Chances?

[salamander343]

I just finished my third year of undergrad, majoring in Biology. I am an Ontario resident. I will be applying to Canadian schools but I also want to see how I would do in the United States. I don't think my extracurriculars are good enough for this cycle, but I'm not sure.

 

MCAT: 520 (132/127/131/130)

GPA: 4.0

 

Other (this is what my ECs will look like as of June 1):

- Organ donation awareness (~100 people registered as donors through my campaign and ongoing)

- Hospital volunteering (~250 hours over 2 years in 1 department which includes training others, ~50 hours over 4 months in another department and ongoing)

- Retirement home volunteering (40 hours at one for high school hours, ~15 hours over 1 month at another and ongoing)

- Research assistant (~500 hours over 2 years and ongoing, 1 oral presentation at a conference, no publications)

- Worked part time at a veterinary clinic (~120 hours over 4 months and ongoing)

- Volunteered at downtown mission (~15 hours over 1 month and ongoing)

- Volunteered with Salvation Army (~15 hours over 1 month and ongoing)

- Volunteered with the Canadian Cancer Society (~15 hours over 1 month and ongoing)

- Private tutoring (~100 hours over 2 years)

- Psychology TA (1 semester)

- Peer mentoring (2 years)

- Nephrologist shadowing (~40 hours)

- Veterinarian shadowing (~40 hours)

- Captain of Science Olympiad Team (high school)

- Coordinator of a sports club (~30 members, ~150 hours over 2 years and ongoing)

- Academic scholarships (entrance scholarship and multiple subject awards)

- President's List & Honor Roll

- High school academic awards

- International traveling (several cities in Europe and Asia)

- 4th Year Representative on a student council for an honor's society (starting in May)

- Windsor Regional Science, Technology and Engineering Fair (WRSTEF) Judge Team Leader

 

Here is a list of American schools accepting Canadians that I have managed to locate from another topic on these forums. Are there any schools to remove or add?

John Hopkins

Harvard

Washington U

Perelman - UPenn

Vanderbilt

Stanford

Yale

Baylor

Northwestern

Mount Sinai

U Pitts

Weill Cornell

Mayo

Columbia

Albert Einstein

St Louis

U of Virginia

Duke

U of Wisconsin

Penn State

Emory

Case Western

Stony Brook

Wayne State

Boston U

George Washington

Thomas Jefferson

Dartmouth

State U of New York

Virginia Commonwealth

Central Michigan

New York Med College

U of Kentucky

Chicago - Rosalind

Georgetown

USC - Greenville

Michigan State

Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

 

All advice is appreciated. I also have all of May to make any improvements to my extracurriculars before the applications open on June 1st (since I plan on applying ASAP). Thank you!

[JohnGrisham]

 

I just finished my third year of undergrad, majoring in Biology. I am an Ontario resident. I will be applying to Canadian schools but I also want to see how I would do in the United States. I don't think my extracurriculars are good enough for this cycle, but I'm not sure.

 

MCAT: 520 (132/127/131/130)

GPA: 4.0

 

Other (this is what my ECs will look like as of June 1):

- Organ donation awareness (~100 people registered as donors through my campaign and ongoing)

- Hospital volunteering (~250 hours over 2 years in 1 department which includes training others, ~50 hours over 4 months in another department and ongoing)

- Retirement home volunteering (40 hours at one for high school hours, ~15 hours over 1 month at another and ongoing)

- Research assistant (~500 hours over 2 years and ongoing, 1 oral presentation at a conference, no publications)

- Worked part time at a veterinary clinic (~120 hours over 4 months and ongoing)

- Volunteered at downtown mission (~15 hours over 1 month and ongoing)

- Volunteered with Salvation Army (~15 hours over 1 month and ongoing)

- Volunteered with the Canadian Cancer Society (~15 hours over 1 month and ongoing)

- Private tutoring (~100 hours over 2 years)

- Psychology TA (1 semester)

- Peer mentoring (2 years)

- Nephrologist shadowing (~40 hours)

- Veterinarian shadowing (~40 hours)

- Captain of Science Olympiad Team (high school)

- Coordinator of a sports club (~30 members, ~150 hours over 2 years and ongoing)

- Academic scholarships (entrance scholarship and multiple subject awards)

- President's List & Honor Roll

- High school academic awards

- International traveling (several cities in Europe and Asia)

- 4th Year Representative on a student council for an honor's society (starting in May)

- Windsor Regional Science, Technology and Engineering Fair (WRSTEF) Judge Team Leader

 

Here is a list of American schools accepting Canadians that I have managed to locate from another topic on these forums. Are there any schools to remove or add?

