musicaldna Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Looking at the MDApps and talking to people around me, it seems that getting in the US is NOT as easy as people make it sound. It seems harder than getting in Canada. I am not talking Top schools, but just any school. My stats are not even exceptional. I think at the end of it all, I will just end up wasting 4-5K bucks and rewriting the mcat and doing everything again for Canada.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c17h Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 I have heard the same thing that Canadians getting into med school in the US is very difficult... someone told me the stat was 1 out of 100 get in (although I think that statistic is a little on the low side...). Furthermore, Canadians who finish med school in the US have to deal with getting visas, residency spots in the US and so on. First and foremost, I would try your chances with Canada before applying to the US...unless you REALLY want to head south. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicaldna Posted July 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 Your question has been addressed before. Look at the accepted thread and you will see what is required to get in. It's not impossible, it is a little easier depending on which schools you apply to. In any case the advantage of applying to the US is to expand the pool of schools you are applying to. They may not be easier, but you have more chances to "toss the dice", and that's gotta count for something. Some applicants are more successful in the US than they would have been in canada (token). You may perhaps use me as an example of someone who was not successful in the US but also in canada. It all depends on how your application projects to the ad comms. In the accepted/rejected thread I don't see the stats. Is there another thread? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UserName Posted July 22, 2009 Report Share Posted July 22, 2009 while at it, i think we should make our own thread for interviews and acceptances (but it's early).. let's revolt against the old guard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
token Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 I really do think it matters what school you come from. You need to seem as "familiar" as possible. Doing a US undergrad, or a Canadian undergrad that's "American style", or doing graduate school in the US makes a difference. Personally I know quite a few people from my class who got into top 20 schools this year, and I wasn't even a science major - i.e. there are probably loads more I don't know about. So when you see ON grads with 35+ getting rejected, think about whether they were able to present themselves as credible American applicants. I can't imagine how things like having a different grading/credit/majors systems could be insignificant when the admissions committee members are often given huge stacks of applications to screen at a time and want to quickly evaluate/compare academic performance. Obviously it's still possible but I think you need to be aware of what sets you apart from the American applicants so you can soften it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
token Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 I really think it depends a lot on what school you're coming from. Personally I know of 4 people from my class who got into top 20 schools...and I wasn't even a science major, so I'm sure there were a lot more I don't about. Basically you need to seem as "familiar" as possible. Whether that's doing a Us undergrad, or a Canadian undergrad that is US style, or doing grad school in the states. Obviously its still possible without those advantages, but likely more challenging. So when you look on mdapps and see UofT grass with 35+ getting rejected, remember they may not have done enough to familiarize their application to American readers. So research the process and your schools so that you can present yourself as someone seriously considering American med school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTeight7 Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 token, what do you mean by canadian undergrad that is US style? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicaldna Posted July 23, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 So where do I show my love for American med schools? I have not mentioned why I wanna come to America for medicine instead of staying in Canada in my PS. (Was I supposed to? I thought it would not be appropriate since the PS is "why medicine" not "where" but if yes I am screwed). I also cannot see where in the secondaries I can mention this. Perhaps when they ask why you want to come to our school? Is that when I say good things about the particular school and compare it to Canada to prove its better than anything in Canada? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UserName Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 well i personally mentioned in my PS that i have close relatives who are doctors in the US and asked one of my references to really elaborate on the fact that i love the US and A and he did .. i believe we definitely also need to look up some interesting points about the American health care system and talk about it or at least mention it in the secondaries.. so they know that we are at least somewhat serious about the US and know what we are getting ourselves into. i haven't done that yet.. so if anybody has any ideas or good books to read.. don't be shy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
token Posted July 23, 2009 Report Share Posted July 23, 2009 Oh I don't think it's a huge deal if you didn't directly address it in your personal statement. If you haven't mentioned it on your paper application, and even if you have, you will get the "why the US?" question at almost every interview so be prepared. If someone just applies to the US in October on a lark, just copying and pasting their OMSAS application, it will be pretty obvious to the adcoms that they're not serious about it, simply because the Canadian schools are looking for such different things. What I meant to say is that you guys seem to be very well informed about the process and thus have already have tailored your application to the US. Many Canadian applicants don't, however. So if you hear of someone who applied to 5 schools last year and got rejected from all of them, you shouldn't take from that that US schools are prohibitively difficult to get into. ed: and with the "types" of schools...I was mostly thinking of the places where all degrees are 4 years = 120 credits, tend to accept AP/IB etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolferGrl Posted April 3, 2010 Report Share Posted April 3, 2010 Oh I don't think it's a huge deal if you didn't directly address it in your personal statement. If you haven't mentioned it on your paper application, and even if you have, you will get the "why the US?" question at almost every interview so be prepared. If someone just applies to the US in October on a lark, just copying and pasting their OMSAS application, it will be pretty obvious to the adcoms that they're not serious about it, simply because the Canadian schools are looking for such different things. What I meant to say is that you guys seem to be very well informed about the process and thus have already have tailored your application to the US. Many Canadian applicants don't, however. So if you hear of someone who applied to 5 schools last year and got rejected from all of them, you shouldn't take from that that US schools are prohibitively difficult to get into. ed: and with the "types" of schools...I was mostly thinking of the places where all degrees are 4 years = 120 credits, tend to accept AP/IB etc. I think I know what you mean. I am a Canadian doing my undergraduate degree in the US since I am on an athletic scholarship playing NCAA D-1 golf. I also have done some physician shadowing and worked with the University volunteer ambulance service. These are more meaningful to US adcoms I'm sure. I will also try applying to Canadian schools, I wonder whether they will appreciate these EC's and the athletics which takes up a huge chunk of time with practice and travel. I have not yet found time to do research, hopefully I can do some in the summer after third year. I have a 4.0 GPA and will have completed all my US pre-med pre-requsiites this year. I'll see what applying to Canadian schools for admission after 3 years is like, I'm not sure if they will consider my application competitive enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sky_blue2000 Posted April 10, 2010 Report Share Posted April 10, 2010 What I meant to say is that you guys seem to be very well informed about the process and thus have already have tailored your application to the US. Many Canadian applicants don't, however. So if you hear of someone who applied to 5 schools last year and got rejected from all of them, you shouldn't take from that that US schools are prohibitively difficult to get into. This may seem like a dumb question, but what do you mean by tailoring your application for the US? What could you specifically do? I'm currently working on my PS, and I'm having such a hard time being succinct in my reasoning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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