Western students and AMCAS gpa

[hippie]

Haha!

 

I agree with the fact that Canadian applicants are sometimes treated in a separate pool from the non-North American students. But a permanent residency in Canada usually suffices. I can't recall the schools' names for the life of me, but I e-mailed several US schools who claimed to not accept foreign students in the MSAR last year, and they all said they take Canadian applicants.

 

I know what hippie is talking about in regards to renouncing Canadian citizenship to go in the States though, Sony: if I were to go to the States, I would also lose my right to Canadian citizenship. Here's why - your "skilled worker" immigration visa (which is what I have - "skilled worker," oh boy ) has certain restrictions.....you have 5 years from the day you land in Canada before you qualify for a Canadian citizenship. But in order to qualify, you must spend a cumulative 3 years out of those 5 in Canada. If you don't, you have to wait another 5 years (and spend 3 years in Canada during those NEXT 5 years) to get the citizenship.

 

Also, you need to spend a minimum of TWO years out of those 5 just to KEEP your permanent residency (which really gives you all you need besides voting rights and a Canadian passport with the ensuing consequences regarding travel).

 

So, I know that if I go to med in the US starting in 2008, I will have lived here long enough to maintain my permanent residency status, but if I wanted to get my citizenship in 2010, I'd have to go out of my way and fly back to Canada on every single break (summers, etc) to accumulate those 3 years.

 

I suspect that this is what Hippie is referring to.

 

Hippie, I would stay in Canada long enough to ensure you maintain your PR status by the time 5 years since your landing expire. Otherwise, you'll be stuck between a rock and a hard place - you'll have a very hard time staying in the States and you may become inadmissible to Canada which would require you to apply for PR yet again. Even if you don't stay here for 3 years and get citizenship, if you are a PR, you can still come back here without any difficulty and have nearly all the rights that a citizen has. Your main concern should be the ability to work, which you have as a PR.

 

I already applied for my citizenship, and I won't be applying to US schools before next summer.

I was only answering III.

[Madeline07]

Jochi,

I know you said you don't remember the schools names that you emailed that said they don't accept foreign students in MSar (but they said they actually do).. do you remember if those schools were on the list that accept canadians that we have stickied here?

thanks

[Jochi1543]

Jochi,

I know you said you don't remember the schools names that you emailed that said they don't accept foreign students in MSar (but they said they actually do).. do you remember if those schools were on the list that accept canadians that we have stickied here?

thanks

Sorry, I did this a year ago, so I don't remember AT ALL.....and genius me had saved all the responses for future reference in my mailbox at my old university e-mail address ....which was ERASED after graduation.

 

So I'm gonna be doing it again this year.

[The Law]

There's a chance that I get a US greencard, it's a long story but I used to live there when I was younger and my dad has a lawyer working on it... I wonder if that would make it easier for me to get into med school.

[Jochi1543]

There's a chance that I get a US greencard, it's a long story but I used to live there when I was younger and my dad has a lawyer working on it... I wonder if that would make it easier for me to get into med school.

With private schools, yeah.....shouldn't have an effect on state schools though, because you'd be in the out-of-state pool anyway. Unless, of course, you plan on moving to the States as soon as you get it and living there for a while before applying - then you'll eventually establish residency in a state.

[sonyvaio2700]

There's a chance that I get a US greencard, it's a long story but I used to live there when I was younger and my dad has a lawyer working on it... I wonder if that would make it easier for me to get into med school.

 

get a greencard. even in-state schools OOS have higher acceptance rate than international eg. UVM, Penn State.

[The Law]

Oh really, that's interesting... would it make a difference with tuition by any chance?

[sonyvaio2700]

Oh really, that's interesting... would it make a difference with tuition by any chance?

 

Yes. It's rare, but still possible. Some state schools, eg. SUNY UPSTATE, allows you to pay in-state tuition after first year. All you have to do is declare NY residency, which is pretty easy to do if you live there for one year. Your tuition goes from 33K to 18K.

 

I presume you can declare residency with a green card.

[excalibre]

I didn't think that my answer would create such a storm. Here is the chart that I used when I applied:

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/2007amcasgradeconversionguide2.pdf

 

However, I did it wrong, since I chose (randomly) one of the charts for "Canadian" schools (scroll right down to the bottom of the pdf).

 

Instead, AMCAS used the third 'white' row on the chart labelled "Numeric - 4.0 Type" for my UWO marks.

 

I was shocked, but it actually yields a GPA for me not much different than the OMSAS system. It really hurts for marks that are 78, 79 etc... but it is most definitely good if you have many 80+ marks.

 

As someone mentioned. My feeling is that many of the schools are bias against Canadians since they believe we can't afford their schools (we don't get any government loans, which 90% of students get). Evidence of this can be seen in the schools that require all the tution upfront in an escrow account. Also, they generally look at the name of the school which you applied from. And most schools in Canada, aren't 'famous' so you are at a disadvantage. All of my interviews were rich in two types of applicants. Those from Ivey Leagues and those from neighbouring schools.

