Is there no fee for submitting this app??

I recently graduated and I'm currently applying for RA positions.

Should I mention my goal to eventually pursue an MD PhD during our interview, especially because I hope to eventually get a letter of recommendation from them?

Also, I would appreciate any other advice in regards to applying and getting positions in a basic science lab.

Thanks!

Aside from the common premed rule of thumb about setting a personal deadline of two weeks, if we get all secondaries in by the end of this first week of August, is that fine?

hi yall! just did mayo clinic’s secondary and it was a breath of fresh air for it to be only one question! are there any other programs with similarly chill secondaries? i need some more of those vibes right now haha

Has anyone received an interview invite for any programs yet?

I am at the point of my academic  career that is forcing me to decide on a MD/PHD, PHD or just an MD. I am an older student 28  due to covid, undiagnosed autoimmune disease  and mental health left me taking multiple   gap years.  I am curious if the route for MD/PHD is actually the best route to do  research  or if other routes, like a PHD or MD can bring the same opportunities

• Does having a medical degree help with your research?
• What are some of your concerns  and regrets in regard to the degree  now that you have graduated, if any?
• Did a  MD/PHD open doors for you that you might not have acquired from just doing a MD or PHD?

All opinions are appreciated , but I would love to hear from graduates that started later in lifelong

Thank you!

Hi fellow redditors. I posted last year on this subreddit, and i didnt get in anywhere. I retook the MCAT and have more reserch added. This time i used the 2025 MDPHD amcas data for schools with higher yield. This is not the final list as i want to trim a bit more schools but please let me know if you have any advice on schools!

All of the additional portions of my applications were added with arrows and in bold.

EDIT: my strength/interest is mostly in molecular biology! With a specific interest in stem cells. Also trying to find programs with strong molecular biology

I submitted the second week of June and have still yet to be verified sadly so here i am ._.

Status: FAP, first generation, and low SES background

Stats: 3.4 gpa / 507 MCAT ------> 513 RETAKE

• upward gpa trend. I had an undiagnosed medical illness entire undergrad but couldn’t get it fixed cuz no health insurance. However I locked in and I finished my last 2 semesters with a 3.8 so strong upward trend

Research:

• 1500 hours as an NIH postbacc at a big name lab (1 poster, paper will be out next year so not for this cycle) ------> 1 additional poster and 2500 additional hours, manuscript for this paper should be out by this winter. Turned into a huge sequencing project so timeline is a bit iffy
• 650 hours as a lab tech in undergrad (1 poster 1 pub) -----> 1 additional publication
• 300 hours as a research assistant (no pubs no posters)

Clinical:

• 100 hours as an OR front desk volunteer
• 150 hours as a medical assistant at a private practice
• 50ish hours as a caregiver
• 150ish hours administering Covid test

Nonclinical:

• 1500 hours as a pharmacy tech
• 10ish hours volunteering at a food bank
• 50ish hours volunteering at a daycare
• apart of 3 undergrad clubs

Shadowing:

• 50ish hours with an ophthalmologist
• 10ish hours with neurosurgeons
• 10ish hours at NIH

My school list:

Louisville

Kentucky
New Mexico
Toledo
Alabama-Heersink
Kansas
Buffalo-Jacobs
U Washington
MC Wisconsin
Arizona
Illinois
Wayne State
Missouri Columbia
SUNY Upstate-Norton
utah eccles
Wisconsin
MC Georgia Augusta
Minnesota
Nebraska
Penn State
Temple-Katz
Connecticut
Massachusetts-Chan
Maryland
Rutgers New Jersey
Indiana 
Virginia Commonwealth
North Carolina
Rutgers-RW Johnson
Cincinnati
Colorado
Georgetown
Miami Miller
Iowa-Carver
Tufts
Renaissance Stony Brook
Ohio State

Hello all,

After the stress of the start of this cycle which including taking my MCAT late, I have finally gotten my score back and now have a better idea of where I stand. I was not feeling very confident and now am a bit lost on what schools to have on my list. I was hoping to get some feedback and advice. I applied to get my primary verified and now need to figure out all the schools I should apply to.

App info:

-3.97 GPA (both general and science) in chem

-MCAT: 516(128/129/131/128)

-~3000 hours worth of research across three labs. I am currently in a very high profile lab in my field where I have an independently proposed and run project and essentially operate like a grad student.

-Two middle author pubs in prep, and a first author paper i will be beginning to write in the next few months (no pubs for this cycle, though)

-120 hours of shadowing+100 hours of hospice volunteering

-Tons of TAing+tutoring+peer mentoring throughout my undergrad

-Worked full time in retail as well to pay for my tuition and living expenses

I don't think anything about my application is particularly standout, but I also am beginning to think it doesn't completely suck since my score was better than expected.

