NIH PREP 2020-2021 Applicants unite

[GolgiGirl_]

On 4/2/2020 at 10:23 AM, misterbob19 said:

I ended up committing to University of Washington. Anyone else heard from or is going there?

Nope, but im from Seattle, its a great place  congrats!

[CWRUPREPScholar]

On 3/4/2020 at 6:43 PM, trollsloot said:

Current PREP student, not going to disclose the university I'm at. I ended up having a really bad experience and actually had less interviews than before particapting in PREP. Yep. You can message me if you'd like to know more. I'm sure other PREPs don't have this problem. Lots of PREP students here end up staying at this institution probably because they couldn't get into other places...

Messaged you. I look forward to hearing.

[CWRUPREPScholar]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:52 PM, dejosco said:

It really depends on the program. I and someone else in my cohort are spending two years in my program. Fortunately, everyone else in the cohort has gotten into a PhD program! I think that PREP programs can be good for showing you can simultaneously handle the rigors of research and graduate level coursework, but make sure that you manage your time wisely. Generally, the emphases of PREP programs are the research experiences. 

My brother! ? I know you. 

[CWRUPREPScholar]

On 3/30/2020 at 8:07 AM, mediumtwotopping said:

Anecdotal and is not true for all PREP programs. The primary goal of PREP is to get students into a PhD program and so the NIH grant fully supports GRE prep course work but not MCAT course work. I know for a fact that if you show interest into and MD-PhD program for Tufts PREP, they will put a red flag on you. 

Hey, hey, my brother! I hope all is well! I think I owe you a message on LinkedIn! 

To all applicants: As a current PREP Scholar on the MD/PhD track, like my buddy MediumTwoTopping, his note raises a super important point. A lot of PREP programs advertise to PhD and MD/PhD students, however, most programs strive to fill their spots with viable PhD interested candidates. Your PREP application needs to be incredibly strong from your grades, to meaningful past research, to demonstrate promise for successful matriculation to an MSTP program. Direct message me if anyone has any questions. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by BostonBoy97

[immuno.virology]

7 hours ago, BostonBoy97 said:

Hey, hey, my brother! I hope all is well! I think I owe you a message on LinkedIn! 

To all applicants: As a current PREP Scholar on the MD/PhD track, like my buddy MediumTwoTopping, his note raises a super important point. A lot of PREP programs advertise to PhD and MD/PhD students, however, most programs strive to fill their spots with viable PhD interested candidates. Your PREP application needs to be incredibly strong from your grades, to meaningful past research, to demonstrate promise for successful matriculation to an MSTP program. Direct message me if anyone has any questions. 

I agree with you.

I think these prep programs needs to explicitly mention if their programs are only for PhD or both with MD/PhD aspiring students because only a few does mention this.  I think they should put a note where it says "MD/PhD aspiring applicants are not eligible to apply" or perhaps something like "MD/PhD aspiring applicants are welcome to apply but spots are not guaranteed". 

Take Hopkins for example, on their website, they mentioned that their PREP program is accepting applicants who intend to pursue PhD or MD/PhD, so I applied. However, I got rejected, which I found out over the phone with the Director. I was told my application was "too medical" and it is because I want to pursue an MD/PhD  and not solely PhD. I politely accepted the rejection and moved on. However, I disagree with the comment that my application was "too medical" because my application barely even talked about the medicine part of my aspiration. My application was pure on talking about my strong desire for research, how my past research experiences solidified my aspiration to pursue PhD, and how training as a PhD researcher will supplement my career as a physician -- this is the only part where I talked about medicine. But then again, I was told too during that call that they will not be accepting MD/PhD aspiring applicants this year or maybe even the following year. They fear that these applicants will end up applying to medical school which will result as a PREP failure since the purpose of this programs is to enroll scholars to PhD programs. I am not such applicants. I really want to do M.D. and a PhD.

Anyways, I guess what I am trying to say is that PREP programs should inform prospective applicants whether they are eligible to apply or not because applicants (like myself) put a a lot of dedication and effort on creating a really nice and well thought out application only to find out that they are actually not eligible later on . You might be wondering, "well why didn't you call or asked if you are eligible to apply as an aspiring MD/PhD?" Well I did, I talked to all PREP programs during the 2019 ABRCMS and they told me I can apply and that includes Hopkins. Talking to these programs at ABRCMS helped me narrow down the schools I was able to apply to, schools that consider MD/PhD aspiring applicants. But then again, applying to these programs I knew that I had little chance of getting offered a spot, not because my GPA is low or cause I dId not have a meaningful research experience, but because I want to pursue an MD/PhD. I am not saying that that is the sole reason why I got rejected from these programs but it is definitely a huge contributor.

FYI. I applied to Hopkins (Rejected), Sinai, Einstein, UPenn, Case Western, and Harvard (last 5 ghosted --> assumed rejection). But then again there could be a hundred prep programs in the country and 99 don't believe in you, but you just need one and to me that's IRTA  I am channeling my inner Lady Gaga there. 

Anyways goodluck to everyone who is still on this race. Stay safe friends. 

 

Edited April 5, 2020 by O'ahu

[MarxistHegelian]

On 3/21/2020 at 7:02 PM, GolgiGirl_ said:

Has anyone heard from University of Maryland?

