Notgettingin Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Hey there, I am looking for some honest assessment.I have gotten accepted into 2 Carribean schools (SGU and Saba), I will most likely defer if there is some chance that I might get accepted into USMD. I have also applied to USDO, Canadian friendly schools.My current stats are as follows: (using OMSAS grades)cGPA: 3.511GPA: 2.71 (1 failed course)2GPA: 3.673GPA: 3.764GPA: 3.95old MCAT: 33 (91%): P11/V10/B12new MCAT: 518 (97%): ChemPhys130/CARS127/B132/PS129ECs: 2 years of volunteering at a UHN hospital, all of which was in direct contact with patients. ~350 hours in totalI have done some research volunteering, with around 250 hours in total.I shadowed a surgeon and a GP for 50 hours total.I play a musical instrument at a moderately high level, and play sports.That is pretty much the gist of my application.I have a very marked upward trend. I was a part time student in my first year and my grades were terrible. In this year I failed one course. I think this is really holding me back right now. My next three years were successively better, going from good to excellent. In my final year my lowest grade was 87 and my highest grade was 100. I graduated with high distinction from U of T. My program was a science program but I minored in philosophy as well. Like I wrote above, I applied to USDO. The following is the list of schools that I have applied to: Arizona Lincoln Memorial/Debusk MSUCOM Nova TouroCOMNY TouroCOMCali UNECOM WUHCOM (Western) Kansas City I am looking for advice with the USMD schools to apply to. So far this is the list I am looking at: BaylorBoston UniversityCA Northstate Univ COMCentral Michigan University College of MedicineCreighton University School of MedicineEast TN State U., James H. Quillen Coll. of Med.Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of MedicineFlorida State UniversityGeorge Washington University Sch of Med & Hlth SciGeorgetown University School of MedicineHoward UniversityIndiana University School of MedicineJacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at BuffaloLSU School of Medicine in New OrleansLewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple UniversityLoma Linda University School of MedicineMeharry Medical CollegeMichigan State UniversityNew York Medical CollegeOakland University William Beaumont School of MedicineTulane University School of MedicineUniversity of Arkansas College of MedicineUniversity of Illinois at Chicago-College of Medic Are there other schools which, given the stats above, I might have a shot at? Do I have a shot at any of the USMD schools, or are my stats too low? Any information or advice will be very much appreciated.Thank you for your time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 So you just applied recently to all those schools? With your stats you shouldn't have to go abroad to the carrib. Beef your ECS continually and you should get interviews in the US for summer 2018 start date. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Do you not have any other non academics? Work experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 For DO youre missing MU-COM(Marian), and for MD Jefferson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notgettingin Posted May 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 So you just applied recently to all those schools? With your stats you shouldn't have to go abroad to the carrib. Beef your ECS continually and you should get interviews in the US for summer 2018 start date. I applied to those DO schools a few weeks ago, yes. I will apply to USMD in June when it opens, but I am looking for feedback on the school list. I have applied to USMD before as I told you in our PM conversation but that was before my new MCAT grade so effectively this will be my first time applying with these stats. I want to make sure I apply to the right schools this time around. Do you not have any other non academics? Work experience? Yeah I am at RCM grade 10 for piano playing. I do have work experience and that is in the app, but it's not EC so I did not mention it here. It's not a very big CV in terms of work, mainly summer jobs. For DO youre missing MU-COM(Marian), and for MD Jefferson I will add Marian immediately, and I will apply to Jefferson when AMCAS opens. Thanks for those two names. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Definitely add all the work experience and extra-curriculurs. Anything outside of academics that helps them paint a picture of you, is really important. Summer jobs are great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notgettingin Posted May 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Do you think I should apply to higher tier schools for USMD, or is the list above the most realistic set of schools at which I might be able to interview? I have applied to all of those USMD schools once already, will that affect things? Also, what would happen if I accept the SGU offer and go to the Caribbean, but somehow get accepted to a USMD program during the first year there. Would I be able to start in the USMD program without any issues? What's stopping people who go to the Caribbean from doing this? Right now my plan is to defer the Caribbean offers, but if it would be beneficial to take (transferring credits maybe, for example) them then that's something to consider too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Just apply to all of them that realistically take internationals. Definitely do not limit yourself to top tier. Even low tier are difficult for internationals. You dont have a green card or citizenship, so you are disadvantaged. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah31 Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 Hey guys, wondering if any of you would mind commenting on my chances for US MD or DO schools. My stats are below. Year 1: 2.7/4 Year 2: 2.855/4 Year 3: 3.4/4 (first semester was 3.02 and second was 3.78) Year 4: 3.975/4 Grad school GPA: 3.7/4 I also have two first author papers (mid-tier journal and Science) and am a co-author on a number of other papers (mid-tier and Nature Comm). I would have very strong LORs from these research supervisors. How do US schools look at publications? Would this help me out at all? Around 6 years of research experience, lots of work experience working with people with disabilities, and a bit of volunteer and athletics. Haven't written the MCAT yet, wondering if it's even worth it? I've read that US schools usually look at upwards trends in GPA. I realize my first two years were pretty rough (financial and personal issues) but I got things together in the last two years and grad school. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
