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How many of you have applied to Top-tier US Schools?


cclawfjj

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I applied to 2 top-tier schools. No luck, but I wasn't expecting anything.

 

MCAT:34R

cGPA:3.8 (Science GPA: 3.85)

 

I know of one person on this forum for sure that got accepted at a top-tier school...

 

 

I understand this is not entirely the basis for the admission decision, but looking at these stats only, I wouldve said you have a very good chance in gettting in (even at top-tier schools). If you don't mind me asking, do you consider these good numbers and if so, why do you think you werent accepted?

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I think my MCAT/GPA are OK (MCAT of 35+ would've been better). Maybe top-tier schools like to see a lot of research experience which I didn't have. They don't have rolling admissions so I know the fact that I didn't get my secondaries in until oct/nov didn't play a role. I dunno, I just wasn't what they were looking for...

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who would that be???

 

 

I was accepted to Columbia and waitlisted at Harvard and Stanford.

MCAT 36Q, UGrad AMCAS GPA ~3.7. But... I have also completed a PhD and had ~12 publications (8 first author) when I applied. I am fairly certain that I got interviews/accepted to these places for no other reason than my research background.

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I was accepted to Columbia and waitlisted at Harvard and Stanford.

MCAT 36Q, UGrad AMCAS GPA ~3.7. But... I have also completed a PhD and had ~12 publications (8 first author) when I applied. I am fairly certain that I got interviews/accepted to these places for no other reason than my research background.

 

The person I was thinking of replied!

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I know three people from my class at Mac that had interviews at top-tier US schools (Columbia, Harvard). I am not sure if they ended up being admitted but two are at Toronto for an MD/PhD. Research was a heavy part of their application. Stats were comparable to those posted (3.9, 35 MCAT).

 

I also had a friend who was admitted to the Harvard-MIT joint program. He had 5-10 years high tech experience under his belt from the dot com boom. Not sure about his stats, but he had to go back to get his science pre-reqs.

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ssc, realistically speaking, what kind of stats does an honours undergraduate student (without any postgraduate degrees) need in order to land an interview at any one of the top schools?

 

if u have any other helpful tips, plz let me know.

Thx a LOT!

 

As people have pointed out mdapplicants provides the best info. In general I'd say that research goes a long ways at 'top' US schools. So someone with a ton of research and a 3.8/35 will likely go further than a 4.0/40 with no research. And I found that they did look at the specifics of your degree. So an engineer with a 3.7 gets more respect than a biologist with a 4.0. This was my experience and might not be representative of the norm.

 

Also, remember – that the schools you are likely interested in are only top in the research category, not primary care. So they are not super strong on the clinical side of things. At places like Harvard-HST you don’t even see a patient until 3rd year. At most Canadian schools you are working patients within 1 month of meds.

 

In addition, you are often expected to do research. At places like Stanford and Harvard HST this is mandatory. So kiss your summers goodbye. If research is not your thing I’d say stay in Canada. The clinical exposure up here is better at the expense of a somewhat scientifically weaker curriculum.

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As people have pointed out mdapplicants provides the best info. In general I'd say that research goes a long ways at 'top' US schools. So someone with a ton of research and a 3.8/35 will likely go further than a 4.0/40 with no research. And I found that they did look at the specifics of your degree. So an engineer with a 3.7 gets more respect than a biologist with a 4.0. This was my experience and might not be representative of the norm.

 

Also, remember – that the schools you are likely interested in are only top in the research category, not primary care. So they are not super strong on the clinical side of things. At places like Harvard-HST you don’t even see a patient until 3rd year. At most Canadian schools you are working patients within 1 month of meds.

 

In addition, you are often expected to do research. At places like Stanford and Harvard HST this is mandatory. So kiss your summers goodbye. If research is not your thing I’d say stay in Canada. The clinical exposure up here is better at the expense of a somewhat scientifically weaker curriculum.

 

That's really interesting to know. Those schools get a lot of praise (as they should for their scientific and medical accomplishments) however, for those who aren't into research, it's important to know they getting into these places may not be the end-all-be-all for you. I've heard that the University of Washington is quite good for clinical and research.

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Hi there,

 

my first time posting on this forum.... I hope someone has an answer to this query: GWU has reviewed my application and has put it on hold for a second review. I applied back toward the end of August. What does this really mean? Is there really any hope or basically it means: "we just keep your file and will send you a rejection letter once we are through all the other 'good' applicants and have more time for you..." Has anyone gone through this kind of 'being on hold' experience.

 

Thank you for your replies :)

 

H2O

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Hi there,

 

my first time posting on this forum.... I hope someone has an answer to this query: GWU has reviewed my application and has put it on hold for a second review. I applied back toward the end of August. What does this really mean? Is there really any hope or basically it means: "we just keep your file and will send you a rejection letter once we are through all the other 'good' applicants and have more time for you..." Has anyone gone through this kind of 'being on hold' experience.

 

Thank you for your replies :)

 

H2O

 

Dont hold any hopes for GWU they have like 12,000+ applicants this year :eek: Share your stats if you dont mind :-)

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Hi there,

 

my first time posting on this forum.... I hope someone has an answer to this query: GWU has reviewed my application and has put it on hold for a second review. I applied back toward the end of August. What does this really mean? Is there really any hope or basically it means: "we just keep your file and will send you a rejection letter once we are through all the other 'good' applicants and have more time for you..." Has anyone gone through this kind of 'being on hold' experience.

 

Thank you for your replies :)

 

H2O

 

hmmm...possibly. hold just means that your application is good but we dont want to make a decision on it now so lets see how the other applicants are. if they continue to get not-so-good applicants you will be offered an interview. but if they find they have a lot of really good applicants then the outlook is not that good.

 

hope that helps

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that's really weird. I applied to GWU as well, like on Oct 15, and got my supplementary couple of days later. I have filled and sent it to them, along with the references. They also notified me that they got my supplementary. They said, it will take a month for them to review it.

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