John Hopkins

Harvard

Washington U

Perelman - UPenn

Vanderbilt

Stanford

Yale

Baylor

Northwestern

Mount Sinai

U Pitts

Weill Cornell

Mayo

Columbia

Albert Einstein

St Louis

U of Virginia

Duke

U of Wisconsin

Penn State

Emory

Case Western

Stony Brook

Wayne State

Boston U

George Washington

Thomas Jefferson

Dartmouth

State U of New York

Virginia Commonwealth

Central Michigan

New York Med College

U of Kentucky

Chicago - Rosalind

Georgetown

USC - Greenville

Michigan State

Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

 

All advice is appreciated. I also have all of May to make any improvements to my extracurriculars before the applications open on June 1st (since I plan on applying ASAP). Thank you!

 

Won't hurt to apply, you have good stats and decent ECs. Just make sure to make your written submissions stand out.

[Bambi]

I just don't get it as to why you would want to bother applying to US schools, potentially be accepted and incur all that debt when you will potentially be a very good candidate in Canada? Subject, of course, to showing commitment in your ECs, not mainly listing ECs where it looks like you are racing to the finishing line to have some very short term items to list, the purpose of which might be assumed by the readers. I would focus on having longterm commitments in ECs/volunteering that demonstrate CanMEDS competencies and my personal focus would be to place my energies there rather than work on US applications, but this is just my own gut and personal opinion for what it is worth.

[salamander343]

Won't hurt to apply, you have good stats and decent ECs. Just make sure to make your written submissions stand out.

Thank you for the advice!

 

I just don't get it as to why you would want to bother applying to US schools, potentially be accepted and incur all that debt when you will potentially be a very good candidate in Canada? Subject, of course, to showing commitment in your ECs, not mainly listing ECs where it looks like you are racing to the finishing line to have some very short term items to list, the purpose of which might be assumed by the readers. I would focus on having longterm commitments in ECs/volunteering that demonstrate CanMEDS competencies and my personal focus would be to place my energies there rather than work on US applications, but this is just my own gut and personal opinion for what it is worth.

As everyone knows, Canada is incredibly competitive (many good candidates fail to get accepted year after year) and I am fortunate enough to have parents who can afford a medical education in the United States without needing a loan. As a result, I figured it couldn't hurt to take a shot at more schools to see if I can get accepted somewhere this cycle. That being said, a year off is something that I am fully prepared for since I know getting into medical school takes patience and perseverance due to how competitive all of the applicants are. 

 

Those short term ECs are commitments that I started this summer and planned on listing in applications to Canadian schools several months from now. I definitely agree that they can be perceived negatively when applying in the United States (which has an earlier application cycle) due to being so short term.

 

Thank you for the insight! I appreciate it.

[JohnGrisham]

I just don't get it as to why you would want to bother applying to US schools, potentially be accepted and incur all that debt when you will potentially be a very good candidate in Canada? Subject, of course, to showing commitment in your ECs, not mainly listing ECs where it looks like you are racing to the finishing line to have some very short term items to list, the purpose of which might be assumed by the readers. I would focus on having longterm commitments in ECs/volunteering that demonstrate CanMEDS competencies and my personal focus would be to place my energies there rather than work on US applications, but this is just my own gut and personal opinion for what it is worth.

There is no gaurantees of an acceptance in Canada. I've known people who interviewed 3 years, with waitlist over and over - had they just started in the US(they had the means to attend), they would have already been a resident.   

 

Of course i agree with you, but not the same case for everyone. 

