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Hey everyone,

 

I am a Canadian who did his undergraduate work in a well-recognized American university. After graduation I worked in a research lab full-time for 1.5 years and am applying to USMD this year. 

I would really appreciate if I can get some input about my school choice. 

 

cGPA - 3.73, sGPA - 3.72, MCAT - 34 (11PS/11VR/12BS)

 

Average-to-low EC, did ER volunteering for ~2 years (200 hrs), mostly lab works - undergraduate lab assistant for 2 years, independent research for a year, full-time technician for 1.5 years. A paper had been submitted to well recognized journal (still under review), third author for two more manuscripts, but they hadn't been submitted yet. 

 

This is my current school list:

 

1) Howard University College of Medicine

2) Central Michigan College of MEdicine

3) Michigan State

4) George Washington

5) Rosalind Franklin

6) Virginia Commonwealth

7) New York Medical

8) Wisconsin medical

9) Penn State University College of Medicine

10) St. Louis

11) Kentucky 

12) Georgetown

13) Thomas Jefferson

14) Wayne State?

15) Stony Brook

16) Pittsberg

17) Albert Einstein

18) Dartmouth?

19) Boston University

20) Tuft

 

Any schools to add/remove? I'll appreciate any input. Thank you so much in advance! 

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1. Your LizzyM is 71.x which put you right at middle tier USMD schools, if I're you I'll apply 30 schools, 10 on lower tier to be safe, 15 on middle tier and 5 on top tier, just hope and give myself a chance for top tier schools, at least I tried.

2. Your GPA and MCAT almost guarantee an interview at Western Ontario, good chance at McMaster, Toronto and Queen's. I think you should apply to OMSAS. If you applied to Saskatchewan last cycle, you'll guarantee an interview there too.

3. SUNY-Stony Brook is not Canadian friendly, SUNY-upstate,SUNY-downstate and Mount Sinai are. Wayne State is super Canadian friendly, so does Oakland.

4. Add Emory, Case Western and Virginia, they are all AAU universities and very Canadian friendly, and your research experiences will help your applications a lot, if you get in one of these schools, the reward is 50 times your efforts.

5. Keep Dartmouth, add Cornell, NYU, North Western and Chicago, it's a long shot, but if you get in, the reward is 100 times bigger.

6. This summer you have to boost your ECs, a short medical volunteering trip to South America, join Toastmasters for speaking and social skills, learn a computer language, sports, music and art, all help. Shadowing a doctor for a week or two days will look good on your application. IF you started some ECs after submitting your primary AMCAS is OK, you still can mention them on secondary applications, even before X'mas you can send update email to schools if you didn't get interview invitation from them.

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1. Your LizzyM is 71.x which put you right at middle tier USMD schools, if I're you I'll apply 30 schools, 10 on lower tier to be safe, 15 on middle tier and 5 on top tier, just hope and give myself a chance for top tier schools, at least I tried.

 

2. Your GPA and MCAT almost guarantee an interview at Western Ontario, good chance at McMaster, Toronto and Queen's. I think you should apply to OMSAS. If you applied to Saskatchewan last cycle, you'll guarantee an interview there too.

 

3. SUNY-Stony Brook is not Canadian friendly, SUNY-upstate,SUNY-downstate and Mount Sinai are. Wayne State is super Canadian friendly, so does Oakland.

 

4. Add Emory, Case Western and Virginia, they are all AAU universities and very Canadian friendly, and your research experiences will help your applications a lot, if you get in one of these schools, the reward is 50 times your efforts.

 

5. Keep Dartmouth, add Cornell, NYU, North Western and Chicago, it's a long shot, but if you get in, the reward is 100 times bigger.

 

6. This summer you have to boost your ECs, a short medical volunteering trip to South America, join Toastmasters for speaking and social skills, learn a computer language, sports, music and art, all help. Shadowing a doctor for a week or two days will look good on your application. IF you started some ECs after submitting your primary AMCAS is OK, you still can mention them on secondary applications, even before X'mas you can send update email to schools if you didn't get interview invitation from them.

 

Thank you so much for your input! I am an Ontario resident, so I'll definitely apply to OMSAS schools you've mentioned + add in some schools you suggested (those application cost though...) Would it be still be okay if I did my undergraduate in US? I do play musical instrument but it's mainly for private hobby (did a lot of orchestra before college but heard it's not worth mentioning). I'll definitely try to find a shadowing opportunity. 

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Thank you so much for your input! I am an Ontario resident, so I'll definitely apply to OMSAS schools you've mentioned + add in some schools you suggested (those application cost though...) Would it be still be okay if I did my undergraduate in US? I do play musical instrument but it's mainly for private hobby (did a lot of orchestra before college but heard it's not worth mentioning). I'll definitely try to find a shadowing opportunity.

