advice needed

[Guest MDin2006]

Hi,

 

I'm planning on applying to various medical programs in Canada and have recently decided to apply to programs in the U.S. I'm entering my fourth year in September, but have yet to take either physics or english. I was wondering if American medical schools will accept students taking these prerequesites in the year they are applying. Also, does anyone know of any schools that do not require the completion of physics and english?

 

Finally, my GPA is 3.79, I've received various scholarships and awards over the last few years and will have my research presented at an international vision research conference this May. That being said, what are my chances in being accepted to American Schools? Is my GPA too low?

Thanks to anyone that replies.

[Guest peachy]

My understanding is that US schools weigh GPA less and MCATs more than Canadian schools. This is partially a result of the fact that American schools vary MUCH more widely in their undergraduate education than Canadian schools do. 3.79 is in no way a low GPA, and you may find that your AMCAS GPA is higher than your OMSAS GPA, for example, because American schools calculate grades _very_ differently.

 

You can look at www.mdapplicants.com for some stats of applicants who have been accepted and rejected by American schools in the past. The statistics posted there are almost certainly biased, but one thing that it does show is that there are people with 4.0/40's being both accepted and rejected, and similarly for 3.5/28's. You just can't tell from numbers alone.

 

Seriously, it depends on a million factors. Your chances of getting accepted to some random state school are generally going to be much greater than your chances of getting accepted to, say, Harvard. And nobody here can tell from "My GPA is 3.79, I've got a bunch of awards, and I've presented a paper" whether or not you're a competitive applicant. It just doesn't work that way. Med school admissions depend on a million things: grades, MCATs, essays, extracurrics, LORs, luck, ....

 

Good luck!

[Guest MDin2006]

Hi Peachy,

 

Thanks for your help. The website was useful. I still would like to hear from some people in response to my question about the prerequesites (see my post above), so if anyone has any comments, I would appreciate them.