Hi everyone. Decided to hop on here and ask for some advice/insight.
Some background:
For the past 4 years I have been working as a lab assistant and have built up a research CV which includes a co-author paper in the journal of immunology and a first author paper in the journal of Molecular and Cellular Proteomics. With another first author paper close to submission to Nature Aging (fingers crossed) but would be on bioRxiv within the next couple months. Cumulative GPA is a 3.53 (which would be explained in my application through hardships) but my 3 years at the University of California-Riverside, after transferring, resulted in a GPA of 3.97 in Biochemistry. The field of research I am in is Glyco-immunology.
My dilemma:
I have been striving for admission into an MD/PhD and had an unsuccessful cycle two years ago. I have been gearing up to re-apply this year but realized the timeline probably no longer suits me, as I would be 30 years old when I start, IF I get in. Meaning I would likely be between 45-50 years old by the time I am able to open my own lab, assuming everything goes well.
For this reason, I have been heavily leaning towards applying for PhD programs this year instead. As I am more than certain that research is where I would go with an MD/PhD. So might as well fully commit and go the PhD-only route. My PI (an MD/PhD) is pushing for the PhD-only but the post-doc in my lab is pushing for me to still submit MD/PhD applications. So I am a bit conflicted.
However, with a PhD, there are some issues. My PI has offered a direct admission for the coming fall. This would be great as I could hit the ground running and would have my pick of potential projects but there is funding insecurity. He only has funding for at most, 2 more years. He is waiting on the result of a grant application but wont know his score until june and if its good, still wont know the final decision till October. He has mentioned possibly starting the process and if the application is unsuccessful then rescinding the offer so I could apply to programs in the fall. Is this something I should consider as the lab is a good fit?
Basically, im at a crossroads and i need to make a decision. Options are:
Apply MD/PhD
Apply PhD this fall
Apply both?
Direct Admit to my current lab but risk no-funding
Any advice on the route I should take would be appreciated, sorry for the long post but figured it couldnt hurt to lay it all out there. Thanks!