PLEASE HELP: What are my chances for american medical schools?

[KHB123]

I am Canadian. What are my chances for top american med schools? Which american schools would you recommend applying to? What would you recommend improving in my application between now and September?

I have a 4.0 cGPA, 521 MCAT (127 CARS), many meaningful extracurriculars (although I am worried because I do not have any meaningful research or shadowing). A few of my major ECAs include:

-Student trustee of a major Canadian research university

-Member of student government

-Youngest board member of a national education advocacy organization

- National chair of prestigious political training program (involved for 7 years)

-250 hours EMT overseas

-Teach sports to children with disabilities for many years

-Executive of large cultural club on campus 

-a ton of intramural high school, sports, high school class president... (good stuff in high school)

 

Thanks!!!

[bins]

Idk, I'd say learn more about the selection process.

[Jon Snow]

I don't think they are being inconsiderate - I think the reality is that with a "low" CARS score, but good overall MCAT and GPA the US is a fantastic option - especially at the top level. 

A few first steps - decide the schools you are interested in:

 https://bemoacademicconsulting.com/canadian-friendly-usa-med-schools - this lists most schools that consider  Canadians as OOS applicants. 

Also invest in a MSAR subscription to see advanced statistics for exact distribution of MCAT scores, as well as interview success rate. I recommend putting all the information in your personalized excel sheet to save for later. A good tool for MSAR is to look at their "state" distribution of matriculants and see if they had ANY Canadians (It will list below the map which country students come from). 

Next, and I cannot stress this enough, get your personal statement and letters of references complete ASAP. I would ask pretty much everyone you know that can write you a strong reference to do so. You can submit up to 10 in a centralized server, and then assign them to schools of your choosing. Also, getting the personal statement (and 15 activity descriptions) finished in early May will go a long way. 

Another strategy is to use https://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/2018-2019-allopathic-school-specific-discussions.1121/ to look at each of your desired school's secondary essays and also have them complete some time in mid June. 

Once AMCAS opens - you should copy and paste all your information, and send it ASAP. Then, as each secondary comes back to you, you can also complete that right away as the questions are unlikely to change from year to year. If you are complete all your secondaries by mid-late July, I can almost guarantee you will be getting 4-7 interviews, a few of which might be at the tier 1 schools. 

Note - some schools may require CASPer so you should try to write that early as well

In short:

- Apply as early as possible, to as many places that will accept you (and you can afford) and through sheer numbers you will gain an acceptance next year 

- Note - you can finish all your Canadian Applications after US because ideally you will be done most of US essays before OMSAS even opens. Consider UBC if you can, as well as McGill to maximize chances. 

If anyone has any questions - please post them here because others may have the same. 
 

Best of luck, Congrats on the great MCAT score, and GPA! 

[KHB123]

7 minutes ago, dehindu said:

I don't think they are being inconsiderate - I think the reality is that with a "low" CARS score, but good overall MCAT and GPA the US is a fantastic option - especially at the top level. 

A few first steps - decide the schools you are interested in:

 https://bemoacademicconsulting.com/canadian-friendly-usa-med-schools - this lists most schools that consider  Canadians as OOS applicants. 

Also invest in a MSAR subscription to see advanced statistics for exact distribution of MCAT scores, as well as interview success rate. I recommend putting all the information in your personalized excel sheet to save for later. A good tool for MSAR is to look at their "state" distribution of matriculants and see if they had ANY Canadians (It will list below the map which country students come from). 

Next, and I cannot stress this enough, get your personal statement and letters of references complete ASAP. I would ask pretty much everyone you know that can write you a strong reference to do so. You can submit up to 10 in a centralized server, and then assign them to schools of your choosing. Also, getting the personal statement (and 15 activity descriptions) finished in early May will go a long way. 

Another strategy is to use https://forums.studentdoctor.net/forums/2018-2019-allopathic-school-specific-discussions.1121/ to look at each of your desired school's secondary essays and also have them complete some time in mid June. 

Once AMCAS opens - you should copy and paste all your information, and send it ASAP. Then, as each secondary comes back to you, you can also complete that right away as the questions are unlikely to change from year to year. If you are complete all your secondaries by mid-late July, I can almost guarantee you will be getting 4-7 interviews, a few of which might be at the tier 1 schools. 

Note - some schools may require CASPer so you should try to write that early as well

In short:

- Apply as early as possible, to as many places that will accept you (and you can afford) and through sheer numbers you will gain an acceptance next year 

- Note - you can finish all your Canadian Applications after US because ideally you will be done most of US essays before OMSAS even opens. Consider UBC if you can, as well as McGill to maximize chances. 

If anyone has any questions - please post them here because others may have the same. 
 

Best of luck, Congrats on the great MCAT score, and GPA! 

Thank you. I really appreciate your thoughtful response!

I am a QC resident which will help for McGill, but in terms of American schools, does it hurt me that my ECAs are not traditional? That I've never really shadowed or done research? I plan on doing research this summer but it will not be on my american application if i submit it at the ideal time.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to make myself more competitive?

Thank you again!

[Jon Snow]

3 minutes ago, KHB123 said:

Thank you. I really appreciate your thoughtful response!

I am a QC resident which will help for McGill, but in terms of American schools, does it hurt me that my ECAs are not traditional? That I've never really shadowed or done research? I plan on doing research this summer but it will not be on my american application if i submit it at the ideal time.

Do you have any other suggestions on how to make myself more competitive?

Thank you again!

A couple notes about ECs: 

- Anything highschool is not going to be on your application (I know it sucks, but they have a college cutoff) 

- If you can use this time now to secure a shadowing position (even very minimal, but start getting hours now) I think they really see this as a sort of check mark, but that is just speculation. 

- The Research may hurt, but you are in a different stream of applicant, so it is understandable. Once you submit your application, you can send periodic application updates as they spring up (e.g. progress in your research, etc). I think you can write about what you WILL do over the course of the summer so it shouldn't be too bad. 

Reference letters are very important and weighed heavily I believe, so make sure you have them (a lot require from professors who have taught you, some mandating they be "non-science" letters of reference).