passionfruit_ Posted May 27, 2020 Report Share Posted May 27, 2020 5 hours ago, Sarah31 said: Hey guys, wondering if any of you would mind commenting on my chances for US MD or DO schools. My stats are below. Year 1: 2.7/4 Year 2: 2.855/4 Year 3: 3.4/4 (first semester was 3.02 and second was 3.78) Year 4: 3.975/4 Grad school GPA: 3.7/4 I also have two first author papers (mid-tier journal and Science) and am a co-author on a number of other papers (mid-tier and Nature Comm). I would have very strong LORs from these research supervisors. How do US schools look at publications? Would this help me out at all? Around 6 years of research experience, lots of work experience working with people with disabilities, and a bit of volunteer and athletics. Haven't written the MCAT yet, wondering if it's even worth it? I've read that US schools usually look at upwards trends in GPA. I realize my first two years were pretty rough (financial and personal issues) but I got things together in the last two years and grad school. Thanks in advance! I would say that US med schools care a lot about research involvement, so it's great that you have papers (let alone two first author papers in reputable journals)! What do your science and cumulative AMCAS GPAs look like for your undergrad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearded frog Posted May 28, 2020 Report Share Posted May 28, 2020 US schools do like to see an upwards trend, but only relative to other similar GPAs, and you still need to meet a threshold. (For instance if there are two 3.6 students they will prefer the one who got 3.0 in first year and 4.0 in fourth year vs the reverse). They only use undergrad GPA and have both total and sicence/math GPAs so if you can calculate these for yourself we can better advise you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted May 28, 2020 Report Share Posted May 28, 2020 14 hours ago, Sarah31 said: Hey guys, wondering if any of you would mind commenting on my chances for US MD or DO schools. My stats are below. Year 1: 2.7/4 Year 2: 2.855/4 Year 3: 3.4/4 (first semester was 3.02 and second was 3.78) Year 4: 3.975/4 Grad school GPA: 3.7/4 I also have two first author papers (mid-tier journal and Science) and am a co-author on a number of other papers (mid-tier and Nature Comm). I would have very strong LORs from these research supervisors. How do US schools look at publications? Would this help me out at all? Around 6 years of research experience, lots of work experience working with people with disabilities, and a bit of volunteer and athletics. Haven't written the MCAT yet, wondering if it's even worth it? I've read that US schools usually look at upwards trends in GPA. I realize my first two years were pretty rough (financial and personal issues) but I got things together in the last two years and grad school. Thanks in advance! Do the MCAT and find out, if you can get a very strong score, and have a strong enough non-academics you may be able to swing it. if you can explain well and are compelling in your personal statements about the life circumstances you had in year 1/2 and how you grew from it etc, it could work out. Won't know until you take the MCAT and really knock it out of the park though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bearded frog Posted May 29, 2020 Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 21 hours ago, JohnGrisham said: Do the MCAT and find out, if you can get a very strong score, and have a strong enough non-academics you may be able to swing it. if you can explain well and are compelling in your personal statements about the life circumstances you had in year 1/2 and how you grew from it etc, it could work out. Won't know until you take the MCAT and really knock it out of the park though. Assuming same credits in each year, their ballpark cumulative GPA is 3.2-3.3 which would be below acceptance for almost all American applicants, let alone Canadian, so realistically they will need to improve their undergrad GPA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGrisham Posted May 29, 2020 Report Share Posted May 29, 2020 11 hours ago, bearded frog said: Assuming same credits in each year, their ballpark cumulative GPA is 3.2-3.3 which would be below acceptance for almost all American applicants, let alone Canadian, so realistically they will need to improve their undergrad GPA. Totally, but an upward trend, a masters, and strong non-academics(unclear if OP has this), coupled with a top MCAT score *might* squeek an applicant an interview or two at a USMD, and similarly at USDO programs. It purely relies on getting a killer percentile MCAT score to get a look, and a very strong personal statement based on life experience/non-academics. Not saying OP has that, but never know! Theres been numerous similar cases on these forums over the years, and in real life from my undergraduate university. An extra year of 4.0 undergrad coursework certainly would help, or better yet a 2nd focused undergrad degree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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