Recent content by Rumit

You can see what I thought of Northwestern (not impressed) in one of the other threads on this forum so take this with a grain of salt. But, I think for heme/onc especially U of Minnesota probably has a better reputation (Gutonc could probably speak more to this). So, for your stated goals you...

I don't want to appear too negative, but when I interviewed there a couple years ago, I had really off-putting experience. Take all of this with the caveat that it's based entirely off my individual experience visiting the program over a day and a half. I really wanted to like the place since...

Things I like to see are basic information about the program: number of spots, approximate interview dates, a typical yearly schedule, information on clinics, amount of call, whether you can single board, salary & benefits information, etc. It's nice to have info on the city and places to...

No. But, it helps to have an idea of the types of research/labs you'd be interested in and to be able to explain why.

That's because people don't need an anonymous message board to tell them it's Man's Greatest Hospital. :laugh::laugh:

I don't know about that. As an intern I spent 3 months between the cardiology service, CHF, and the CCU. Another 3 months in various ICU's. Depending on the program it could be pretty hard to avoid cards and critical care. It's all how you look at it, though. I look at my cards time just as...

It doesn't matter at all. Just make sure it's the PI that writes the letter of rec. You don't want a letter from a grad student or post-doc.

Doesn't matter at all. Most people do their PhD work on something very different from their undergrad work. It might cause trouble if you were trying to do something really different, like get a PhD in physical chemistry after doing undergrad work in psychology, but aside from that as long as...

It sort of depends on what you want and where you want to be and how risk-averse you are. For instance, if you're sure you want to do fellowship at MSKCC and you won't be happy with your life if you do fellowship anywhere else then take the guaranteed spot. You may have a great shot at MSKCC...

You typically apply to the MSTP and once in then choose a specific PI and graduate department. I think that if you're going to tell people, especially if it's on your application, that you want to pursue a career in neuroscience then you need to show them that you know what you're getting...

I agree that you can do whichever major/minor you want, but I would recommend doing some neuroscience research.

Not very. In general, it's extremely unlikely that it'll be the make or break point for interviews or ranking. From what I've heard from others on admission committees you can generally only hurt yourself. It does give you a chance to explain a deficit in your app or highlight interesting...

Coke? Is it all the coke?

I think doing a residency and then fellowship that has a significant amount of built in research time is a reasonable approach. There are a number of fellowships that allow for this, and some programs even allow you to take a couple extra years of research to complete a PhD as part of the...

It makes absolutely no difference which one you major in. Do whichever you personally find more exciting. Neither will make a big difference in terms of preparing you for medical school coursework. In graduate school you will take more advanced courses in whatever area you end up doing your PhD...