 

Plenty of great candidates get passed up every year.

 

In the case of the OP though - i would NOT reccomend applying to US schools as a 3rd year. You haven't even given Canada a fair chance yet. You should be applying as a 3rd year(test run), and then once you complete 4th year apply again, and this time throw in US schools. 

[011235813]

There is no gaurantees of an acceptance in Canada. I've known people who interviewed 3 years, with waitlist over and over - had they just started in the US(they had the means to attend), they would have already been a resident.   

 

Of course i agree with you, but not the same case for everyone. 

 

Plenty of great candidates get passed up every year.

 

In the case of the OP though - i would NOT reccomend applying to US schools as a 3rd year. You haven't even given Canada a fair chance yet. You should be applying as a 3rd year(test run), and then once you complete 4th year apply again, and this time throw in US schools. 

He/she is applying as a 4th year. Just finished 3rd year.

[JohnGrisham]

He/she is applying as a 4th year. Just finished 3rd year.

That is what I meant. Disservice to leave Canada after 1 attempt as a current 4th year.

[salamander343]

In the case of the OP though - i would NOT reccomend applying to US schools as a 3rd year. You haven't even given Canada a fair chance yet. You should be applying as a 3rd year(test run), and then once you complete 4th year apply again, and this time throw in US schools. 

Is there any specific reason for this?

 

Once again, thank you for your help!

[JohnGrisham]

Is there any specific reason for this?

 

Once again, thank you for your help!

If you have competitive stats, why would you go through the extra cost, hoops and hassles of going to the US? When you could simply wait a year.

[Curiousaboutapps1]

Here's my opinion:

Your overall MCAT is good but it is unbalanced. This will hurt you in American school. However a rewrite with such a high score will also make it look like you have poor judgment.

 

You extracurriculars are okay. You seem to hit the main points of a generic pre-med. However, there doesn't appear to be any significant long term commitment. Can you talk passionately and honestly about how any of these activities impacted your life? Do you have any passion projects you do that can make you stand out as an individual?

 

In my experience applying to the US, they place heavy emphasis on shadowing and helping the underserved. Your shadowing hours are admittedly low, as are your hours volunteering for community service to that population.

 

Your stats are good. Your extracurriculars show promise but I think you would benefit from a year spent focusing on them more and demonstrating a passion and commitment to what you do. At a lot of the schools you are applying to (top 10 mainly) you need more than good stats and standard ECs, you need to stand out.

 

I think you should throw in an application to ontario schools because I promise you that the schools you are applying to are no easier. They accept maybe 3 Canadian students a year and are significantly more expensive. Also, based on the Windsor reference... you are SWOMEN.

 

TLDR; Good stats. ECs do not stand out given the caliber of school you are targeting.

[salamander343]

Here's my opinion:

Your overall MCAT is good but it is unbalanced. This will hurt you in American school. However a rewrite with such a high score will also make it look like you have poor judgment.

 

You extracurriculars are okay. You seem to hit the main points of a generic pre-med. However, there doesn't appear to be any significant long term commitment. Can you talk passionately and honestly about how any of these activities impacted your life? Do you have any passion projects you do that can make you stand out as an individual?

 

In my experience applying to the US, they place heavy emphasis on shadowing and helping the underserved. Your shadowing hours are admittedly low, as are your hours volunteering for community service to that population.

 

Your stats are good. Your extracurriculars show promise but I think you would benefit from a year spent focusing on them more and demonstrating a passion and commitment to what you do. At a lot of the schools you are applying to (top 10 mainly) you need more than good stats and standard ECs, you need to stand out.

 

I think you should throw in an application to ontario schools because I promise you that the schools you are applying to are no easier. They accept maybe 3 Canadian students a year and are significantly more expensive. Also, based on the Windsor reference... you are SWOMEN.

 

TLDR; Good stats. ECs do not stand out given the caliber of school you are targeting.

Thank you for the advice! I am definitely considering only applying to Canadian schools this cycle and leaving the US schools for next cycle when my ECs are better (assuming I do not get in anywhere this cycle).