US Med Schools with High GPA, High MCAT (but average verbal)

[slick_nick]

Hey guys!

 

I'm an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto (Permanent resident of Canada).

 

I am planning to apply to american med schools this year, and wanted to get a feel about what the average requirements are for the good schools there, and whether I have a good shot if I apply in 2009 (to begin in Sept 2010).

 

My stats:

 

cGPA: 3.88

sGPA: 3.89 (lol, i suck at humanities)

 

MCAT:

PS: 14

BS: 13

WS: T

VS: 08 (aargh... freakin' verbal!)

 

I also have 2 years of research experience, although 2 of my manuscripts are currently being written (no publications yet)..

 

So far, I'm considering (in no specific order):

 

 

Hopkins

Columbia

Yale

Duke

Stanford

U of Pennsylvania

Dartmouth (? how's this school.. ranked 13th for primary care by us news report, 31st by research)

 

 

Thanks for the insight fellas!

[THX]

Hey guys!

 

I'm an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto (Permanent resident of Canada).

 

I am planning to apply to american med schools this year, and wanted to get a feel about what the average requirements are for the good schools there, and whether I have a good shot if I apply in 2009 (to begin in Sept 2010).

 

My stats:

 

cGPA: 3.88

sGPA: 3.89 (lol, i suck at humanities)

 

MCAT:

PS: 14

BS: 13

WS: T

VS: 08 (aargh... freakin' verbal!)

 

I also have 2 years of research experience, although 2 of my manuscripts are currently being written (no publications yet)..

 

So far, I'm considering (in no specific order):

 

 

Hopkins

Columbia

Yale

Duke

Stanford

U of Pennsylvania

Dartmouth (? how's this school.. ranked 13th for primary care by us news report, 31st by research)

 

 

Thanks for the insight fellas!

I don't know about the 8 in Verbal, it will raise red flags at some schools for sure but the rest of your app is solid. However, I suggest that you don't just apply to the schools that you have listed unless you want to get burned - there are all sorts of Canadians that do not get a single interview to these schools even with a 35+ MCAT. Also, Duke wants 250,000 up front if you are accepted.

 

You should really consider more mid-tier schools unless you are URM and/or have an outstanding background. The personal statement is very important to, so make sure you write something compelling. If you apply to the right schools, you have a good chance of getting in - if you stick to the Johns Hopkins only, then it's a bit of a gamble. Apply broadly, to high tier, mid tier and low tiers as backups.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[Retsage]

Odds are very bad. Your 8 VR will put you right out of contention, unless you're a visible minority.

[Alastriss]

Odds are very bad. Your 8 VR will put you right out of contention, unless you're a visible minority.

 

For the school you are shooting for, see comment above.

 

For any school, odds are decently good.

[terryann]

Who is considered a visible minority?

Does it include individuals with physical disabilities?

[CinnamonQueen]

According to the AMCAS website, this is the definition they use for underrepresented minorities:

 

"Underrepresented in medicine means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population."

 

So unfortunately I don't think it includes those with physical disabilities.

[terryann]

thanks so much for clarifying

[silvermen85]

I hate to be the negative person here slick_nick, but you are looking at some of the world's top medical institutions out there. You will be competing with 2-3 thousands of applicants who have super GPA, MCAT, years of physician shadowing, EC, research and volunteering experiences, and yeah many will come from Ivy League schools. Even with that only a small fraction of the applicants will be invited for interview and a tiny portion of that will be offered acceptance. Unfortunately, your stats is not that amazing besides the PS/BS/WS of your MCAT, but a VR of 8 probably will be more than offset those. Remember the national average for MCAT on the VR in the US is 10, and these schools you mentioned are at the top side of that line, so their school average for VR is 11 or even 12, that's a pretty decent sized gap you have there.

Now I don't know what other portions of your application looks like but if there are nothing extra-ordinary, the chances are you won't get an interview even if you apply early.

 

But then again, I encourage you to try your luck if you don't care about spending something like a thousand bucks (AMCAS+secondary). With a little bit of luck you might score a few interviews you never know.

 

I got interviewed at Harvard, Stanford and Cornell, but was rejected at Hopkins, Yale, Columbia and Penn, part of the reason is that I submitted my applications too late (most of them I send around the end of Oct). So the selection process is very school dependent, I have something in my app that appealed to some top schools, while others didn't like something I had (probably my VR of 9). Hope this give you a realistic view of the application process especially when applying to those top institutions.

[tree999]

The good news about the US is that most schools don't impose rigid score cutoffs, and tend to take a more holistic approach to admissions than Canadian schools. In other words, your 8 in verbal isn't going to be an immediate axe the way it would at some Ontario institutions. Your verbal score is below the median for those accepted at the US schools you mentioned, but your PS and BS scores are above the median in many places as well. Given your strong MCAT science results, writing score, and GPA, I think you still have a decent shot at the US. However, best to apply to a broad range of schools, especially some on a lower-tier than the ones you mentioned. Silvermen's interviews at Harvard and Stanford with a 9 in VR should provide some hope (congratulations by the way).

[slick_nick]

thanks a lot guys... i'll post up new questions as they pop up in my coming weeks of brainstorming!