 

Anyways, that's my two cents.

[The Law]

I didn't think that my answer would create such a storm. Here is the chart that I used when I applied:

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/2007amcasgradeconversionguide2.pdf

 

However, I did it wrong, since I chose (randomly) one of the charts for "Canadian" schools (scroll right down to the bottom of the pdf).

 

Instead, AMCAS used the third 'white' row on the chart labelled "Numeric - 4.0 Type" for my UWO marks.

 

I was shocked, but it actually yields a GPA for me not much different than the OMSAS system. It really hurts for marks that are 78, 79 etc... but it is most definitely good if you have many 80+ marks.

 

As someone mentioned. My feeling is that many of the schools are bias against Canadians since they believe we can't afford their schools (we don't get any government loans, which 90% of students get). Evidence of this can be seen in the schools that require all the tution upfront in an escrow account. Also, they generally look at the name of the school which you applied from. And most schools in Canada, aren't 'famous' so you are at a disadvantage. All of my interviews were rich in two types of applicants. Those from Ivey Leagues and those from neighbouring schools.

 

Anyways, that's my two cents.

 

Wow, so they use that one even though we're from a Canadian school... that's really cool! haha

What gave you the idea that they were discriminating based on the school you came from?

[excalibre]

Law,

 

Like I said in previous post - I have had interviews in the states three years in a row (and only in one year in Canada). Each time, my interviews seemed to go well, but nothing would pan out. I also noticed the following:

 

- most of the schools/administrators did not have experience with Canadians or internationals for that matter

- when I asked if they had Canadian students they would always say "Not really, but we had an American five or six years ago that went to Alberta for her undergrad" or "No"

 

I would have to say its not so much that we are Canadian, its just that they don't know of any of the Canadian universities and they don't seem to feel comfortable accepting students from universities they aren't familiar with. It's not any sort of blatent discrimination.

 

I am not saying I think I "should have" been accepted before, or that I am particularly bitter (actually I am bitter about some Canadian med schools), but its just a gut feeling mostly.

 

It would be much easier to get in if you could land that greencard. If not for acceptance, at least for getting loans.

[sonyvaio2700]

I would have to say its not so much that we are Canadian, its just that they don't know of any of the Canadian universities and they don't seem to feel comfortable accepting students from universities they aren't familiar with. It's not any sort of blatent discrimination.

 

That's the one thing I was suprised at when I went to interviews, how many ppl come from small name schools. There are tons of small schools in America, so I wont say they are biased only towards American schools. I think if you didnt go to one of the IVY's or a very well known school such as Duke, Stanford....ppl simply dont care where you went. lol.

 

At all the places I interviewed at they always assured me there are Canadians in their class every year. Curious, which schools did you interview at excalibre...

[popcorn]

welll I would think that from canada they should know atleast Mcgill and UofT..cuz those seem to be internationally recognized I think...or did they not even know those 2 lol

[excalibre]

Sonyvaio,

 

I applied to many of the same schools as you did. It seemed to me that only a fraction of people knew anything about Canada, and that is because they visited (usual Toronto). They always had good things to say! But I am not sure if they know as much as you might hope.

 

Just look at your stats Sonyvaio - your stats are good, and you applied early (despite your previous comments stating a month is is too late, you got into some of the first interview cycles, right?) but you have a large amount of rejections, but why??? I am sure you would not get as many if you were in the U.S. - I took a look in MD applicants, and there were tonnes of applicants that weren't minorities and had the same stats as you, but at american schools and go accepted to several schools.

 

Like I said, it's not blatant discrimination. I think it just a apprehension on the part of American schools to take on people from schools they don't know of (i.e. Canadian schools). There were tonnes of people from tiny colleges at my interviews (and UWO and Mac rank in the top 100 universities in the world - these colleges are small enough that everybody knows your name).

 

Anyways, I hope I am not discouraging anyone from applying. Because you should always make opportunities for yourself. Apply to Ontario. Apply to the U.S. You can't get hurt by making opportunities, because the investment is an extra 5 or 6 hours per school, plus a few hundred dollars - in the long run that is nothing.

 

P.S. In one of my interviews, people didn't know where Toronto is, and if it is on the West Coast. People asked me if signs in Toronto are in French. I should note that only one city in the U.S. has a larger population than Toronto, and that is New York. Montreal is smaller than only Los Angeles and New York. Anyways, I am not trying to be bitter, or pretend to be better. I'm not even sure what this post is about any more :-P

[The Law]

P.S. In one of my interviews, people didn't know where Toronto is, and if it is on the West Coast. People asked me if signs in Toronto are in French. I should note that only one city in the U.S. has a larger population than Toronto, and that is New York. Montreal is smaller than only Los Angeles and New York. Anyways, I am not trying to be bitter, or pretend to be better. I'm not even sure what this post is about any more :-P

 

Wow, I would have trouble hiding my agitation at people who were that clueless... lol

[excalibre]

I was never agitated, but it has left a negative impression on me. The stereotypes of people being cultureless and introverted in their understanding of the world are very true. Even at academic institutions. I would skip my way their very happily though for a med education.

