Welcome! My name is

Cindy,

and I am a 5th-year MD-PhD student in NYC. I create content on navigating medical and graduate school with balance and purpose. My mission is to make academic spaces feel a little more human, and to mentor the next generation of curious, driven students.

More About Me

Recent Articles

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How to Get Research Experience: 3 Ways Students Find Their First Lab

If you’re hoping to do a PhD or MD-PhD (i.e. any research-focused degree), then research is absolutely necessary. But in the past, I’ve had...
February 14, 2025
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The Overlooked Interview Question That Can Boost Your Med School Application

The Interview Question Almost No One Prepares For If you’re applying to medical school, you’ve probably spent hours practicing answers for “Why medicine?”, “Tell...
August 31, 2023
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My USMLE Step 1 Test-Day Experience: Tips, Surprises & Lessons Learned

I took the USMLE STEP 1 in February 2023, and right after I walked out of the testing center, (still buzzing with adrenaline), I...
August 25, 2023
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The Hidden Risk Nobody Talks About When Picking an MD-PhD Program

If you’re applying to MD-PhD programs, you’ve probably spent hours scrolling through lab websites, imagining the exact PI you want to work with, and...
August 18, 2023
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My Path to MD-PhD: Why Research Alone (or Medicine Alone) Wasn’t Enough

For those who are new here, my name is Cindy, and I’m a third year MD-PhD student currently in my PhD years doing biomedical...
August 11, 2023
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The #1 Non-Negotiable to Prepare for Medical School Interviews

Interviews may feel distant when it’s early in the cycle, and you’re still knee-deep in writing secondaries. However, it’s important to start thinking about...
July 20, 2023
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My MCAT Mistake: Getting stuck in “content review” mode

One of the biggest mistakes you can make while studying for the MCAT (and in fact, I made this mistake myself!) is spending too...
June 27, 2023
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How does an MD-PhD work, anyway?

This is always a fun question to answer when people in my life ask me what degree program I’m in (or how far I’m...
June 24, 2023
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How to get shadowing experience (if you don’t personally know a physician!)

Shadowing is an essential activity to include on your application (in fact, if you don’t have any shadowing hours, you should get some before...
June 20, 2023
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Approaching the “Leadership” essay in your secondary applications

A common prompt you will encounter while writing your secondary applications is the “leadership” prompt: Please describe your most meaningful leadership positions. (Columbia) What...
June 18, 2023
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Pre-writing Secondary Essays for Medical School Applications

Now that many students have submitted their primary applications, it’s time to start prewriting secondary essays! What are Secondary Essays? Secondary essays are prompts...
June 12, 2023
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[Part 5] Navigating Pre-Med at Cornell: The Gap Year Experience

Welcome! Hello and welcome! This is Part 5 of my six-part “Navigating Pre-med” series that I will be publishing on my blog. It’s been…...
June 21, 2021
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