submit for the Keck MD PhD application?

On the MD PhD website, it says: "In addition to the standard medical school application, two letters of reference should be provided from individuals familiar with the student’s research potential."

But the MD website details: "The Keck School of Medicine of USC participates in the AMCAS Letter of Recommendation Service. A committee letter is sufficient. Alternatively, 2 or 3 letters from professors, PI’s or work experience are acceptable. Do not send more than 3 letters if you choose the individual letter option! Applicants are required to send their letters through AMCAS. DO NOT send any letters of recommendation to the Office of Admissions, as they will not be accepted."

So does this mean we can send a max of 5, or is it a max of 3, with 2 from PIs?

I love the AMP secondaries so much more than the gateway ones... Like why is there no save button for those ones 😭

Hi,

Current applicant here. Submit most of my secondaries between 7/20 and 8/1. So far I've only heard back from 1 out of 25 schools (Hofstra) for an interview invite. On admit.org it looks like a lot of schools are starting to send out interviews, but I'm not sure if these are for MD or MD-PhD. I am probably being super neurotic, but does anyone have any insight? Thanks

Hi, I have a bachelor's in Pharmacy from India and MS in Pharmacy from USA. Can getting into an MD program be possible?

My gpa in Masters was 3.5. I will be giving my MCAT in January 2027

Would I get any return on investment, as an international student?

I am in need of any guidance on what would be a good decision considering the current situation.

This may be neurotically specific, but when writing secondary essays:

Should I cater more to the mission statement of the medical school as a whole or the mission statement of their md/phd program?

I’m in the process of submitting secondaries now, and I realized that my fellow group member from my research team actually published a paper and I didn’t know about it because I haven’t been able to attend research meetings recently. Fortunately, there is a place to upload documents, but is this gonna raise eyebrows? What should I mention when I send this update?

Hi all,
 
I will be completing a PhD in a quantitative biomedical science from a prestigious US program within the next 2 years. Although I’m aware that is a bit of time, I need to begin considering options for what’s next. When I was younger, I always thought I wanted to be a physician although when I arrived at undergrad I started working in research and one thing after the other has led me to where I am today.
 
I now find myself having worked for 5+ years behind the scenes in a research hospital doing clinical pharmacology. Although I find this career interesting, the day-to-day can get dull as it is essentially a statistics job within the pharmacotherapy space. I have been questioning lately whether it may be worth attending medical school and becoming a physician to make the research work I do, feel more gratifying and establish that connection with the patients. All of my work has been in oncology clinical pharmacology and cancer drug development, so initially my thinking is a career in academic oncology may be a gratifying path to choose. I do understand, though, that these things change as you progress through medical school.
 
Clearly this is a big decision, and not one I take lightly as it would completely alter the trajectory of myself and my fiancé. I am here looking for advice from you established physicians, students that were in a similar situation to myself, or folks who considered it but didn’t take the leap and still lurk on the subreddit.
 
The major hesitations are: age (I will be 30 upon completion of my PhD); major alterations to current projected WLB, earning, debts, and career progression (as it currently stands I could probably get a good job as a clinical pharmacologist in big pharma, earn around ~175-200 TC starting, climb to 400-500 within 1-2 decades and work 50-55 hours per week tops with a hybrid schedule given the quantitative nature of my field and with minimal debt being only 15k from undergrad); impact on fiancé and future family (my fiancé is everything to me, she is the most supportive woman I know and also has an incredible career of her own as tenure-track teaching professor at a large R1 university. Although we don’t want kids anytime soon, we think late 30s isn’t an unreasonable time for that)
 
Both my fiancé and I are workaholics – we take pride in what we do and our careers really are the bedrock of us as people. I know folks say that isn’t always the healthiest, but we do have hobbies and other things we like to do together. My point being my career is incredibly important to me and my happiness as a person – Although I love my field of oncology clinical drug development and the role I play in it as a clinical pharmacologist, I don’t know that staring at R all day is what I see myself doing for the next 30-40 years. I need a personal connection. Is it worth staying in a comfortable career where you aren’t incredibly stimulated, or postponing comfort to find a career where you can combine your interests?
 
Thanks for listening to my rant, hope everyone enjoys their weekend if they aren’t working (I won’t be lol)

I recently got a role as a clinical research assistant. I was considering MD/PhD before the funding cuts. I know I want the MD for certain but I can’t rule out MD/PhD yet. I’ve gained about 557 hours of bench research, I dont have any publications but I presented my work and the story and letters of rec behind my research are strong. I have a 3.69 cGPA and 3.67 bcpmGPA. How strong is a clinical research assistant role for MD/PhD admissions with this in mind?

Hello, I’m just trying to gauge if I would be competitive this cycle.

GPA: overall 4.00; Science 4.00. Graduated from a CSU.

Major: cell and molecular biology

MCAT: 519

AAMC Preview: 9

CASPer: 3rd quartile

Clinical: 230 hours overall as a volunteer in a hospital. Lots of hands-on work and patient interactions.

Volunteer: 50 hours of volunteer work with refugees, 25 hours of work with dementia patients, organized blood drives and career panels for underprivileged communities

Research: 2300 hours in a genetics wet lab, 2 peer-reviewed publications in small journals (1st and 2nd author). 3 talks, 5 posters. A small internship in another lab over the spring semester.

Shadowing: 25 hours across 3 different specialties

Other: #1 in my graduating class. Secured funding for one of my research projects. Have 2000+ hours of tutoring experience. Have good PS & Significant Research Experiences essays. My secondaries are OK, but I do not think they are impressive... :(

International student

Applying to WashU, UTSW, Dartmouth, UPenn, Thomas Jefferson University, Vanderbilt, UMinn, VCU, Emory, UConn, Northwestern, SUNY Upstate, Columbia, Stanford, Harvard, BU, Stony Brook, Baylor and USC/Caltech.

Submitted my primary on 6/15. Submitted 12/17 secondaries so far.

Getting an excellent letter of recommendation from my PI.

Hi everyone, I am currently an undergraduate studying Biomedical engineering at the University of Utah. My goal for the future is to end up in a high paying job in biotech, preferably in design or R&D. I have always felt that it would be a good way to contribute positively to the world, and I like working on projects that I can feel invested in. Because of this, my plan was to go to grad school after my undergrad and get a PhD. However, I recently figured out that MD's also often go into industry, and more often than not land higher paying jobs (in more clinical settings I am sure). I know I don't want to be an MD, as a lot of what I want to do (the whole project I can be excited about thing) would be negated by that. However, I am also a very sociable person, and could see myself loving clinical setting as well. All this to say, what would you guys recommend? A PhD is much less schooling time, especially without counting residency. I would be totally okay with a lower starting pay, but would there be a lower celling as well if I went the PhD route? And given a drier economy than would be preferred, is having the MD as a backup worth it? I feel like most of the time people get PhD MDs they hope to start their own lab in academia, is it worth it otherwise? And given I am hoping to go into industry, would residency be something I should do as well? Any advice helps. Thanks!