[The Law]

I was never agitated, but it has left a negative impression on me. The stereotypes of people being cultureless and introverted in their understanding of the world are very true. Even at academic institutions. I would skip my way their very happily though for a med education.

 

Haha definitely.

[sonyvaio2700]

I agree with you excalibre. If I had a US citizenship, I would have gotten more interviews. especially to schools such as NYMC, Albert, Mount Sinai, Georgetown, NYU, Case. These schools pretty much are on par with my stats. But because I was in the international pool, I was against much different competition. Usually people with higher mcat/gpa scores and more prestigeous schools (usually international students from ivy schools)...as a results, like you, I was given a big fat rejection. I also believe strongly that I would have gotten top 30 school interviews if I had a 10 on verbal. But if I had 10 on verbal, I'll probably would have never applied to the US .

 

I was suprised by some of the interviewers...I thought why you want to come to the US would be asked..especially leaving a beautiful country like Canada . But they never pressed me on this. I think this has partially to do with my ability to "change the topic" quickly. It's so easy to do this really, just go on about how great America is and they totaly forget the question . But I also think this was due to the fact that they consider Canada as complete foreign entity. I think one of my interviewers didnt even know Canada had universal coverage. I thought this would be common knowledge in America.

[Madeline07]

you know I knew they would not know a lot of the schools in canada.. but I thought they would know the major ones.. hmmm

this is starting to make me think getting into the US is going to be a lot harder than i thought.. I mean I know it is gonan be hard.. but it jsut seems unfair in some aspects.. ah well

I know u guys did not mean for it to sound like it is impossible for canadians to get in..cuz obv it is (cough sony cough lol) but I think this just gave me a reality check in a way.

[sonyvaio2700]

you know I knew they would not know a lot of the schools in canada.. but I thought they would know the major ones.. hmmm

this is starting to make me think getting into the US is going to be a lot harder than i thought.. I mean I know it is gonan be hard.. but it jsut seems unfair in some aspects.. ah well

I know u guys did not mean for it to sound like it is impossible for canadians to get in..cuz obv it is (cough sony cough lol) but I think this just gave me a reality check in a way.

 

all i gotta say its easier than in CANADA hahahaah. the process is just a bit complicated

[Jochi1543]

Wow, I would have trouble hiding my agitation at people who were that clueless... lol

Runs both ways, trust me. I've told people here I used to live in District Columbia and they have no freaking clue where it is.

 

 

The escrow account thing is largely due to the the visa requirements. When I was applying for an F-1 visa for undergrad, I had to show proof of my parents' income. My father runs his own company, so he just wrote on there that he makes like a million dollars, and that's it - but this was before 9/11. With the fact that the guys who had flown the planes were students, they've really cracked down on F-1 applicants.....and even without that, a good # of people come into the US "for school," take 3 classes, then drop out, and remain in the country. They can't watch you 24/7, so the second best way to predict whether you will actually pursue your course of study is to ensure you've got the money for it. I think that even if I were to go get a visa for undergrad again, I'd be expected to show an actual bank account as opposed to just a letter from my father's job stating his income.

[Daisy]

Hi,

 

I was a former UWOer, and I have applied through AMCAS. I can confirm the following, and it was shocking to me:

 

80.0+ = 4.00

70.0-79.9 = 3.00

60.0-69.9= 2.00

50.0-59.9 - 1.00

 

You take each course and turn the mark into a GPA, and then average the GPAs of individual courses (weight half courses as 0.5, and full courses as 1.0).

 

I assume that the same holds true for the other big Ontario universities.

 

Also, having applied more than once to the U.S., I cannot stress a few points that will help a lot.

 

1. APPLY EARLY - that means in July, seriously

2. HIGH MCAT - its important

3. Don't expect that interviews will turn into offers. I have had many interviews, and few offers, and I honestly do not believe I interviewed poorly, but it was rather that as a Canadian, they bias against you. Its not that your Canadian, but more so that you didn't come from a prestigious U.S. institution.

 

 

anyone know if this holds for queen's? also, why is this GPA formula different than the 3 outlined in the AAMC GPA conversion pdf?

[sonyvaio2700]

anyone know if this holds for queen's? also, why is this GPA formula different than the 3 outlined in the AAMC GPA conversion pdf?

 

does queens give 3.7 or 3.3?

 

they use the GPA one in the AAMC GPA calculations. not the numerical version...

[excalibre]

anyone know if this holds for queen's? also, why is this GPA formula different than the 3 outlined in the AAMC GPA conversion pdf?

 

I have no clue, but I assure you that is what they did for me, and its no mistake.

[JimGray]

I am utterly confused here.

Any mark over 80% from Western is a 4.00 down the border?

That does not sound logical at all if you ask me...Am I misunderstanding something here?