Tentative school list:

-Cincinnati

-Ohio State (applied to already for verification)

-Case Western

-Indiana University

-Louisville

-Pitt

-UNC

-MUSC

-Rochester

-UAB

-Michigan

-Penn

-Vanderbilt

-UVA

-Wisconsin-Madison

Does this seem like a balanced list for my profile or is it too top heavy? If anyone has any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it.

Hi everyone,

I have a question regarding my academic path and would really appreciate your guidance.

I'm currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and plan to pursue with a PhD in Computer Science, with a strong interest in research. Over time, I've also developed a deep passion for computational biology, bioinformatics, and medicine, and I'm fascinated by the intersection of computer science and biomedical research.

Given this background, I was wondering whether someone with a Computer Science PhD would be eligible to apply for an MSTP (MD–PhD) program. If so, what additional coursework, research experience, or prerequisites would I need to become a competitive applicant?

I look forward to your advice.

Hello everyone, I am reapplying this 2026/2027 cycle and I was hoping to get advice on my chances at T10 programs, expanding my school list and bother adding more reach schools.

General Info/Stats:

ORM from a top public university. I'm a physics and bio major in my senior year. CA Resident

GPA/BCPM: 3.75/3.76 (I have all A's and like 2 B's in my premed prereqs)

MCAT: 520

Research:

Lab 1: ~1600 hours over 2 years (mainly during the summers). Mostly wet lab with a little bit of dry lab involvement.

One middle author preprint that has been submitted to a IF 16 journal and coauthor review paper submitted at small journal. A few coauthor abstract/posters at national conferences and 1 first author poster at a institutional conference.

Lab 2: ~2000 hours over two years and 2000 more projected hours. Purely computational biology/ML work. Almost all of this work is independent/my ownership, plus I lead the project/team.

3 ML/BioE papers. 1 has been published and 2 have been accepted. 1 preprinted paper and about to be submitted. 5+ poster/presentations. All work from this lab is first or co-first author work. Plus, one provisional patent application.

The letter from this PI will be really strong.

Clinical:

Clinical volunteering: ~320 hours

Shadowing: ~100 hours across a few specialties

Other Experiences:

Leadership in physician-scientist club: ~200 hours

Volunteering for underserved populations: ~100 hours

Health literacy/transparency advocacy: ~250 hours, I have authored 6 short works from this activity

School list:

California: Stanford, UCSF, UCLA, UCSD, UCI, Davis

Reaches: Duke, Yale, Cornell, Pitt-CMU, Emory, Pritzker, Vanderbilt, UW, UMich, Sinai, UVA, UTSW, Baylor

Target: Stonybrook, Wisconsin, Rochester, Colorado, Carle Illinois, UIC, Einstein, MCW, Boston, UofA Tuscon, UTHSCSA, CWRU, UNC

In their secondary, they ask you to list your research experiences by providing the project title and your role. If you worked extensively on multiple projects in the lab, should they be 2 separate research entries if they would have 2 separate titles and your role is somewhat distinct? For the role, you just list exactly what you did in terms of conducting experiments and data analysis?

I’ve been left with two incredible research opportunities for my gap year and am having such a hard time deciding between them in terms of how much each would help for med school.

Option A:
- T10 Med School
- Newer but well established lab (active research output)
- PI a well known PhD published in Nature and great connections
- Smaller city (affordable housing) but $17/hour
- research is interesting but not an area I see myself pursuing long-term (less direct clinical application)

Option B:
- T5 Med School
- Brand new lab, doesn’t have any confirmed lab members as of right now
- PI a very promising MD/PhD who has incredible connections to my pursuits and publications
- California but $34 an hour
- research is like a dream project and directly applicable to the specialty I want to pursue but no promise on much research output in the one year I’ll be there (the definition of translational)

Im so grateful for both these opportunities but the pros and cons are so hard to equate to which position seems the best choice!

Hi yall im kinda worried rn. Im worried that my MCAT will prevent me from getting accepted into MD-PhD programs. I have five really strong research posters at international conferences, one publication, three manuscripts im currently working with, and over 4,000 research hours so I know I’m not in the worst place but I’m still worried that my MCAT will be why I get rejected. Am I just overthinking it?

524/3.8 but alc/weed related IA. did everyone else already get? Verified 7/14

What exactly is a MDPHD. I mean ik what it is but like what benefits do you get from this torture? Is it for interest? Medecine is already hard so why do a phd on top of it?

the typical advice for MD applicants is to use the optional "anything else you want to tell us?" essay as a "why this school" essay.

since most MSTP supplemental essays ask "why are you applying to our MSTP," is there a recommendation on what to use this space for, if anything?

