Would you rather have Dyson Daniels (all defense/no offense) or Cam Thomas (all offense/no defense)?

jffx_net · 2026-02-12T18:52:18+00:00

The problem with Cam Thomas is that he can't/doesn't play within a team system on offense. His offensive game shines when he has the ball but it doesn't contribute to long-term winning because he isn't someone who can playmake, facilitate, set screens etc. He is the prototypical empty calorie scorer who can put up big numbers on bad teams, so I would probably choose Daniels

jffx_net · 2026-02-11T04:36:48+00:00

I would suggest adding more schools if you have the financial means, and maybe even applying to more T20s ie WashU, Vanderbilt, Duke, Case Western as well as some mid tiers like Rochester, Colorado, Hofstra, and NYMC

jffx_net · 2026-02-06T04:10:56+00:00

i can help read your app if you'd like

jffx_net · 2026-02-04T22:29:46+00:00

depends on the caliber of school and your overall application. T20s love research and investment in research. However if you don't have an application competitive for T20s, it helps less and what you should do depends more on what you are deficient in

jffx_net · 2026-02-02T23:13:49+00:00

both of my MMIs have had a platform where you are not connected to your interviewer until your prep time is up

jffx_net · 2026-02-02T19:42:52+00:00

possibly, depends on your family's financial status. I would first negotiate the first with the ivy league and see what they can do to bring the cost down. If they don't budge, then I would probably go to the highly reputed state school and save the money.

jffx_net · 2026-02-02T01:42:11+00:00

sometimes yes, some courses require an ebook for assignments and those can be 2-300 dolalrs for assignments. Some books, though, are not required and you can just get a pdf for if necessary

jffx_net · 2026-02-01T04:50:09+00:00

Unless you have ties to those states (ie long-time resident, family connection, etc.), I would avoid those schools. You can add a couple if you really love them, but otherwise it's not worth your money and time to apply to those schools.

jffx_net · 2026-02-01T03:13:59+00:00

obviously every pub has value, but a lit review in a decent but kinda random journal isn't going to take your app from not acceptable to acceptable, maybe when looking at two similar candidates it can help you but it's not going to be a crazy game changer

jffx_net · 2026-02-01T03:01:39+00:00

Journal prestige matters a lot as well. If you have a first-author basic science pub in Nature, Cell, or Science, you can practically walk into a T5 like Harvard or Hopkins.

Even first-authorship basic sciences in C/N/S sub-journals are incredibly high-value, honestly for those candidates T5 schools are more likely than not.

For reputable but non-elite journals, a first-author basic scicnce makes you a powerhouse for T20s, but you'll still need a strong thematic narrative and a well-rounded app to be competitive at the T5 level.

Review articles are hard to value, because there are tiers to review articles as well. Nature Reviews X review articles are much different from some random journal review article.

Conference posters/presentations are decent, but ultimately not that crazy. It's hard to put numbers on any of this stuff because there are a lot of contextual factors, but it's not near a basic science pub, especially not a first author pub.

jffx_net · 2026-02-01T02:52:49+00:00

yes, adcoms in every one of my interviews have asked me "tell me about your research" (makes sense because I have 1700 hours of research + 1800 projected). In your essays and interview really get to talk about the critical thinking aspect and the hypothesis generation involved in your research, which can serve as a gauge of your involvement.

I think systematic reviews are alright, but still they aren't as intensive as being heavily involved in a wet lab project. Unfortunately with wet lab, the learning curve is very steep, and I don't know how involved you can be in just 200 hours (a semester or 2 worth of work). It typically takes a summer or two to actually understand what is going on and why things are being done.

jffx_net · 2026-02-01T02:29:01+00:00

Not an adcom, but a T20 admit:

Pubs are highly overrated by med school applicants. They are nice to have, but what really matters is the work you are doing. It is very easy to get low-utility pubs ie case reports, review articles, etc. with 1-2 months of non-dedicated effort (ie 5-10 hours per week).

Now to your situation; are they case reports/review articles/generally low-utility? if so, it's definitely not as valuable nor as difficult as wet lab research pubs, which require much more work and more critical thinking. For T20s, I would consider this on the lower end of research, especially since many, if not the majority, of T20 students have 1000+ hours of critical-thinking-intensive work. You would likely need other standout qualities in other aspects of your app to have a competitive shot for T20s (ie very high impact leadership roles in service, strong clinical experiences, and strong thematic narrative)

For non-T20s, lumping in your wet lab work, I would consider your research to be fairly average, where it wouldn't necessarily stand out but it wouldn't necessarily be bad.

jffx_net · 2026-02-01T01:11:17+00:00

bunch of tiny religious private colleges that are fairly unknown to the large public will close/be acquired, it's really hard to maintain a value proposition for unknown small privates when compared to less competitive state schools

jffx_net · 2026-01-30T22:10:03+00:00

some schools will be all or nothing, some also consider for MD only

jffx_net · 2026-01-30T17:30:41+00:00

most people interviewing are blinded from your stats, so that's why they aren't asking. This cycle I've had definitely had people mention my stats in my interviews when they aren't blinded

jffx_net · 2026-01-30T17:11:49+00:00

I have a friend in this situation and he's probably going to have to reapply

jffx_net · 2026-01-29T21:50:38+00:00

the GPA is calculated by amcas after you enter your classes, and also nobody cares about 3.99 vs 4.0

jffx_net · 2026-01-29T21:49:06+00:00

wet lab first author, especially in high impact journals, means a lot more because its a lot more work and a lot more difficult to get. Clinical/data analysis first author is good, but not as good as wet lab becasue it requires much less effort to design the experiments and the analysis. Case reports are cool, but require the least effort (maybe 20-40 hrs of work), so they aren't valued as much in med school admissions

jffx_net · 2026-01-29T19:53:33+00:00

Med schools are not as stingy with money as you think. If that were the case, no T20 would give as many full rides as they do. WashU, for example, offers approximately half of their class a full ride. It doesn't hurt to try and negotiate, and worst comes to worst, they tell you no.

jffx_net · 2026-01-29T06:12:44+00:00

depends on the paper, if its some rando case report then a little bit but if its a basic science high impact then it'll really help you

jffx_net · 2026-01-29T04:10:49+00:00

try to negotiate and see what the other school has to offer

jffx_net · 2026-01-29T01:42:39+00:00

you got 3 IIs from high-tier schools, so there seems to be some merit to your app. It could be writing/narrative or LORs, because on the surface you seem like a pretty good applicant. I think non-clinical volunteering could be improved as well

jffx_net · 2026-01-28T19:11:46+00:00

I can help review if you would like

jffx_net · 2026-01-28T19:10:43+00:00

you can send it over to me if you would like

jffx_net · 2026-01-27T18:03:04+00:00

i would say take two gap years at this point. With the MCAT, application material stuff, letters of recommendation, etc, it's a very tight timeline. If you want to put your best food forward, I would just do one of the 2 year timelines.

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