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Applying To US DO Med Schools - FAQs, Guidance & Canadian Friendly Schools


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Hi Mashmetoo and COMSA-premed! I'm interested in applying during this cycle as it comes to a close (classes starting in 2014) but since I'm unfamiliar with rolling apps, I'm not sure if there would be many/any seats left or what level of competition there is for the remaining seats. I'm sitting at a 3.45cGPA (3.7 in my last 2.5 years) with a 29Q MCAT. Can you give me any input on the applying late, or if it's even worth applying for 2014 at this point?

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Hi Mashmetoo and COMSA-premed! I'm interested in applying during this cycle as it comes to a close (classes starting in 2014) but since I'm unfamiliar with rolling apps, I'm not sure if there would be many/any seats left or what level of competition there is for the remaining seats. I'm sitting at a 3.45cGPA (3.7 in my last 2.5 years) with a 29Q MCAT. Can you give me any input on the applying late, or if it's even worth applying for 2014 at this point?

 

Way too late at this point. The 2013 cycle started June 1st 2013. There's no point applying now. You should try for the June 1st 2014 cycle for the 2015 entering class.

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I've been doing research on American options if Canadian applications don't work out for me this year. DO schools have become more interesting to me. One of my concerns is financing tuition. I was looking through the tuition document here:

 

http://www.aacom.org/data/tuitionfees/Documents/Tuition-Fees-1st-yr-2011-12-n-historical.PDF

 

MSU has a first year tuition of ~80 000 USD, so theoretically, I'd be looking at amassing over 300 000 dollars in debt by the end of residency.

 

Do Canadians still qualify for the 150k CA line of credit given to Canadian medical students if they attend a DO program in the US? And even so, how do people make up for a 150k line of credit only covering a portion of their tuition without even considering living costs.

 

I'd really appreciate some guidance about how people have managed this.

 

This whole thread has been really informative and helpful. Thanks very much. I haven't made it through all ~60 pages, but I'm getting there.

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My sister was able to get 225k from the bank with our parents as a consigner, and the rest of the money for remaining tuition and living expenses is from our parents.

 

If you're getting interviews at Canadian schools, give it another cycle too while looking at the US. If you can get interviews in Canada you can get into a US MD school.

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>>My sister was able to get 225k from the bank with our parents as a consigner <<

 

I hope people realized what consigner means. Both you and your parents are responsible for the loan in case of a default. That is why only parent is willing to do that. Moreover, your parents will have to go through credit check and the loan amount will show up in their credit report; and the loan will reduce their ability to get additional loan as long as the loan amount is not paid in full.

 

The good thing about MSU is the rent and expense is actually cheaper over there.

 

Good luck!

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Thanks for the replies. I'll have to do further research, I guess. The 150k line of credit seems like it will run out relatively quickly (if it's even possible to get that amount for DO). A school with tuition as high as MSU basically implies that you either come from a wealthy background or are willing to go into ~350-400k worth of debt to complete the degree. Which I'm certainly not willing to do. I'm applying as a mature applicant (34 years old this year) and so I lose ~10 years of time to pay back loans that younger applicants would have. Finances are definitely a concern for me. I appreciate the feedback.

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I've been doing research on American options if Canadian applications don't work out for me this year. DO schools have become more interesting to me. One of my concerns is financing tuition. I was looking through the tuition document here:

 

http://www.aacom.org/data/tuitionfees/Documents/Tuition-Fees-1st-yr-2011-12-n-historical.PDF

 

MSU has a first year tuition of ~80 000 USD, so theoretically, I'd be looking at amassing over 300 000 dollars in debt by the end of residency.

 

Do Canadians still qualify for the 150k CA line of credit given to Canadian medical students if they attend a DO program in the US? And even so, how do people make up for a 150k line of credit only covering a portion of their tuition without even considering living costs.

 

I'd really appreciate some guidance about how people have managed this.

