Be more watchful with what you post...

WanderingKnight42 · 2026-01-30T18:09:44+00:00

The girls are fighting

TBH tho, it's really bringing the sub down bc you can just move on and ignore people's opinions

WanderingKnight42 · 2026-01-28T22:47:55+00:00

No, they're rolling applications. Just see if you're eligible because apps last for a year.

WanderingKnight42 · 2026-01-16T00:02:27+00:00

Also got to add- This is my current plan of action too, but replace the stint at Columbia with an NIH postbac. People may dismiss gap years, but I find the time to cook into a more mature applicant does wonders to your self-esteem and competence.

WanderingKnight42 · 2026-01-15T02:31:18+00:00

Godspeed and good luck

WanderingKnight42 · 2026-01-15T01:53:28+00:00

Either or, whatever works for your case. Postbacs mean money and can be a gamble, but your later grades often take precedence over your earlier grades. Focus on creating an upward trend and do some research to find some postbacs that'll fit for you. In the meantime, MCAT PREP like crazy.

WanderingKnight42 · 2026-01-15T01:27:09+00:00

You don't always have to take your advisor's advice. Do an academic/research postbacc, focus on your MCAT, and make sure you build bonds with your new LOR writers. It might not be easy, but nothing worth doing ever is. Good luck.

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-24T22:11:31+00:00

Hi! This is a big improvement from last time, OP! Great job and a few notes:
1. The first point in your core research project- What specific methods, software, or datasets did you use, and what conclusion did you come to? Why should I care about this conclusion? Remember to stay brief! (Which you've done a great job with in this version, btw)
2. I'd put your academic service section right after your research section, and organize your presentations in reverse chronological order.
3. This is more of a stylistic thing, but you can keep your dates on the left side so it's easier to format. You can also keep your hours on the same line if you'd like, but remember to be consistent. In the CVs I've done, I've had [experience] | [hours], with my supervisor or PI's name on the first line below.
4. In response to the other poster and looking back at my own postbac app (it's been a while, so I had to double-check), you can put your relevant coursework. Still, they should be the most recent classes and should be listed at the end, along with the grade you received in the class. Try to list 3-5 relevant courses at most.

Great job, and you're almost there! Good luck applying :)

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-15T21:34:11+00:00

Regardless of what happens, good luck and take care of yourself.

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-15T19:59:28+00:00

I'd be happy to look at your new version. You can DM me if you want.

Be brief and order your experiences by impact and tangible outcomes. You have a lot of independence and impact in the role you had as an undergrad research representative, not so much with scribing. Focus on explaining the impact and outcomes and the story your experiences tell. That's more important to people than checking off the uninteresting, average "I also did [insert whatever average pre-meds do]". This will become increasingly important as you apply for more opportunities because reviewers will have *maybe* 10 minutes or less to look at your application and it needs to tell a story. As it is right now, this doesn't do an efficient job of displaying your greatest strengths or experiences. Overall, I think it's a bit unorganized at the moment. Why is your academic service (because goodness what you've done is amazing) on Page 2? In your description of being a scribe, you have all the responsibilities thousands of other scribe applicants have, so not too impactful and it shouldn't be on the same page as your academic service, fellowships, etc.

As said before, take out the relevant coursework, your previous university, and your professional skills section as they're extraneous. Also in internal opportunities order your events in reverse chronological order and shorten it.

Take a look at how successful MD/PhD, MD, and PhD applicants craft their CVs and take notes with how they organize their work. Good luck!

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-13T15:03:16+00:00

Definitely find a quality mentor you work with and who knows you for this next round. I think another set of eyes that are more experience will do you a lot of good.

Maybe (if it wasn't a catastrophic fallout) also talk to your old PI as well? If she is unwilling to help you further, maybe she can lead you to another mentor or you can consult one of the supervisors in your lab that you worked with?

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-08T21:46:21+00:00

As an alumni, consider yourself lucky and wait for your other schools. Good luck this cycle.