Just heard back today! (weird, its on a Sunday) They will be conducting interviews next week and the week after. 

[whyamIhere]

Hello everyone, hopeful that you all are safe and sane. Has anyone who applied to Yale heard back? I spoke with Mr.Denzil and he said those who are chosen would receive an opportunity for an interview between March and April 15, but I’m just paranoid I guess.

Edited April 6, 2020 by Becca12

[chickennuggets]

4 hours ago, Becca12 said:

Hello everyone, hopeful that you all are safe and sane. Has anyone who applied to Yale heard back? I spoke with Mr.Denzil and he said those who are chosen would receive an opportunity for an interview between March and April 15, but I’m just paranoid I guess.

I haven't heard back either. When did you contact Dr. Denzil? I wonder if things will be delayed because of Corona. 

[renj22]

1 hour ago, chickennuggets said:

I haven't heard back either. When did you contact Dr. Denzil? I wonder if things will be delayed because of Corona. 

Some one I know that has done Yale Prep told me she didn't interview until like mid April. I guess let's just give it time, I'm waiting for them too. 

[whyamIhere]

21 hours ago, chickennuggets said:

I haven't heard back either. When did you contact Dr. Denzil? I wonder if things will be delayed because of Corona. 

Not necessarily speak to him, apologies if that was understood wrong but I participated in the webinar he hosted for Yale Prep. He stated that decision would be made as soon end of March and Mid April. 

[Eva91]

Hey everyone!! I contact Harvard RSI, and they will start sending interviews this week or next. So no one is rejected yet! Yay

[CWRUPREPScholar]

Dear All - 

I hope you're doing well and staying healthy! I am writing to let you know that CWRU School of Medicine has concluded their PREP interviews. We are looking to fill three spots and the offers to those three students will be made today to three students committed to pursuing a PhD alone. 

Best of luck! You got this! As always, remember, whether you're admitted to PREP or not, it's not predictive of career success.

Take Care,

CWRU PREP Scholar

[GolgiGirl_]

Got rejected from UPenn

[ChemistryKid]

Anybody heard back from Einstein, Mayo or UChicago? 

[MarxistHegelian]

18 hours ago, ChemistryKid said:

Anybody heard back from Einstein, Mayo or UChicago? 

I can speak for two of them. 

I committed to UChicago some time ago. And I heard that they are extending their deadline, meaning that they are not done sending out interview appointments. (Hope you get one!)

I called Mayo about a month ago. They told me they where filling spots with early applications, they have a first come first serve type of admission. At that point, it seemed that they had already sent out their appointments and were very close to finalize their cohort. 

Hope this helps! 

[MarxistHegelian]

23 hours ago, GolgiGirl_ said:

Got rejected from UPenn

Same! 

[NeuroVibe]

On 4/8/2020 at 2:17 PM, GolgiGirl_ said:

Got rejected from UPenn

Same here

[NYNeurosci24]

On 4/8/2020 at 2:17 PM, GolgiGirl_ said:

Got rejected from UPenn

Yup, me too!

[jahnevelus]

Has anyone heard from IPREP/IUPUI POST-Bacc program ? 

[NeuroVibe]

Has anyone who applied to University of Michigan PREP heard back from them? 

[NeuroVibe]

Just got an interview request from Harvard RSI!

[misterbob19]

Just now, davidoff05 said:

Just got an interview request from Harvard RSI!

Same here! I already committed to University of Washington, but Harvard was one of my top choices (above UW), I do not know what to do. 

[GolgiGirl_]

I got an interview for STAR-prep at university of maryland

[haphapster]

Hi Guys !

 

I'm late but I applied to UPenn (rejected) , Johns Hopkins (rejected), Star-PREP, Harvard, VT ( applied today), Yale, Mount Sinai, Albert Einstein, BostonU ( applied Today), and UChicago (applied today). 

 

I see that two people got interviews from Harvard and Star-PREP, Congratulations!  I wonder if they still are reviewing applications for the interview process. I sent emails to both schools this morning because no rejections emails have been sent ( that I'm aware of ) so I'm praying for the the best. Harvard was my top choice because of their Nutritional Biochemistry research faculty. Nonetheless, I would be happy to get accepted into any of the programs I applied to.

 

If anyone hears anything new in regards to any of these programs let me know!

 

Staying hopeful and wishing everyone the best ! 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2020 by haphapster

[Eva91]

2 hours ago, haphapster said:

Hi Guys !

 

I'm late but I applied to UPenn (rejected) , Johns Hopkins (rejected), Star-PREP, Harvard, VT ( applied today), Yale, Mount Sinai, Albert Einstein, BostonU ( applied Today), and UChicago (applied today). 

 

I see that two people got interviews from Harvard and Star-PREP, Congratulations!  I wonder if they still are reviewing applications for the interview process. I sent emails to both schools this morning because no rejections emails have been sent ( that I'm aware of ) so I'm praying for the the best. Harvard was my top choice because of their Nutritional Biochemistry research faculty. Nonetheless, I would be happy to get accepted into any of the programs I applied to.

 

If anyone hears anything new in regards to any of these programs let me know!

 

Staying hopeful and wishing everyone the best ! 

 

 

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