Advice for ML PhD

[mlnerd]

I will try to provide a relatively brief biography in point form: 

- Started undergrad in 2008 in Mathematics

- Nearly failed out multiple times due to some mental health problems (which are not documented, but can be described in detail if need be)

- Graduated with a 2.0 GPA, rarely took a full course load 

- Became interested in cancer, got a second UG. Wanted to pursue medicine

- OMSAS 3.88 in second UG over about 2.5 years of courses 

- PhD advisor at a well-known machine learning department took a chance on me, so I entered the program

- I will defend in a few months (under a year)

- Multiple publications in using deep learning for clinical tasks, a bunch of talks at conferences etc etc 

- Have had multiple job offers from Silicon Valley tech companies, but I can't shake this itch I've had to pursue medicine

- edit: Relevant information I have forgotten - Live in Ontario (GTA), second UG is in molecular biology

 

Not 100% sure where to go from here. I'm approaching 30 and I don't really have great grades. Any thoughts/advice would be appreciated.

[DrOtter]

You have done some amazing things here and I hope you know and are proud of that. It is also great that you have job offers from Silicon Valley so you can at least have a backup while trying to pursue med here. A few options I can think of:

- Western Med doesn't care about your first UG at all now that you've had a second UG degree. So as long as it fits their course load requirements and those years that fit these requirements are above 3.7, you're good to go. Also have to pass the MCAT hurdle though. Have you taken it?

- UofT looks favourably upon graduate degrees, especially those with high productivity and relevance to medicine like yours. If you manage to explain this well in your sketch and essays, you might have a shot there too even with a modest GPA.

- Queens Med will likely be your best bet from what I've heard. They will only look at your most recent 2 UG years so you don't have to worry about your first UG at all. They also look at MCAT as a cut-off so as long as you're above those, you'll be considered (this fluctuates from year to year and they don't publish it but aim for 127+ on all sections to be safe). After you've crossed the GPA (which is a non-issue for people with graduate degrees apparently since the cut-off for those are very low plus the whole 2-year GPA thing) and the MCAT, then they ONLY look at your autobiographical sketch to determine your ranking for interview invites so as long as you can show yourself well on it, you have a decent chance at getting the interview. And given your CV, I don't have much doubt about the depth and breadth of your experiences.

- Lastly, McGill also gives you some advantages for completing a PhD and the upward trend of your GPAs, as well as your extensive CV. However, if you're out of province, they only have 10 spots in their program and it will be brutally competitive.

Have you considered doing med school in the States? with a CV like yours and the upward trend of your GPA (which is looked upon favourably by US MD schools), as long as you have a decent MCAT, you'll have a great chance at many mid-tier schools and you can comfortably match back to Canada for your residency afterwards.

Hope this helps a little. And approaching 30 is definitely not an obstacle to getting into med at all if that is something you're truly passionate about! If anything, you will go into school and residency with a lot more life experiences and better ability to connect with your parents than your youngster peers.

[mlnerd]

45 minutes ago, DrOtter said:

You have done some amazing things here and I hope you know and are proud of that. It is also great that you have job offers from Silicon Valley so you can at least have a backup while trying to pursue med here. A few options I can think of:

- Western Med doesn't care about your first UG at all now that you've had a second UG degree. So as long as it fits their course load requirements and those years that fit these requirements are above 3.7, you're good to go. Also have to pass the MCAT hurdle though. Have you taken it?

- UofT looks favourably upon graduate degrees, especially those with high productivity and relevance to medicine like yours. If you manage to explain this well in your sketch and essays, you might have a shot there too even with a modest GPA.

- Queens Med will likely be your best bet from what I've heard. They will only look at your most recent 2 UG years so you don't have to worry about your first UG at all. They also look at MCAT as a cut-off so as long as you're above those, you'll be considered (this fluctuates from year to year and they don't publish it but aim for 127+ on all sections to be safe). After you've crossed the GPA (which is a non-issue for people with graduate degrees apparently since the cut-off for those are very low plus the whole 2-year GPA thing) and the MCAT, then they ONLY look at your autobiographical sketch to determine your ranking for interview invites so as long as you can show yourself well on it, you have a decent chance at getting the interview. And given your CV, I don't have much doubt about the depth and breadth of your experiences.

- Lastly, McGill also gives you some advantages for completing a PhD and the upward trend of your GPAs, as well as your extensive CV. However, if you're out of province, they only have 10 spots in their program and it will be brutally competitive.

Have you considered doing med school in the States? with a CV like yours and the upward trend of your GPA (which is looked upon favourably by US MD schools), as long as you have a decent MCAT, you'll have a great chance at many mid-tier schools and you can comfortably match back to Canada for your residency afterwards.

Hope this helps a little. And approaching 30 is definitely not an obstacle to getting into med at all if that is something you're truly passionate about! If anything, you will go into school and residency with a lot more life experiences and better ability to connect with your parents than your youngster peers.

Hey, thank you for the detailed post. 

 

I wrote the MCAT once, maybe 5 years ago. I think I got 510, but I'd have to check. I would of course write it again after a period of study. 

 

I emailed U of T about their GPA cut off recently. My cumulative GPA is <3.0, but they said that if there is a good explanation, they will still consider my application. 

 

I have considered the States as well, but would prefer to stay in Canada if possible.

[neurologist19]

I think your research experience brings you a nice advantage in the non-academic part of your CV (by non-academic I mean anything except your GPA, not the most accurate name I know). However, when it comes to GPA, it usually makes up a specific portion of your overall score (50% of the overall score for UBC, for example) and research experience, etc. cannot directly cancel out a bad GPA. Even when it comes to the non-academic part, unfortunately, there is no one in the admission office who actually look at your papers and understand their merits. The process is quite automatic and you shouldn't be surprised if an undergrad with a few cookie-cutter volunteering experiences actually scores higher than you if your experience is limited to your PhD and research without other volunteer activities. 

That being said, my intuition tells me that by providing supporting documents regarding your health (or even a good explanation), you might be able to convince programs to overlook your first undergrad. If you succeed  in that arena and spend a year or so doing some community-based volunteering work then you are good to go and have a good chance of becoming a doc!!