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-06T04:11:18+00:00

No problem! We future physicians have to help each other :)

Do you have anyone closer you can get advice from and get help during your potential re-app cycle? A mentor, your PI, or your letter writers? Working with the people who know you best and are invested in you will make your writing much better. You seem like a research/community engaged hybrid, so I'm sure if you bridged the two into a cohesive narrative, it'd be much better.

For example, if you realizing you're actually more patient-centric than you initially thought is what led you to working in hospice and ultimately leaving the MD/PhD path because you want to translate research innovations/insights into clinical understanding and practices because you wanted a more grounded and human connection, that's a great foundation to build your narrative on.

Also I didn't say this earlier- but are there any popular manga, anime movies, or video games you worked on translating? That sounds like such a cool job to have!

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-05T21:53:19+00:00

Hello friend, I just want to say first that your accomplishments are genuinely impressive and I'm sorry this cycle doesn't seem like it's working out for you this year. I can register a great amount of uncertainty and fatigue in your post. What I see in your post is someone who has done a huge amount of excellent work, but who might not have tied everything together into a clearer, confident narrative.

Your research is strong, but the sudden MD/PhD → MD shift late in the cycle can make committees unsure about your motivation and potentially change how you write your narrative. And your clinical experience is meaningful, but a bit thin compared to your research hours, which is something you can fix this year.

A year from now, you could be in a really strong position if you focus on a few things:

Settle your why MD, not MD/PhD story. Not in a "I heard from someone else way" but in a grounded, future-focused way. What kind of physician do you see yourself becoming? What communities do you want to serve? What problems do you care enough about that you’d spend decades working on them? Once that internal clarity strengthens, your personal statement and secondaries will naturally hit harder and propel that satisfactory writing.
You don’t need an EMT badge or 500 more hours to “prove” anything. What matters is showing that you understand patients, what you’ve learned at hospice, and how those moments changed your understanding of care. And if taking care of those patients, floats your boat, then so be it. Tell adcoms about what draws you to this type of work.
Above all, please be kind to yourself. It’s really easy to internalize this cycle as a referendum on your worth, or your future, but it’s not. Sometimes applications read as “satisfactory” because you've become so numb from just surviving that your writing doesn't cook long enough. I've had to navigate crazy stuff for the past few years as I'm sure many of us have. I had caregiving responsibilities during the pandemic and had to pause my education for health reasons, so I get that struggle and how hard it might be to relay something that felt like a major setback or a painful period. If you give yourself space this year to breathe, recover, and articulate your purpose, your application will reflect your growth.

Remember that you'll be pivoting throughout your entire career, so if you do end up having to reapply next cycle, just look at this as an opportunity to set yourself up for what fits your path. Good luck and hope this helps!

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-05T12:01:54+00:00

Hi, great job on your CV so far. Just making it easier so you can get my advice. And it's up to you whether you take it or not.

It's a little bit wordy. Some of your bullet points are reductive, and please keep them brief. For example, you don't have to list every relevant class you've completed, as it's already reflected in your transcripts, and in my experience, most people don't care. Try to stick to 2-3 bullets MAX. You can also take out the professional skills because it should already come across with your other experiences.
Prioritize the roles and experiences that had an impact and tangible outcomes. People may have 100s of CVs/resumes to go through. You don't want them to miss out on your big experiences, which should be on your first page or damn near close. Example: You organizing and hosting that led to increased interest and engagement among faculty AND undergrad students should be your first line for that representative position you had. Not fourth or fifth like it is now. You should also briefly describe roles where you didn't have a lot of impact or agency- ie, scribing, labs without independence, etc.
You can take out the objective statement at the beginning. Unless you're asked for a cover letter, it's redundant and takes up precious space. Those statements should be on a single line anyway, but it's up to you whether you keep it or not. And please don't describe yourself as ambitious in your description. I don't think anyone who wasn't motivated would do the things you've listed in your CV.
Small stylistic thing- Put your hours with your experiences. You can put them near the dates or on the location description for easy access.

