Worth it to apply (advice on school list)?

[Metric Tensor]

Edit: Thanks!

[Anon-e-mous]

On 5/9/2018 at 4:52 PM, Alegobeh2 said:

 

 

Do you have access to the MSAR? Is your list based off of it?

Maybe try asking on SDN. The US seems to have a more "holistic" evaluation so it's hard to guess because they value EC's a lot more than Canada for the most part. Your GPA and MCAT seem awesome though for the US!!!  

[Metric Tensor]

44 minutes ago, caramilk said:

Do you have access to the MSAR? Is your list based off of it?

Maybe try asking on SDN. The US seems to have a more "holistic" evaluation so it's hard to guess because they value EC's a lot more than Canada for the most part. Your GPA and MCAT seem awesome though for the US!!!  125 in CARS in a lil unbalanced but then again, the US doesn't really care all that much about CARS so you should be fine.

Yeah I used the MSAR to compile that list. Thanks for the input. My CARS score has put me in a dilemma because i'm kind of forced to retake it if i want to have a shot at Canada but apparently USMD schools don't look favourably on retaking the MCAT. So I feel that my application to USMD is a "now or never" thing otherwise in the future they would see that i retook a 519.

[JohnGrisham]

Get your app in ASAP and get all your LORs etc in order.   519 is great, dont worry about unabalanced. 

Read through the forums and apply to all the schools that others apply to as Canadians.

Your list is missing some, such as Oakland William Beaumont and Wayne state, which both take ALOT of Canadians. Don't make your list so top heavy with dream schools like yale etc.

Your non-academics seem very sparse, so i wouldnt count on your grades alone to get you to an interview at the top tier schools. 

[Serendi]

10 hours ago, JohnGrisham said:

Get your app in ASAP and get all your LORs etc in order.   519 is great, dont worry about unabalanced. 

Read through the forums and apply to all the schools that others apply to as Canadians.

Your list is missing some, such as Oakland William Beaumont and Wayne state, which both take ALOT of Canadians. Don't make your list so top heavy with dream schools like yale etc.

Your non-academics seem very sparse, so i wouldnt count on your grades alone to get you to an interview at the top tier schools. 

I think OUWB is no longer accepting Canadians.

[JohnGrisham]

7 hours ago, Serendi said:

I think OUWB is no longer accepting Canadians.

How sure are you about that? Would be odd considering they would normally take quite a few Canadians every year..but I am a few years outdated

 

[Metric Tensor]

21 hours ago, JohnGrisham said:

Get your app in ASAP and get all your LORs etc in order.   519 is great, dont worry about unabalanced. 

Read through the forums and apply to all the schools that others apply to as Canadians.

Your list is missing some, such as Oakland William Beaumont and Wayne state, which both take ALOT of Canadians. Don't make your list so top heavy with dream schools like yale etc.

Your non-academics seem very sparse, so i wouldnt count on your grades alone to get you to an interview at the top tier schools. 

Thank you for your input! 

I will try my best to get my primary application in on June 1st. I will also try to get my list up to ~25 schools (including Wayne state), but OUWB no longer accepts Canadians as another poster suggested (i've checked both the MSAR and their webpage).

I certainly have more non-academics that i didn't include in the original post, but i hope that the lack of extensive shadowing experience does not significantly impact my chances.

[JohnGrisham]

Thats really too bad about OUWB. They used to be very Canadian friendly. Wayne state definitely still is though.

[Serendi]

10 hours ago, JohnGrisham said:

Thats really too bad about OUWB. They used to be very Canadian friendly. Wayne state definitely still is though.

This is a totally unverifiable statement, but apparently some international (aka Canadian) OUWB grads had difficulty in residency due to visa restrictions. Sounds realistic..

anyways OP, i didn't post a direct reply on yours because I already did on premeddit. By lack of extensive shadowing, does that mean you don't have a dedicated shadowing hours? Did you do your undergrad in US? At least one school (MCW) told me directly before that they wants to see dedicated shadowing hours on application - they wouldn't buy my description of how my clinical volunteering offered opportunities to shadow physicans etc. Was two years ago though, may've changed. 

[JohnGrisham]

4 hours ago, Serendi said:

This is a totally unverifiable statement, but apparently some international (aka Canadian) OUWB grads had difficulty in residency due to visa restrictions. Sounds realistic..

anyways OP, i didn't post a direct reply on yours because I already did on premeddit. By lack of extensive shadowing, does that mean you don't have a dedicated shadowing hours? Did you do your undergrad in US? At least one school (MCW) told me directly before that they wants to see dedicated shadowing hours on application - they wouldn't buy my description of how my clinical volunteering offered opportunities to shadow physicans etc. Was two years ago though, may've changed. 

Doubtful, the visa restrictions really arent that bad especially if you're a US grad.  Anyone who didnt match, was either going for something too competitive or applied poorly. If Canadian USDOs have no issue with matching, definitely Canadian USMDs don't

May be a financial thing, or they had issues with funding etc

[bearpuppy]

Can’t really comment too much on the list but I do think you’re competitive enough to get in. Key point: the US schools absolutely care about how much clinical experience you have (shadowing, volunteering, etc.). Make sure to emphasize this as that can be an app killer. 