 

1. As long as you're Canadian citizen or resident studied in USA or Canada, as I know, all Canadian MD schools treated you equally.

 

2. If you're from Ottawa area and your last 3 years weighted GPA is 3.85+, you should apply Ottawa too. If you're from Northern Ontario, you should apply NOSM too, these two schools don't need MCAT. If you're not, just forget these two schools.

 

3. If you want to save time and money, here is my breakdown for you, do your math, take your own risk, assumed your ECs, references and essays can support your applications:

 

Choose 6 to 10 schools that you have 50%+ chance get interview - Michigan State, Wayne State, Central Michigan, Oakland, Rosalind, SUNY-UPSTATE, Einstein, NYMC, Jefferson, Kentucky, etc, so you can have 3 to 5 interviews from this group and maybe 1 to 2 acceptances.

 

Apply 10 to 15 other middle to top tier schools, you may have 1 to 2 interviews and hope for one acceptance.

 

4. I think Howard is a black school, if you're not black you may skip this school, double check yourself. Some schools on your list that me and my friends didn't applied to, so I can't comment for them. We applied USMD as a backup plan, I only applied a handful schools near Ontario, I got 3 interviews, two waitlisted, one acceptance in USA, just as I planned.

 

5. You have to open yourself to MD schools on your applications by telling them your hobbies, what you do beside schools, your life stories, your journeys, your happiness and sadness, your challenges and achievements, sometimes just in one sentence, not in the whole essay. Playing music is important in your life, MD schools like to know that before give you an interview invitation.

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1. As long as you're Canadian citizen or resident studied in USA or Canada, as I know, all Canadian MD schools treated you equally.

 

2. If you're from Ottawa area and your last 3 years weighted GPA is 3.85+, you should apply Ottawa too. If you're from Northern Ontario, you should apply NOSM too, these two schools don't need MCAT. If you're not, just forget these two schools.

 

3. If you want to save time and money, here is my breakdown for you, do your math, take your own risk, assumed your ECs, references and essays can support your applications:

 

Choose 6 to 10 schools that you have 50%+ chance get interview - Michigan State, Wayne State, Central Michigan, Oakland, Rosalind, SUNY-UPSTATE, Einstein, NYMC, Jefferson, Kentucky, etc, so you can have 3 to 5 interviews from this group and maybe 1 to 2 acceptances.

 

Apply 10 to 15 other middle to top tier schools, you may have 1 to 2 interviews and hope for one acceptance.

 

4. I think Howard is a black school, if you're not black you may skip this school, double check yourself. Some schools on your list that me and my friends didn't applied to, so I can't comment for them. We applied USMD as a backup plan, I only applied a handful schools near Ontario, I got 3 interviews, two waitlisted, one acceptance in USA, just as I planned.

 

5. You have to open yourself to MD schools on your applications by telling them your hobbies, what you do beside schools, your life stories, your journeys, your happiness and sadness, your challenges and achievements, sometimes just in one sentence, not in the whole essay. Playing music is important in your life, MD schools like to know that before give you an interview invitation.

Thank you so much. I am from Toronto, so I guess I'll forget about Northern Ontario or Ottawa. I'll apply to all your reach~hopeful schools you've mentioned (not sure about central MI though, someone's telling me that even US OOS applicants have really hard time getting into central MI). Yes, I checked about Howard's mission and I guess it's not right for me, thanks! 

 

also add mayo

With my MCAT and GPA?? <_<

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Thank you so much. I am from Toronto, so I guess I'll forget about Northern Ontario or Ottawa. I'll apply to all your reach~hopeful schools you've mentioned (not sure about central MI though, someone's telling me that even US OOS applicants have really hard time getting into central MI). Yes, I checked about Howard's mission and I guess it's not right for me, thanks! 

 

With my MCAT and GPA?? <_<

A 3.7/34 is not out of the realm of possibility for Mayo. But your well below average ECs take you out of the running - unless your research is something that catches their eye.. Remember, top schools can fill their whole classes with 4.0/40s if they wanted to. They don't mind slightly "lower" (by med standards lol) stats, if it means you have a unique background, and life experience. 

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A 3.7/34 is not out of the realm of possibility for Mayo. But your well below average ECs take you out of the running - unless your research is something that catches their eye.. Remember, top schools can fill their whole classes with 4.0/40s if they wanted to. They don't mind slightly "lower" (by med standards lol) stats, if it means you have a unique background, and life experience. 

Thanks for the input! I don't consider myself as a person with a stellar background or life experience, or research enough for Mayo's attention. I think I'll stay away from Mayo with your advice. 

