patrick83 Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Hey Guys, Judging from the Accept/Reject/Waitlist thread you guys all seem to have tons of experience with applying US schools. Having just been rejected by the only Canadian school I really had a shot at- I'm trying to consider other options. I have a cGPA of 3.75, current MCAT is 29P, have worked for 3 years in the anesthesia dept. at our local hospital so feel like I have a fair bit of medically related experience, poster abstract at a American medical conference, a decent amount of ECs, etc. Do I have any chance at a US school? I always assumed I wouldn't but figured I might as well ask the experts! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tan008 Posted May 19, 2009 Report Share Posted May 19, 2009 Your GPA is fine but US schools really look at the MCAT. 29P is a bit on the low side for a Canadian student but if you apply early it might not hurt you too much. What is your MCAT breakdown? Having even scores in all sections is better than having two really good ones and one low score. Which schools you are applying to will also affect your overall chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick83 Posted May 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hey Tan, Thanks for the quick response. The MCAT was the bane of my existence for awhile. As a bit of a non-traditional applicant I had essentially no science pre-req's. It is pretty balanced however. 9(PS) 11(VR) 9(BS) What do you think would be the best US options? I really appreciate the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HD555 Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 rewrite you MCAT. 29P will hurt you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tan008 Posted May 20, 2009 Report Share Posted May 20, 2009 I would seriously consider rewriting. Many of the schools will say that they will consider Canadian applicants the same as OOS but the reality is very different. MCAT is very important for the States (more so than the GPA). Your sciences are on the low side. I believe that the median for most US schools for biology is around 10-11, so that 9 will hurt you. If you are not planning on rewriting and still want to apply I would recommend applying as early as humanly possible and even then there are no guarantees. Get an MSAR guide to medschool for the current year. It has all the info you need and the schools you might have a decent shot at. Off the top of my head I would say Albany might be one + Carribean schools. Other than that, you might have a hard time getting an interview. Even if the rest of your application is stellar, the MCAT might be a red flag. If you don't meet the schools' cut offs, they won't look at your application and won't get a chance to see how awesome you are. That's the sad reality of it. In the end I would seriously consider writing it again (perhaps this summer if you can) and then applying broadly. You can still go for it this year but I wouldn't waste my time applying to anything top tier because those tend to have pretty high MCAT cut offs. ~best of luck regardless though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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