 

This whole thread has been really informative and helpful. Thanks very much. I haven't made it through all ~60 pages, but I'm getting there.

 

 

 

DUDE HAVE YOU DONE ANY RESEARCH?!

 

IM NOT EVEN GOING TO BOTHER, but good luck to you

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Thanks for the replies. I'll have to do further research, I guess. The 150k line of credit seems like it will run out relatively quickly (if it's even possible to get that amount for DO). A school with tuition as high as MSU basically implies that you either come from a wealthy background or are willing to go into ~350-400k worth of debt to complete the degree. Which I'm certainly not willing to do. I'm applying as a mature applicant (34 years old this year) and so I lose ~10 years of time to pay back loans that younger applicants would have. Finances are definitely a concern for me. I appreciate the feedback.

 

Look into other DO schools. DMU doesn't accept Canadians any more, but they only charge ~$40k/year.

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Which DO schools in America if any require 5 courses per semester? I'm in Co-Op and my co-op supervisor said that it's not possible for me to take more than 4 courses a semester for the duration of my degree (which will take longer) because I switched from Co-Op Neuroscience to Co-Op Mental Health (Clinical Neuropsychology) during my second (current) year.

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Out of curiosity, can you explain why being in co-op would alter how many courses you can take in non co-op terms? I have never heard of that, and it doesn't make any sense from a perspective of a student who has done a co-op degree.

 

Schools in the US, just like Canada will want to see you can handle a normal courseload, while doing things such as volunteering and working. With that said, there shouldn't be a problem with not taking 5 courses in some terms, and having it light - if you are working more to compensate.

 

W.R.T Canada, however, it would be in your best interest to maintain 5 courses to take advantage of weighting formulas by various Ontario Medical Schools. You should check the specific medical schools websites to see what the requirements are.

 

Good luck!

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I can't have more than 18.5 credits before my second work term or my co-op supervisor said I would be ineligible to do the work term. Since I have a surplus of credits due to taking summer courses, he has effectively forced me to take 4 courses a semester and also graduate in 6 years rather than 5 (usually 5 for co-op students). This is because I switched to an entirely different program (Neuroscience to Mental Health which is essentially Clinical Neuropsychology) while I had all these course prerequisites done for Neuroscience but only 3 courses (Intro Psych I and II, and Introductory Neuropsychology) completed for the Mental Health Major. This is my situation.

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I can't have more than 18.5 credits before my second work term or my co-op supervisor said I would be ineligible to do the work term. Since I have a surplus of credits due to taking summer courses, he has effectively forced me to take 4 courses a semester and also graduate in 6 years rather than 5 (usually 5 for co-op students). This is because I switched to an entirely different program (Neuroscience to Mental Health which is essentially Clinical Neuropsychology) while I had all these course prerequisites done for Neuroscience but only 3 courses (Intro Psych I and II, and Introductory Neuropsychology) completed for the Mental Health Major. This is my situation.

 

I don't think I came across any schools that required you to take a certain amount of courses per year. At least not when I applied. As long as you are able to graduate, you'll be fine.

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So due to co-op I finish my degree in 4 more years from now. I'm writing the MCAT this summer (because it changes to MCAT 2015 next year). It remains valid for 3 years. So my question is, do you have to apply the year you're graduating from undergrad or can you apply the year before and send MCAT scores in then as well to DO schools, particularly Western or MSU?

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If you don't finish your degree 4 years from now, you can't apply until the summer before your last year. So that would be 3 years from now. The majority of US schools require you to have a Bachelors degree to matriculate. The very few that don't, very rarely take students without them.

 

If you're not applying for 3-4 years, don't take the MCAT this summer. Some schools require your MCAT to be within the last 2-3 years, so you might run the risk of it expiring.

 

Additionally, some schools may be no longer taking the old MCAT once 2016 hits, as it would be difficult to compare the two based on different grading schemes. An example of this is UofC for example.. This is just a hypothesis, so just take that into consideration.

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