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I think Central Michigan and Oakland prefer Michigan in-state applicants, that's good for Canadian, because these two schools put Canadian and American OOS applicants on the same level.For Wayne State, I think they put Canadian and in-state applicants on the same level, super Canadian friendly.

Michigan State University even have a DO program special for Canadian. 26 seats only for Canadian.

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Thanks for the input! I don't consider myself as a person with a stellar background or life experience, or research enough for Mayo's attention. I think I'll stay away from Mayo with your advice. 

I mean, i wouldn't NOT apply, if the application is only an extra 50$, just throw it in and let them decide. Maybe they really like your research and/or want to give you a shot at interview anyways.

 

it's all about strategically applying, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with having some reaches in your application - and you'll kick yourself later if you you decided not to apply over a small amount of money. 

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Thanks a lot everyone. You guys are amazing. I guess I'll throw in Mayo as you suggested. Here's the revised list taking from everyone's suggestions:

 

  1. New York Medical College
  2. SUNY Upstate Medical University
  3. George Washington University Sch of Med & Hlth Sci
  4. Georgetown University School of Medicine
  5. Central Michigan University College of Medicine
  6. Wayne State University School of Medicine
  7. Michigan State University
  8. Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Scien
  9. Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicin
  10. Medical College of Wisconsin
  11. Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
  12. Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
  13. University of Kentucky College of Medicine
  14. Saint Louis University School of Medicine
  15. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
  16. Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  17. Boston University School of Medicine
  18. Tufts University School of Medicine
  19. Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
  20. SUNY Downstate
  21. Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
  22. Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
  23. University of Virginia School of Medicine
  24. Mayo

 

Huge thanks to MD2B2019 for your suggestions, but after looking at the MSAR I can't imagine myself applying to Emory, Cornell, Northwestern or Chicago. I'll be rejected before I even submit primaries  :rolleyes:

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your stats are too low for pittsburgh imo, but they might like your research experience.

 

On that note i dont know why cornell and emory and the like are out of the realm of possibility if your also applying to pitt

 

You're right, I don't know Pittsburgh is on that list. I'm guessing it's because Pittsburgh accepted more international applicants than Emory and Cornell combined, and my (baseless) hope that they might prefer a Canadian who did his undergraduate work in PA. That being said, thank you for reminding me - Emory is probably a better shot than Pitts. 

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4. I think Howard is a black school, if you're not black you may skip this school, double check yourself. Some schools on your list that me and my friends didn't applied to, so I can't comment for them. We applied USMD as a backup plan, I only applied a handful schools near Ontario, I got 3 interviews, two waitlisted, one acceptance in USA, just as I planned.

 

 

Is this also true of Meharry? Real talk: I know that US schools like to consider the ethnicity of their applicants as a factor in their review. I was wondering if I should bother completing secondaries if I don't have the right skin colour.

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Is this also true of Meharry? Real talk: I know that US schools like to consider the ethnicity of their applicants as a factor in their review. I was wondering if I should bother completing secondaries if I don't have the right skin colour.

I know a very average white guy who interviewed at Meharry, definitely throw in an application if you are well rounded and have experience working with underserved(not necessarily minorities either) populations. Even then, i do not think he had that experience either, just a nice overall guy with a decent application and sincerity. 

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Hey guys, I figured I'd post in this thread instead of making a new one since I'm looking for the exact same thing...

 

I'm a Canadian that just finished his 3rd year at UBC and am applying to a few schools and would love some input with regards to my school list

Here are my stats: 

 

****

Academics

I don't know what my gpa is for US schools but I'd imagine it's something very similar to the OMSAS gpa
Cumulative UBC Average to date: 85.6%
OMSAS: 
1st year gpa: 3.73
2nd year gpa: 3.92

3rd year gpa: 3.50
cgpa: 3.72

 

My 3rd year average was 82% but it translates to a 3.50 even though it's an A- average. I had some serious family issues this year so I'll state them but don't expect to bank on them as a  excuse. 

