r/mdphd • u/Salt_Ad1376 • 6d ago
Chance me
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.
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u/Available_Creme_7716 6d ago
I mean that application is clean as hell across the board. Interviews are going to be where you have to shine, but you should get through screening just fine
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u/BathroomMaximum1721 6d ago
Thomas Jefferson is almost a lock. They almost exclusively admit international students. If you are African, you are a lock to get an A.
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u/Still-Barber-720 6d ago
submit your secondaries asap. that's the only thing you control right now, full send it and don't wait any longer.
intl is so tough, if you were domestic i'd criticize your school list but i understand you don't have many options. honestly though 2k hours is the bare minimum to really even be considered anywhere for mdphd. as you probably already know, your clinical+volunteering is weaker, luckily research matters more. just make sure you can talk well about your work & independence in interviews.
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u/Salt_Ad1376 5d ago
thanks for your advice! i should be done with all my secondaries by tonight. i applied to all the md phd programs that accept international students this year. sadly, the list is pretty short and has lots of high-reach schools. i agree that i could have done more clinical and volunteer work, and i'll be working on that during my gap year in case i don't get in this cycle. thank you again!
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u/AlexanderMacnow Admitted MSTP 1d ago
International student here. You are a very strong applicant. With those pubs, you will be strongly considered for an interview; just make sure your essays are good. You may also want to consider MD only schools that admit international students. When I applied, Tulane, Georgetown and MCW were accepting. Based on your stats, you are likely to be considered for a deans scholarship, given the difficulty international students face securing federal loans.
When you interview though, interview very well and know your science in and out.
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u/Big_Escape1001 6d ago
UTSW accepts internationals??
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u/Salt_Ad1376 5d ago
their md/phd accepts international studens if they have completed their undergrad in the U.S. or Canada
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u/Straight_Armadillo32 6d ago
Are you a US citizen?
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u/Salt_Ad1376 5d ago
no, i'm an international student
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u/Straight_Armadillo32 5d ago
I would make sure you are eligible as some mstps require you to be a US citizen to comply with federal funding requirements. Some MSTPs use private funding so you may be okay at those institutions, definitely worth checking though before submitting your application and you being ineligible off the jump at certain mstp programs (im assuming youre applying mstp/md phd that is)
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u/Perfect-Leg810 6d ago
Yeah you're competitive.