[bearpuppy]

On 5/11/2018 at 7:30 AM, Serendi said:

This is a totally unverifiable statement, but apparently some international (aka Canadian) OUWB grads had difficulty in residency due to visa restrictions. Sounds realistic..

anyways OP, i didn't post a direct reply on yours because I already did on premeddit. By lack of extensive shadowing, does that mean you don't have a dedicated shadowing hours? Did you do your undergrad in US? At least one school (MCW) told me directly before that they wants to see dedicated shadowing hours on application - they wouldn't buy my description of how my clinical volunteering offered opportunities to shadow physicans etc. Was two years ago though, may've changed. 

 

On 5/11/2018 at 12:23 PM, JohnGrisham said:

Doubtful, the visa restrictions really arent that bad especially if you're a US grad.  Anyone who didnt match, was either going for something too competitive or applied poorly. If Canadian USDOs have no issue with matching, definitely Canadian USMDs don't

May be a financial thing, or they had issues with funding etc

 

Ive heard recently from multiple sources that internationals (incl Canadians) graduating as USMDs are having a much harder time in the match. Residencies are using screens that keep them from even interviewing candidates, so do whatever you can to get a green card or know that this is definitely a risk. 

[Serendi]

On 5/13/2018 at 9:50 AM, bearpuppy said:

Ive heard recently from multiple sources that internationals (incl Canadians) graduating as USMDs are having a much harder time in the match. Residencies are using screens that keep them from even interviewing candidates, so do whatever you can to get a green card or know that this is definitely a risk. 

uh oh

[JohnGrisham]

On 5/13/2018 at 6:50 AM, bearpuppy said:

 

 

Ive heard recently from multiple sources that internationals (incl Canadians) graduating as USMDs are having a much harder time in the match. Residencies are using screens that keep them from even interviewing candidates, so do whatever you can to get a green card or know that this is definitely a risk. 

I'm in contact with multiple very recent US grads, now residents and haven't heard much in that way.  Perhaps a regional thing?  Are they going for super competitive specialties, where its already hard regardless of visa status? For any primary care specialty, they should have absolutely zero issues. FM, IM, psych, gen surg, etc. Normal caveats being if you want a specific region, specific level of prestige program etc etc. 

[jfdes]

Central Michigan University is also pretty Canadian friendly, I was accepted with a 512 MCAT and ~3.8 GPA (although I think they liked my essays and ECs). Lots of Canadians there interviewing and accepted as well. Newer school though, and in a rural location.

[bearpuppy]

On 5/14/2018 at 6:58 PM, JohnGrisham said:

I'm in contact with multiple very recent US grads, now residents and haven't heard much in that way.  Perhaps a regional thing?  Are they going for super competitive specialties, where its already hard regardless of visa status? For any primary care specialty, they should have absolutely zero issues. FM, IM, psych, gen surg, etc. Normal caveats being if you want a specific region, specific level of prestige program etc etc. 

I've been told by 2 different administrators at Case (about separate incidents) that this has been a problem and that the students ended up getting very few interview invitations. The faculty members had to make calls for them to find out what was going on, because they were otherwise very competitive applicants. The calls helped, but obviously there's only so much that can be done at that point in the residency application. Both faculty said I should do EVERYTHING in my power to get a green card before entering the match. 

TBH, this makes sense, but as you said, probably worse/mostly for competitive programs/locations/specialties. There are more and more USMD grads and no changes in residency spots; this will place more pressure on the previous IMG/FMG/USMD that's not American.

I think especially given the problems with J1, the administrative and financial burden of H1-B, and the fact that for most specialties there are plenty of willing (and qualified) Americans, this is just going to get worse.

[Serendi]

Damn. I gotta marry an American pretty fast. 

[Medase]

On 5/20/2018 at 11:07 AM, bearpuppy said:

I've been told by 2 different administrators at Case (about separate incidents) that this has been a problem and that the students ended up getting very few interview invitations. The faculty members had to make calls for them to find out what was going on, because they were otherwise very competitive applicants. The calls helped, but obviously there's only so much that can be done at that point in the residency application. Both faculty said I should do EVERYTHING in my power to get a green card before entering the match. 

 TBH, this makes sense, but as you said, probably worse/mostly for competitive programs/locations/specialties. There are more and more USMD grads and no changes in residency spots; this will place more pressure on the previous IMG/FMG/USMD that's not American.

I think especially given the problems with J1, the administrative and financial burden of H1-B, and the fact that for most specialties there are plenty of willing (and qualified) Americans, this is just going to get worse.

Lol when you mean do everything in my power to get a green card, are you just referring to marrying a US citizen? Because there isn't any other way to get one before finishing medical school I believe.

[Sarah31]

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. 

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!

 

[Neurophilic]

On 5/27/2020 at 12:32 PM, 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. 

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!

 

Definitely go for it. I'd probably just go with DO given your UG gpa, though.