Extracurriculars
(all in university unless otherwise stated)
Volunteering
- patient visiting hospital volunteering: 3 years (ongoing) ~ 400 hours
- patient visiting volunteering in a different hospital: 1 year ~ 100 hours
- Med internship abroad (urban hospital): shadowed doctors and saw some surgeries: 1 month 
- Volunteering abroad (rural health center): went to people's homes and distributed chlorine water purification tablets, taught basic sanitation and health advice along with doctors to villagers: 2 weeks

- academic coaching; part of peer programs at my university: 1 year ~ 100 hours 
- Let's Talk Science (SMaRT program), visited an elementary school as a group and taught basic science (using experiments) to grade 5 students: 4 months ~ 20 hours (lol)
- volunteered in a hospital's auxiliary thrift store: 2 months (this was before starting university) 

Employment
- by my university to teach a 1st year course as a tutor -- 12 months (3 terms)

Research
- original clinical research project #1; self developed and funded by a studentship (started May 2014 - present) expecting a 1st author in journal with IF of 8 by August and have presented the findings in 2 local conferences and will present again in an international conference in Fall 2015

- original clinical research project #2 (May 2015 - present); self developed and funded by a bigger studentship. Submitted abstract (as 1st author) to an international conference in Fall 2015 and abstract will be published in a journal with an IF of 15 (acceptance for this is in August 2015). We'll submit a full manuscript to a journal as well in Fall 2015 ..... oh and my supervisor allows me to shadow him a few hours a week

 

Awards
- 2 studentships for research
- dean's honours list every year 
- chancellor's scholar awards

Hobbies
- a sport at a rec center, 4 hours a week (but not in a team or anything) <- not sure if I'll even write this on my application
- trivia, did Reach for the top in high school (team was 3rd in Ontario and 1st in regionals)

MCAT
VR: 9

BS: 14

PS: 12

*****

 

This is my school list:

Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Boston University School of Medicine

Central Michigan University College of Medicine

Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University

Duke University School of Medicine

Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth

George Washington School of Medicine 

Georgetown University School of Medicine

Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

Medical College of Wisconsin

New York Medical College

Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University

Tulane University School of Medicine 

 

I made this list mainly based on my MCAT, gpa and how many reference letters I could realistically get from profs, but I would love for some input if you think I should add/remove any schools.

 

**Oh, and I forgot to mention, a big limiting factor is that the general pre-med path that most students follow at my university does NOT have 6 credit hours of Organic chem, but rather only: one 3 credit lecture course, one 1 credit lab course. That said, we do take a 3 credit physical and organic chemistry course that's split, this total wouldn't fulfill the 6 credit requirement of many schools would it?

 

I know invites are done on a rolling basis an my application is running late, but if I realistically get it in by June 25th or so, what do you think my chances are in general? 

 

Thanks so much! (and sorry for the long post!)

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Your list is missing a few really Canadian friendly schools like Oakland and Wayne state. Also VCU should be on your list.

 

Definitely fine tune your list based on others posts.

 

Also, needless to say - apply to UBC, Usask, maybe Manitoba, Toronto, and wherever elese your 35mcat but 9vr will make the cut.

 

Make sure you nail 4th year, and your chances as a reapplicant to canada, if necessary, will be even better. You shouldn't need to go to the US, but its a good idea to apply this cycle.

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Ditto to Gohan.

 

two super Canadian friendly states in USA are New York state and Michigan state.

 

My personal experience and opinion, for your reference only:

 

1. Replace Boston with Case Western or VCU, super Canadian friendly.

2. Replace Brown with Columbia or Cornell.

3. Replace a school in DC with Jefferson.

4. Replace USC with SUNY-UPSTATE or Penn State, as I know, California is not Canadian friendly.

 

13 schools can't cover all your goals,

 

You need 6 to 10 schools on lower tiers to be safe to have 2 to 5 interviews and one acceptance.

You need 15 to 20 schools on Ivy and alike schools and maybe you can have 1~3 interviews, maybe one acceptance if all stars lineup.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey, instead of starting a new topic I thought I should post this here as well. I am applying for US and here is my list so far. Please let me know if you have any suggestions! 

 

cgpa: 3.82

sgpa: ~3.8

MCAT: 34 (13/9/12)

ECs: A lot of research but not publications yet, ~100 hours of clinical volunteer experience, involvement with social justice movements and community

 

Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Boston University School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
George Washington University Sch of Med & Hlth Sci
Georgetown University School of Medicine
New York Medical College
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University
SUNY Upstate Medical University
University of Kentucky College of Medicine
Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine
Wayne State University School of Medicine
Oakland
Dartmouth
Penn State
 
Not sure if I should include Columbia with my stats, any help would be appreciated :)
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Just add Columbia and Vanderbilt, let them decide for you if they want to interview or not. But I could be wrong about Vanderbilt, if they take internationals or not.

 

Also add Mayo and MSU-CHM. And meharry if your social justice work was significant, that may spark their interest.

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Just add Columbia and Vanderbilt, let them decide for you if they want to interview or not. But I could be wrong about Vanderbilt, if they take internationals or not.

 

Also add Mayo and MSU-CHM. And meharry if your social justice work was significant, that may spark their interest.

 

I was going to add Mayo until I realized they only accept ~50 students :(

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