Chance Me Please!

[BasicGanglia]

1

[JohnGrisham]

I'm a Canadian citizen (not dual) who graduated Johns Hopkins undergrad in chemistry. Ontario resident.

 

I'm hoping to go USMD because I don't think I have a chance at Canadian schools (my OMSAS GPA is pretty low and I don't qualify for any weighting). I've thought about doing some more undergrad coursework at a Canadian school to bump that OMSAS up, but I don't know if it'll help much. 

 

AMCAS GPA: 3.83

MCAT: 520 (pretty even across)

 

- Two pubs, not first author but I worked in two labs at Hopkins Med for a while

- One small award for research, no other awards or scholarships

- Mentored and tutored struggling inner-city HS student

- Executive of a school club that provides cancer-related help

- Some hospital volunteering

- Cancer support group member

 

My EC's are pretty average, nothing with a long time commitment. I'd be more than happy with mid or low tier USMD. What d'ya think? Where can I improve and how? Thanks for your replies.

 

P.S. OMSAS is truly the devil. My school gives out A+'s but verrry rarely. Some profs don't even give out A+. So essentially OMSAS will count all my A's as 3.9, bringing my GPA down quite a bit.

Are you eligible to apply to any individual Ontario schools? 

 

Look at your year by year breakdown, how many credits you took etc. UWO may offer you an interview for example if you meet their requirements. Queens as well.

 

Otherwise apply AMCAS first day its open and broadly, and you should be fine assuming LORs and ECs are in check.

[BasicGanglia]

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[011235813]

Credits wise I don't have a problem. I took a full course load all years. But my school has a stupid rule where all your grades from 1st semester of 1st yr are pass/fail so I won't get any weighting.

 

I can apply to Ontario schools but my GPA probably takes me out of the running for UofT, Mac, and Ottawa. I'm not sure I'd have much of a shot at Western or Queen's. My last 2 year GPA is crap (P.chem is hard!). My best 2 years on the OMSAS scale would probably be slightly below 3.9. 

So if your best 2 years followed Western's 60/40 rule, and your 520 has >/=129 in Verbal, >/=128 in Bio, you would have met Western's cutoffs this year. The cutoffs might shift but the odds are they'll stay pretty close. (Maybe 129-130 in Bio eventually) Also, they'll probably start looking at Psych in the next few years. But if your MCAT is good, and your 2 Year GPA is above 3.70 and meets 60/40, you would have a Western interview.

Queen's, G-d only knows. I know of people who got into Ivy League schools who didn't get Queen's invites. Anecdotal, I know, but it's really hard to know what they're looking for. 

[BasicGanglia]

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[uncharted1114]

Other than your lack of any long-term ECs, I don't see anything that's stopping you stats-wise from being reasonably competitive for top-tier USMD schools. I also graduated from a US undergrad with a slightly lower GPA and similar MCAT and got interviews from several top schools in my cycle (including Hopkins, although they rejected me post-interview...)

[BasicGanglia]

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[uncharted1114]

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Hopkins undergrad is still well-regarded it not notoriously difficult and admissions committees take that into account. Besides, a 3.83 is at or slightly below the median accepted GPA for most top 20 schools.

 

I applied to about 20 schools, almost all of which ranked in the top 30. Basically, if it was a decent school and if there was a chance I could get financial aid or a merit scholarship, I applied.