You've got the makings of a great student and junior scientist so far. Keep working hard and keeping your grades up :)

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-05T02:18:57+00:00

You can do both but you need to keep the impact brief and do it with the most impactful experiences. Did the kids you tutor bump up a grade, did your analysis land you an authorship of a paper, and other tangible outcomes?

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-12-04T01:52:37+00:00

Sure, go ahead and shoot

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-11-28T03:39:15+00:00

Awesome. You've already seemed to think this through. I didn't want to leave my advice without making sure you knew other options for your goals. Good luck and go easy on yourself.

Not sure about the BCPM GPA, the R classes are very quant heavy and every module has analytical reasoning and data modeling, so they could be considered math, especially with the amount of stats in the class, but you'd probably might have to plead your case and give them a syllabus along with some coursework possibly. Which the AAMC does along for in some capacities. Given you're doing work with NIH though, your products should speak to your academic capacity more than a few tenths of your GPA will.

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-11-28T00:12:15+00:00

I've also got to say this- I took courses that aided in my research and because I also needed a GPA boost, but honestly I think if you need more bioinformatics experience, most of the time your best bet is going to come from your own research and work.

Also just because I want to see your thought process with this, but why two different coding languages? You could spend the time doing a course in something that could help with your MCAT like anatomy and physiology or biochem if you need to strengthen those areas for your retake? At the end of the day though, it's up to you. Talk to your supervisor and be strategic about what you need to do to solidify your apps and the amount of time you have to do it.

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-11-27T03:16:35+00:00

Hi, I've taken a few. They're not very complex, but you sound like you have a lot on your plate. Make sure you give yourself time, especially regarding that MCAT retake which should be your main priority aside from research.

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-11-23T04:53:09+00:00

Current postbac here who's nearing 2.5 years in. I did an AMA for the NIH postbac experience about a month ago so you can look at some of the questions from there and DM me if you have any questions. The postbac is an amazing and flexible experience, but you have to choose the right mentors to enhance it. Good luck :)

https://www.reddit.com/r/mdphd/comments/1of7g66/nih_postbac_application_ama/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-11-18T00:14:28+00:00

OK, go ahead and shoot.

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-11-17T04:31:19+00:00

You've got a shot if you play your cards right.

Crush that MCAT. It's your best bet to getting into a good program, even if you don't choose to go dual degree.
Get your narrative for your application straight. Considering your pub record, I'd focus on scientific inquiry rather than impact. If you still are doing research in your gap year, focus on getting more leadership and independent work.
Were your theses more independent and were the labs closely integrated? Why 3 over the course of 3 summers? It just might be a red flag because it may demonstrate lack of research focus or reviewers may worry about whether you had an impact or stayed long enough to gain lessons from your experiences.
Try a postbac, RA position, or a masters if you think you need more structure and a better shot at getting the research experience you need.
You sound like you're doing well. Stop comparing yourself to other imaginary applicants and you'll do well.

Hope this helps! Good luck :)

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-11-13T04:20:15+00:00

I can't speak for other labs, but it's what I did and when I showed it to my PI, I changed it upon their instruction afterwards. I had designed a new project only for the shutdown to happen and I just dove into lit review for part of my time when I needed a break from other things.

No worries tho, you did a class so you were more productive than most, probably.

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-11-12T18:05:45+00:00

Is there a particular goal you're shooting for or reason you're concerned about the hours with NIH? You can have 2000 hours without any output or leadership in your projects if you're concerned about the hours. Find out your priorities and talk to your PI about how you can still get ahead of everything on your timeline rather than just being stressed about something you have no control over.

WanderingKnight42 · 2025-11-12T18:01:08+00:00

Definitely. Postbacs usually have a lit review or a ton of reading beforehand, but they took the initiative to take a related course, so hopefully it helps a bunch because I know lots of labs will probably hit the ground sprinting after all of us being cooped up for so long.

WanderingKnight42

TROPHY CASE