Need help determining if I should apply to these US schools

[doctorinprogress]

Hi everyone,

Currently creating my school list as a Canadian applicant to US MD. I'm using MSAR to create the list and these are a few schools I'm not sure whether it would be worth applying to (MCAT: 514, sGPA: 3.80, ORM)

- Georgetown

- University of Illinois

- Michigan State

- Chapel Hill

- Sidney Kimmel

- West Virgina

- Univ of Arizona

These schools technically accept Canadians but it doesn't seem like they accepted many (if any) in 2020. Does anyone know any Canadians who were successful at these schools? Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

[bearded frog]

Would hesitate to apply to any school that did not accept 3+ canadians in last 2 years. Some just accept Canadians on paper but realistically only if they have connections there or did undergrad there etc.

[shikimate]

I heard Michigan State DO was a big thing few years back actively recruiting Canadians, maybe not their MD program?

https://com.msu.edu/application/files/7915/8196/9246/Canadian-Student-Guide.pdf

https://medicalschoolhq.net/pmy-264-dean-of-msucom-talks-about-mission-to-increase-canadian-dos/

[Deipnosophist]

You can look at a school’s matriculant data to see how many international students matriculated and the states and counties section to see where international students came from. For example, Illinois has 8 internationals from Canada, Nigeria, Rwanda. It is statistically probable that at least 2 are from Canada. 
 

Also, while getting accepted is more than a bit of luck, from my experience applying to the US, it is important to look at what schools value when deciding where to apply (again, using Illinois as an example their matrulants either stand out in research, clinical experience, or serving underserved populations). My point being that you should be as specific as you can if/when you write secondaries, because even if it is only a small amount, doing so may increase your chances of acceptance. And this probably doesn’t help you because I’m a dual citizen (living in CAN), but I was accepted to Illinois. The only thing I’ll add is make sure you have a plan for financing as an international.