Dayne67 Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Hi, I applied last year to med schools in the US. Unfortunately, I didn't receive any interviews. I applied kind of late last year (i.e. secondaries submitted early November). So, I figured that may have been one of the reasons for my lack of success. Of course, I did try to improve my application this time around with better LOR's, a better essay, and a better extracurriculars. But besides that, I am wondering if my stats are good enough? I thought they were decent, but I am kind of unsure now if they are good enough for a Canadian applicant. My stats are 3.70 GPA (3.98 GPA BPCM) and 10,10,10,O. Also, I am an electrical engineering grad who has been working for the past two years. I was just trying to get some realistic feedback on my chances for this application cycle. So, any comments or advice would be very much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Your stats seem fine....a higher MCAT would be nicer, but right now it's just about the matriculant average, which is smth like 30.5 P. Your GPA couldn't be a problem. Do you have a strong negative trend in the GPA, maybe? How are your ECs? Any clinical experience? Also, where did you apply? You may have applied to schools that are too competitive for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 Also, how was your personal statement? Some of the SH!T I've read on SDN is completely unbelievable....some of these PS's would keep people out of med school even if they had a 4.0/40, I swear to god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayne67 Posted June 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Hi, thanks for responding. My GPA's been pretty stable throughout my undergrad. I have been volunteering at Toronto General Hospital for 3 years now. And I have about 200 hours of clinical volunteering as part of that. I was told that my personal statement last year was decent, but it didn't have that "wow" factor - which I really needed because my MCAT isn't that high. So, I really worked on it this year. I got some more feedback from some people (including med school students who post at SDN), and it's been really positive. And I applied last year mostly to low to middle-tier schools (i.e. Wayne State, Albany, RFU, GW, NYMC, Einstein, Howard, Jefferson). But this year, I have applied a lot more extensively (about 24 schools). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Hm, sounds weird. Do you feel like giving the MCAT another shot? If you do though, just double check that Canadian schools won't hold it against you if you accidentally get a 9 in a section....I don't know whether they consider the most recent score, or if they just take the highest section score of all the rewrites. Do you have any other ECs outside of the volunteering at the hospital? Most folks on SDN have no problem filling out the 15 slots on AMCAS, but so far you've only mentioned working and the hospital, so I can't really say much. Did you ever try calling any of the schools that rejected you to get some feedback? While timing may have been an issue, I doubt that's the main thing that kept you out....it sounds like it was more of a combination of several small things that all added up to a lackluster app. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayne67 Posted June 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 And yeah, most of personal statements posted at SDN are pretty bad (IMO). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayne67 Posted June 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 Well, I have improved my volunteering experiences since last year. But most of it is summed up below. It's still not a lot, but I have tried to do things that interest me. This year, I didn't have any trouble filling in the 15 slots. Toronto General Hospital (CVICU, ER, Pulmonary Function Lab) St. Christopher House (Mentor to Internationally-trained Professionals)- Mentored recent immigrants (i.e. employment counciling) at a social support center that provides services for low-income families. National Learning Center (Math/Science Tutor to high school students) Canadian Cancer Society (Relay for Life Committee - Volunteer Coordinator) Liberal Leadership Campaign for Gerard Kennedy - recruited support for campaign Toronto Community Housing (summer recreation volunteer) - helped organize and host activities for youth living in subsidized housing developments. Lightning Studies Research Group (research assistant - studying lightning strikes to the CN Tower) And a variety of jobs (i.e. in engineering, part-time, etc.), company basketball league, and different university awards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bane Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 What exactly is a bad Personal Statement? How do you know that theyre bad? They dont sound creative? Theyre not memorable? They flow poorly? What makes you say a PS is bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dayne67 Posted June 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 To me, "bad" means cliched (i.e. too much syrup and cheese), lacking in introspection (i.e. depth), and having a very poor flow (i.e. experiences are "forced" into one's essay rather than being recalled naturally). Of course, it's all very subjective. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochi1543 Posted June 14, 2007 Report Share Posted June 14, 2007 What exactly is a bad Personal Statement? How do you know that theyre bad? They dont sound creative? Theyre not memorable? They flow poorly? What makes you say a PS is bad? I'm gonna PM you one I reviewed as an example....it was posted in public on SDN, so I guess it's fair game to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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