Application Cycle One: 2006

• Undergraduate college: Yale University
• Undergraduate Area of study: Biological/Life Sciences

• Institution: Yale University
• Area of Study: Biological/Life Sciences
• Degree Obtained: BS/MS

• Total MCAT SCORE: 520
• MCAT Section Scores: B/B 131, C/P 130, CARS 127   Detailed Breakdown
• Overall GPA: 3.93
• Science GPA: 3.94

Summary of Application Experience

Just a quick summary of my application process:

Paper applications: Doing the primaries and secondaries were a bit tedious ? I highly suggest you finish them early! The paperwork is usually a bit more extensive for the MD/PhD application, but doable.

Interviews: After the first set of interviews, the entire interview process became less stressful and more enjoyable (and smoother). Simply, I tried to take advantage of the opportunity to talk about my research to PIs. Have fun ? I know I did.

Final decision: In the end, I attended interviews at UCLA/Caltech, UCSF, Penn, Stanford, and Yale, and decided to attend Stanford without going to my Harvard NP/HST/MD-PhD and UCSD interviews. In the end, I liked Stanford?s combination of research interests, curriculum, small class size, proximity to home, and suburbia, and didn?t prefer any other institution over it. So, Stanford it was!

As a final note, I?m of the philosophy that as students, we can only enroll in one program. So, in the end, you actually only need to be accepted at one desirable program. It doesn?t make sense to simply push through the application process. My final suggestion: if you?re already accepted at a happy place, simply withdraw, make your life simpler, and help the AdComs and other preMD-PhDs in limbo.