Hi everyone,
I am now in my sixth and final year of medical school in Athens, Greece and I want to ask about my chances of geetting accepted into a phd in neuroscience if I apply next year for entrance in fall 2016.
My grades are above average (in the upper 10% of my year) and I have some research experience during my undergraduate year. Specifically I have been a research assistant for more than a year now in the epidemiology department. This has led to 3 presentatons in greek conferences (2 out of 3 in neurology) while I am working on other projects that will result in at least 4 publications (mostly in neurology subjects). Moreover I already have one review publucation in a renowned peer-reviewed journal (regarding pathophysiology of atherosclerosis) and a review published in a greek journal (about epilepsy). My plan is to obtain basic research experience during next summer and autumn in a neuroscience lab (I have already made an arrangement about this) and then apply for a phd in neurosceince in the usa and canada.
I will sit the examinations for GRE and TOEFL the upcoming summer.
Which universities do you think I should apply to? My objective is to study in the USA, since I plan to stay there for residency after the phd, but I have relatives in Montreal, Canada and I plan to appy for the McGill neuroscience program as well.
Is a foreign MD a competitive candidate for a neurosceince phd? What are my chances in general?
Lastly, I would like your opinion on another issue. I was tthinking of applying to a combined master's/phd program in neurobiology in my university for the upcoming year. I know that my chances of getting accepted here are really high. This would give me the theoritical background in neuroscience that I must have in order to go on with the phd in the US and would be a good plan B if I am noy accepted in the US. However, the msc is awarded only after 2 years of study, so this would mean that when I apply in the USA next november-december it will look like i just have started a graduate program that I plan to quit. How will this appear for my application?
And a final question, I know that the mean time to graduation for a phd student is 4 to 7 years. Do you think that this is dependent on the candidate or it is mostly randomly determined?
Thanks in advance!