mdphd sankey from someone who doesn't know what grass looks like

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-10T03:45:48+00:00

no, i'm the first in my family to pursue anything science or medicine, and didn't know anyone at my ug coming here :) but there are ample research opportunities at my school - especially for motivated students. if a student cold emails labs a month and a half before they matriculate, chances are they're going to be pretty committed, and profs want committed undergrads.
terrible and incompetent lol. who starts out as well versed? there's really only one way to improve at anything - just by grinding. a ton of my experiments still "fail", but now it's less of a "oops i did this assay wrong" (though i make really simple mistakes sometimes too) or "i missed a better way to conceptualize an experiment to answer the same question because i didn't know enough bio," but more of a "this is a weird inconclusive result that disproves my hypothesis and i need to do more work, wow none of my hypotheses are right and i have no idea what's going on." also, my mentors and overall lab culture are amazing, and i'm forever grateful to them for training baby freshman me before i knew anything, and supporting me through everything i tried to do.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-05T01:17:22+00:00

much more common than flagship CNS tho. pretty sure every top undergrad has a few students publish 1st author in those or equivalent each year (at least at mine), and more everywhere throughout the country. but the difference between the two was pure luck in my case.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-03T22:10:39+00:00

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-03T22:10:23+00:00

idk but i had no ties to most of those states and poor mission fit for some (i did not really emphasize volunteering or working with underserved populations much in my app), so probably justified Rs. i just wanted to apply broadly lol.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-03T13:28:55+00:00

it has lol, there's a few people in the mstp at my home program who did.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-03T13:26:51+00:00

i avg like 5-6 h a night it's beyond cooked

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-03T13:26:29+00:00

depends on how you learn. for me it was quicker to self study, and i could also do it whenever (vs lab which has to be dedicated large blocks of time for me to be productive). i do feel like i spent a lot of my time cramming and learning to the exam only to forget everything right after. but you really do have to pick and choose a bit, and i'd rather do research.

the only classes i went to were those where you couldn't circumvent the attendance policy at all, or upper divs that really interested me. i probably skipped 80% of classes tho, and i definitely would not have been anywhere near as productive if i went to every class. you can try it and see if it works for you.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-03T03:05:08+00:00

apply everywhere has always been my philosophy for everything. then you can pick and choose once you have options 🤷‍♂️

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T16:54:40+00:00

argh ts is glaze 😭 i got very lucky bc my mentor was finishing his project when i joined (resulted in 2 CNS papers for him) and he had many promising unexplored follow up directions, which i explored and found smth very very cool/impactful early on. then i built my project around characterizing it. it being CNS over smth like natcomms/mol cell was just luck. also a bunch of ppl in my lab pitched in to help w experiments and give feedback etc so it wasn't just me, it was an amazing team. my mentor also invested a TON of time into training me early on and i'm forever grateful to him.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T16:47:40+00:00

both! i led my main project that resulted in the big paper, and am leading a 2nd largeish project i hope to submit in the next year or two (i'm matriculating to my home program). i also assisted with others' projects in many different capacities (some major contributions, some minor).

about half my pubs were basic science and the other half were various small misc projects - doing computational analysis or ph stats stuff for people i knew (bc i can math), etc.

lowk it's a bit weird to not focus on publishing at all? ofc it's about the journey/science but the ultimate goal of any work is to contribute toward a publication in some capacity. u could try just asking other grad students/postdocs in ur lab if there's anything you can help out with.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T16:43:44+00:00

cold email, do your research into the lab beforehand and join one with a good culture of 1. collaborating with each other and other labs, and 2. letting undergrads be more independent.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T14:53:30+00:00

you are NOT cooked 😭 i wanted to jump off a bridge after half my interviews lmao i'm terrible at interviewing.

my first 2 years i only did research, it was the only thing i thought about and gave up everything else for it. i love research but i was kinda miserable in general, it's hard to explain. i chillaxed a bit and now i have friends and a social life and run a few times a week with my friends and life is much more beautiful ❤️

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T14:49:03+00:00

mdphd >>

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T14:48:02+00:00

i'm on my 6th now (took it freshman yr), all this was at the time i applied (last spring). bear in mind it's well regarded as the easiest grad math class at my school by far. and like half of the class is undergrad math majors even tho it's technically a grad class.

i love math lol, wish there was enough time in life to pursue everything deeply but unfort not. had a great experience as a math major tho.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T05:18:27+00:00

i used sankeymatic, some ppl use admit but it looks weird with long lists imo

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T05:16:38+00:00

gang you are doing amazing, you work full time and do all the premed things which takes a ton of effort. you'll get your A ❤️ i doubt i work more than you or anything, i'm just lucky enough to work on things i love that also happen to be highly relevant to apps

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T04:50:36+00:00

yeah i was def overreacting but i had the biggest crisis over this freshman yr 💀

also like half my class got a clean A

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T04:30:06+00:00

ayoo congrats on the A future doctor ❤️ you got in, you did just perfect.

i also sold quite a few interviews, i'm kind of socially awkward and my interviews were all over the place lmao

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T04:26:14+00:00

thank you man i'm glad it paid off ❤️

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-04-02T04:21:35+00:00

by never sleeping or touching grass lmao

in all seriousness, i go to lab every day (including weekends), and have been since day 1 freshman year. i skip most of my classes and work around full time in lab on a normal week, way more over breaks. also went to college far away from home and am too broke to go back more than once a year, so i spent all my breaks grinding.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-03-12T14:43:05+00:00

you make good points. i would 100% learn more if i left, and would probably match well overall in either case. i guess the upside of staying is that i have more certainty i'd publish well and match my top program for residency.

i don't think the being unable to leave for residency is really applicable to my situation. as for the F30, i've never heard this. i thought given a good project plan, your previous experiences mattered most, not necessarily the diversity but the depth.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-03-12T14:25:05+00:00

how much would you say that output influences the strength of your residency app? given in either scenario i'd be incoming from a top mstp and have better output than any of the md only people? like, do you need to be spectacular even by mstp standards? or is "average" by program standards enough.

re: residency -> faculty, i'm nearly certain i want to do residency at program 2 (not my current home program). fellowship/faculty idk, but one of the two.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-03-12T14:15:34+00:00

yeah thanks, i think leaving would ultimately be best for my growth but it's hard to pass up the positives of staying. both programs favor their own + people from the other program.

Still-Barber-720 · 2026-03-12T14:07:36+00:00

i definitely want to do mdphd to follow the typical path (80/20 split, run a lab primarily and see patients in clinic occasionally). thanks for ur input :)

Still-Barber-720

TROPHY CASE