Planning for MD/PhD admissions

My dream is to pursue an MD/PhD after college, but I am terrified of how intense the competition is to receive admission into these programs. I would love to attend a program like the joint one between Harvard and MIT (or other top MSTP programs) but I realize how difficult this is to actually achieve.

I am a senior in high school and will be attending NYU next year. I am well aware that I need extensive research and a high GPA, but does anyone have any specific advice on things I should be doing to make myself as competitive as possible? Is there a specific academic course I should be following (i.e. not just a standard bio major)? Any and all advice is appreciated!

You don’t need to be a bio major to enter a MD/PhD program. You can pursue a variety of undergrad majors so long as you complete your pre-med course requirements. (FYI, MD/PhD programs (including MSTPs) are not just reserved for the biomedical sciences. There are MD/PhD programs in public health, social sciences, government policy, economics, engineering, chemistry, computer science, computer informatics, material science, history of medicine–even the humanities.)

To be competitive, you need to take and do well in as many upper level–even grad level-- classes as possible in your major and related disciplines.

I’d also advise you to get a excellent grounding in mathematics and statistics–which you’ll need for your PhD work. The Harvard HST program, for example, requires 3 semesters of calc plus linear analysis for admission.

Since you don’t have much-- if any–research experiences, it’s much too soon to start thinking about a research field. Take some time to undergrad to explore a bit before committing yourself. And realize that many MD/PhD students can and do change their field of concentration after they are admitted to a MD/PhD program.

Besides a strong GPA, you’ll also need a excellent MCAT score. If your test-taking skills are weak, this will be an area you need to work on improving.

quote

[/quote]

While true, the majority are in the biomedical sciences and do expect a strong background in the field (or related field like biochem, biophysics or BME)

@WayOutWestMom Do you think it “hurts” to major in the typical sciences? I was thinking about majoring in bio and minority in math/comp sci. While my research experience is limited, I have worked in labs and loved it. While I will certainly try to explore in college, I’m going to try to start research my first semester freshman year.

It definitely does not hurt. Major matters little. Research experience, GPA, MCAT are the big 3. Then letters and ECs.

@iwannabe_Brown thank you so much for your help! Do you have any idea as to what separates the strong MD/PhD applicants from just strong MD applicants? Obviously admitted to HMS are going to have high GPA and MCAT, and I assume some research. What is it that differentiates the two groups?

Research experience and research oriented ECs. (Senior thesis, summer research internships.) A well thought out reason why a MD/PhD instead of just a MD or just a PhD. Research goals/career goals you’re able to articulate clearly.

But honestly there’s a lot of overlap, esp with some of the higher achieving MD-only applicants.

As an example, younger D has a MD/PhD type profile. (Research, pubs, summer research fellowships, a full-time job post grad as a research assistant at a top 10 med school, a well-defined research interest) She could have gone either way, but ultimately decided on a straight MD for personal reasons. She said when she was on the interview trail that she met a lot students with her kind of profile interviewing at research intensive MD programs.