White-Tiger Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 I hate to post these type of threads, but I am wondering... I've got a very strong MCAT (36O, PS14 BS12 V10) My cGPA is mediocre at best, currently 3.54. I have no research experience (not quite interested in it). My ECs involve: --------------------------------------------------------------------- --1.5 years of volunteering (over 220 hours) with Saint John Ambulance as a First Aider. Trained in First Aid, CPR level C, Oxygen, Defib, First Responder. I also was awarded the "recruit of the year" award for my division in the first year I joined. I was also recently promoted to the rank of Corporal within Saint John Ambulance, which is a fancy way of saying I'm a team leader and responsible for a few members under my control. --Summer's worth of volunteering in two different hospitals (~60 hours) in Therapeutic Recreation in Geriatrics and Radiology. --Currently on my faculty's student council as VP Communications. --Did one semester of tutoring conditionally accepted students (10 students all together on a one-to-one basis). --Currently in the process of enrolling with the Canadian Forces Reserves as a Healthcare Administration Officer. --------------------------------------------------------------------- I guess I'm wondering if I'm a competitive applicant for USA schools? Also, what schools are most likely to accept me given my sub-par cGPA? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 I guess I'm wondering if I'm a competitive applicant for USA schools? Also, what schools are most likely to accept me given my sub-par cGPA? you gpa is considered AVERAGE (not sub-par ). your mcat is WAY above average. i think with research you have a shot at top 30 schools...you definitely a very competitive applicant. Apply broadly. Apply early. What school did you go to...? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madz25 Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 WT...you didn't believe me when i told you that you're competitive??? im hurt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White-Tiger Posted December 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 you gpa is considered AVERAGE (not sub-par ). your mcat is WAY above average. i think with research you have a shot at top 30 schools...you definitely a very competitive applicant. Apply broadly. Apply early. What school did you go to...? That's good. But I am not interested in doing research. Atleast not the type of research undergrads get exposure to. I have no desire to get locked up in a lab for days on end looking at petri dishes, gels, etc. If I was to do research, I would primarily be interested in clinical research, especially clinical tests of new pharmaceutical compounds. Which is something you don't really have a shot at unless you're a nurse, doctor or pharm rep. Will this affect my chances a great deal? And as for which school I went to...I did my undergrad at McGill University in Microbiology&Immunology. I understand this might play in my favor for some US Schools as McGill tends to be known by people in the US? Atleast, I hope it will play in my favor And now, anyone have any suggestions as to which schools I should apply to (where I have a reasonable chance that is)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 I think all canadians should apply to these following schools: RFU, Wayne, Upstate, SLU, Albany. These schools statistically take the most canadians. but if you want a long list, check my mdapplicants page. http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=5833 and add the following schools I didnt: Jefferson (Averages MCATs) Loma Linda (Religious) Creighton (Religious) Howard (african american school) East Tennessee State University (they do take canadians! didnt know before) University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (long long secondary) USC (you have to have 5 credits of humanities) Brown (too much of a big reach) Harvard (too much of a big reach) Yale (too much of a big reach) Washington University in St. Louis (Loves MCATs) Stanford (too much of a big reach) University of Pennsylvania (too much of a big reach) John Hopkins (too much of a big reach) Oh ya of course apply to UVM and join me it's ONLY 1.5 hours from Montreal! EDIT ADDED SCHOOLS: USC, Stanford, John Hopkins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White-Tiger Posted December 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Thanks for the great information sonyvaio2700 and congratulations on getting in! Dedication does pay off! I'll have to remember that when I'm applying and getting rejected due to my cGPA. lol. UVM would be a great place to study for me. Only 1.5 hours from montreal would rock . Another question: I was bored and procrastinating for a physiology exam and I calculated roughly my BCMP GPA. Turns out that because I have to rule out three As I got outside of science, my BCMP GPA is only 3.46. Will this reduce my chances by a lot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Thanks for the great information sonyvaio2700 and congratulations on getting in! Dedication does pay off! I'll have to remember that when I'm applying and getting rejected due to my cGPA. lol. UVM would be a great place to study for me. Only 1.5 hours from montreal would rock . Another question: I was bored and procrastinating for a physiology exam and I calculated roughly my BCMP GPA. Turns out that because I have to rule out three As I got outside of science, my BCMP GPA is only 3.46. Will this reduce my chances by a lot? PPL emphasise cGPA more so than BCMP gpa. It wont be such a big difference, but try to pull that up a bit this semester...getting an A in physiolgy will help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippie Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 I think all canadians should apply to these following schools: RFU, Wayne, Upstate, SLU, Albany. These schools statistically take the most canadians. but if you want a long list, check my mdapplicants page. http://www.mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=5833 and add the following schools I didnt: Jefferson (Averages MCATs) Loma Linda (Religious) Creighton (Religious) Howard (african american school) East Tennessee State University (they do take canadians! didnt know before) University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (long long secondary) USC (you have to have 5 credits of humanities) Brown (too much of a big reach) Harvard (too much of a big reach) Yale (too much of a big reach) Washington University in St. Louis (Loves MCATs) Stanford (too much of a big reach) University of Pennsylvania (too much of a big reach) John Hopkins (too much of a big reach) Oh ya of course apply to UVM and join me it's ONLY 1.5 hours from Montreal! EDIT ADDED SCHOOLS: USC, Stanford, John Hopkins Are loans easy to get for a Canadian? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippie Posted December 12, 2006 Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 Thanks for the great information sonyvaio2700 and congratulations on getting in! Dedication does pay off! I'll have to remember that when I'm applying and getting rejected due to my cGPA. lol. UVM would be a great place to study for me. Only 1.5 hours from montreal would rock . Another question: I was bored and procrastinating for a physiology exam and I calculated roughly my BCMP GPA. Turns out that because I have to rule out three As I got outside of science, my BCMP GPA is only 3.46. Will this reduce my chances by a lot? white-tiger, Did you apply to Mcgill, shouldn't you have some kind of preference for having studied there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White-Tiger Posted December 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2006 white-tiger, Did you apply to Mcgill, shouldn't you have some kind of preference for having studied there? I am applying to McGill. I qualify as InProvince since I was born in Quebec. While that does increase my chances of acceptance, my cGPA still counts for 20% of my application...so there's a good chance I might not get accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 Are loans easy to get for a Canadian? I am starting to look a lot into this. But I dont really have a family member in the states I want to do this with. but if you do this site is pretty awesome. 150K from US but you need an American co-signer http://www.edupass.org/finaid/loans.phtml -------------- My plan: Cost: (43K US Tution + 12 K Living expenses) = 55 K X 4 years = 220 US Money will come frm: 126K US from RBC, Scotia Bank (150K CND) 44K US from OSAP (50K CND) 50-70K US from parents Total: ~220-240K. I will try to max out money from my parents Love interest free loans! P.S I will definitely specialise to pay all that back Edit: I think Royal bank will increase 150K to 200K but i am not sure about this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 I might go to a cheaper US school if i get accepted. SUNY Upstate is 33k US per year. But really I loved UVM... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippie Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 I might go to a cheaper US school if i get accepted. SUNY Upstate is 33k US per year. But really I loved UVM... Do you know which are the cheapest US universities.....? And also is there any chance of doing one or 2 years in the states then transfer back to Canada... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p0tus Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 Hey Sony, congrats on your acceptance! For sources of money, also check out National Banks LOC. They offer 200,000 Can, but this money is released sequentially, 50K/year (good for those who have trouble budgeting . Since they work in close conjunction with MD Management, which is in turn a subsidiary of the Canadian Medical Association, they probably have the student's best interest at heart. Definitely worth a look. http://www.nbc.ca/bnc/cda/productfamily/0,1010,divId-2_langId-1_navCode-14316,00.html Money will come frm: 126K US from RBC, Scotia Bank (150K CND) 44K US from OSAP (50K CND) 50-70K US from parents Total: ~220-240K. I will try to max out money from my parents Love interest free loans! P.S I will definitely specialise to pay all that back Edit: I think Royal bank will increase 150K to 200K but i am not sure about this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 Hey Sony, congrats on your acceptance! For sources of money, also check out National Banks LOC. They offer 200,000 Can, but this money is released sequentially, 50K/year (good for those who have trouble budgeting . Since they work in close conjunction with MD Management, which is in turn a subsidiary of the Canadian Medical Association, they probably have the student's best interest at heart. Definitely worth a look. http://www.nbc.ca/bnc/cda/productfamily/0,1010,divId-2_langId-1_navCode-14316,00.html wow thats awesome thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssc427 Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 wow thats awesome thanks Sadly I don't think you can get the NBC LOC unless you're a member of the CMA, which you can only do if you're at a Canadian school. I remeber trying when I was considering heading south. Should you wind up in Canada though I think these guys are the way to go. Their rates are the same as everyone else while in school, however when you finish and need to pay everything back they stay at prime. Not so with other banks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hippie Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 Sadly I don't think you can get the NBC LOC unless you're a member of the CMA, which you can only do if you're at a Canadian school. I remeber trying when I was considering heading south. Should you wind up in Canada though I think these guys are the way to go. Their rates are the same as everyone else while in school, however when you finish and need to pay everything back they stay at prime. Not so with other banks. What's the solution then? for people who can't really depend on their family to help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madz25 Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 Do you know which are the cheapest US universities.....?And also is there any chance of doing one or 2 years in the states then transfer back to Canada... Transfer back to Canada - definitely NO. It's very tough to transfer within Canadian schools, 'cross border' transfers are highly unlikely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 What's the solution then? for people who can't really depend on their family to help? Don't get frustrated. There are ways around this problem. Canhelp can give you another 25K US a year. Money will come frm: 126K US from RBC, Scotia Bank (150K CND) 44K US from OSAP (50K CND) 100K US from Canhelp Total: ~270. The thing about OSAP and CanHelp is that they pay you yearly. If you go to a school that requires your tution upfront (SLU, NYMC) this might be a problem...in that case you might have to get another line of credit from a bank. Also, all these loans (except OSAP) come with montly interest rates payment (around 6-8%). dont have to start paying till after residency Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonyvaio2700 Posted December 13, 2006 Report Share Posted December 13, 2006 Do you know which are the cheapest US universities.....?And also is there any chance of doing one or 2 years in the states then transfer back to Canada... I think it really depends. Schools take a high proprortion of Canadians: Tution...Room and board SLU $41,092...$15,518 RFU $36,900...$16,000 Upstate $34,540...$9,322 Wayne $46,766...$18,733 Vermont $43,487...$9,767 Upstate is definitely the cheapest i have come across Wayne is the most expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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