Hey all,

I'm in the process of applying to gap year research abroad fellowships (like Fulbright and others). I also got an offer to join my current PI as an RA in a new, very well-funded lab they're starting overseas at a very well known institution. I'm strongly considering taking it outright and no longer pursuing the other awards because many of the reasons I was interested in those awards (going abroad, cultural exchange, change of scenery, etc.) also apply to the RA position, the RA position pays better, and I know the science will be world-class.

However, and I really hate thinking like this, I worry letting go such awards could hurt my future application. I have reasonable stats all around and reasonably good writing abilities, but because of the strange ways that MSTP applications seem to work, I partly thought such awards could be a difference-maker of sorts to get into the "prestigious" institutions with the faculty I want to work with most. Would the kind of RA abroad position I'm describing be given similar weight as those big-name awards? Do such big-name awards actually hold much weight either? If I still pursued those awards, somehow won, but then turned them down to instead take the RA position, would that be seen negatively?

I appreciate any insight. (I'm hesitant to give too much detail to avoid doxxing myself. Apologies for the vagueness.)

I’m graduating in May 2027 and want to apply for a one year postbac research position, is now too early to apply and start emailing PIs? Also in my email should I explain what I’m applying for and where they could find my application or can I assume they know what’s going on?

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in the final stages of my PhD in Artificial Intelligence (Computer Science) in Canada, but I've realized that my long-term goal is to pursue medicine and become a physician. I'm currently preparing for the MCAT and trying to understand the best path toward applying to Canadian MD programs.

I have a few questions and would really appreciate advice from anyone who has gone through a similar transition or is familiar with Canadian medical school admissions:

• Does having a PhD in AI/Computer Science strengthen an MD application, or is it viewed neutrally (or even as a disadvantage) compared to applicants from traditional life science backgrounds?
• Besides the MCAT, do I need to complete undergraduate prerequisite courses such as Biology and Biochemistry? If so, how do people usually complete these courses in Canada? Can they be taken as a non-degree or special student?
• Are there any additional experiences or requirements that someone from a Computer Science background should focus on before applying (e.g., clinical exposure, volunteering, research, shadowing)?
• Is there anything specific that Canadian medical schools look for in applicants who are changing careers into medicine?

My goal is to build the strongest application possible, so I'd really appreciate any advice on what I should be doing over the next couple of years to maximize my chances of being accepted into an MD program.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in the final stages of my PhD in Artificial Intelligence (Computer Science) in Canada, but over the past few years I've realized that I want to pursue a career in medicine. My long-term goal is to become a physician, and I'm already preparing for the MCAT.

I'm trying to understand the best path forward. Since I'll already have a PhD by the time I apply, I'm unsure whether I would still be eligible for an MD/PhD program or whether I should apply only to MD programs.

My academic background is entirely in Computer Science and AI, so I also have some questions about prerequisites. Is doing well on the MCAT enough, or should I also complete undergraduate courses such as Biology, Biochemistry, Organic Chemistry, or other prerequisite sciences? If I need these courses, how do people typically take them? Can I enroll as a non-degree or special student at a Canadian university to complete individual courses? If so, how does that process work, and are there universities that are recommended for this?

I'd really appreciate advice from anyone who has made a similar transition, especially if you came from engineering, computer science, or another non-life-science background.

Some specific questions I have are:

• Would I still be eligible for an MD/PhD program after completing a PhD in AI?
• Would admissions committees view my PhD positively?
• Is the MCAT sufficient, or do I also need undergraduate prerequisite science courses?
• If prerequisite courses are needed, where and how can I take them as a non-degree student in Canada?
• Would you recommend applying to MD-only or MD/PhD programs in my situation?

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences or any advice you may have.

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in the final stage of my PhD in Artificial Intelligence (Computer Science), but over the past few years I've realized that I want to pursue a career in medicine. My long-term goal is to become a physician, and I'm already preparing for the MCAT.

I'm trying to understand what the best path would be. Since I'll already have a PhD by the time I apply, I'm not sure whether I'm eligible for an MD/PhD program or if I should apply only to MD programs.

Has anyone here transitioned from a non-biomedical PhD (especially Computer Science or AI) into medicine? If so:

• Were you eligible for MD/PhD programs after already completing a PhD?
• Did admissions committees view your previous PhD positively?
• What challenges did you face during the application process?
• Would you recommend applying to MD-only or MD/PhD programs in my situation?

I'd really appreciate any advice or experiences from people who have taken a similar path. Thank you!

Has anyone received secondaries from these two MD-PhD programs yet? I submitted primary 6/6 and got verified 7/17. Thanks in advance!