Not bad at all. Heh, I'll share with you my experience that I had. I had a 3.82 from UCI, Neurobio major. My MCAT kinda sunk me, I didn't take it as seriously as I should have, got a measly 32 (11 B, 11 W, 10 P). Extras were research work (poster presentation, no pubs), translator work at a local hospital, and two leadership positions. I applied sorta young (18), so that was also a few nicks against me (according to interviews). CA resident as well.
I applied to little bit less than 50 schools, got secondaries from all except UCSF, around 12 interviews, two of which were MD/PhD, one at Uni of Utah, the other at Tulane (thank god I didn't go there). Reg MD was Northwestern, AECOM, MCO, SLU, Drexel, Creighton, MCW, Tufts, and a few others I can't recall.
Instant accept to drexel. I was on waitlist for Tulane, AECOM, Northwestern, Tufts. I sent rejections to others when I got an accept to AECOM, as it was my first choice outta the pack (which I currently attend).
No cali interviews, which was sorta a bummer/mystery to me. Especially UCI, that blew. Oh yeah, as far as CA: DO NOT APPLY TO CHARLES DREW. You'll be screwed for residency, lame *** school w/ UCLA tacked onto it. A foul lie.
Look into the UCI latino focus program or somesuch bull program. By pledging to help latinos, you get an easier entry, to just take a few spanish classes. A good deal I passed up.
Some advice:
*Get everything in as early as possible. Letters of rec, grades, secondaries. Even with schools who deny this as being an advantage, just do it. Rolling admissions = first come, first serve
*Send "letters of interest" to pretty much any school you are interested in. Highlight specifics about their program that you like. These help, infact, I know I got two interviews earlier because of them
*Send "letters of
intent" to your first choice school, preferably after interview. Send only to one, and make sure you wanna go there. They like students that are gauranteed for them.
*Allow adequate travel time during interviews. KNOW HOW TO GET THERE BY AT LEAST TWO ROUTES if you do not stay with a student. Hell, even if you do.
Hopefully you get accepted early by a school you like. This will allow you to breathe a bit.
The MD/PhD is a bit different than MD admissions. Smaller, self selective pool. You get treated as a minor diety during interviews; they REALLY cater to you. But a large gauntlet of interviews to boot. PREPARE FOR CURVEBALLS. Hell, some hate MD/PhD candidates for some reason.
ALWAYS BE ON GAURD DURING INTERVIEWS. They will try to slip you up.
As far as studentdoc net, be wary. It will be addicting, and you will get worried. Cautiously use this resource.
Also use this site:
http://www.mdapplicants.com/ Again, with discretion.
Best of luck in this endeavor. If you have any questions, just PM me and I'll be happy to try and help.
Ah, and before I forget, why do you want to do MD/PhD? What are your goals? What specialties do you want to go into? Apart from the full ride aspect, the advantage of getting both seems sorta slight compared to the time difference.
