plasticookies Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 I'm thinking of applying to a couple of American schools in addition to Canadian schools to increase my chances of getting an acceptance. I wish stay in Canada provided I have a choice, so I am not looking to get into the top American schools (I doubt I can anyway). I just want a back up. With this in mind, could you please take a look at my list and let me know which ones are in my league and also, which ones that are safety's? My stats are as follows: MCAT: 36P (14P,10VR, 12B) AMCAS cGPA: 3.90 Extracurriculars: The usual... summer research fellowships, hospital volunteering, mentorship, leadership positions in clubs, and a couple other smaller things The list (loosely ranked from hardest to get into to easiest): Yale (The first couple seem highly unlikely to me...are they?) Northwestern U Chicago Hopkins Harvard Cornell Mayo Columbia Mount Sinai Duke Tufts New York University Upenn Vanderbilt Darthmouth Albert Einstein (Yeshiva) Case Western Boston SUNY Wake Forest Stony Brook Rosalind Franklin Wayne State Albany Michigan state Thanks for your help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Illuminis Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Are you looking to apply this year, or next? It's looking a bit late at this point, by the time your primary's verified it'll probably be mid November, and then there's the secondaries. But you have nice stats so you could definitley give it a try if you have the money and time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CdnatWayne Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Just submit your primary as soon as they open up next summer and do the secondaries as they come in and you'll land a bunch of interviews (even at some top US schools) and acceptances just judging by your MCAT and GPA. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justletmein Posted October 29, 2009 Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 with stats like that, you have a great chance at a canadian school or possibly mid to upper tier US school. Why would you waste your time with: SUNY Stony Brook Rosalind Franklin Wayne State Albany Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticookies Posted October 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2009 Oops, should have stated that I'm looking to apply next year. Also, I should elaborate on my OP. If I can't make it into schools like UT or McGill, which American schools should I automatically write off? with stats like that, you have a great chance at a canadian school or possibly mid to upper tier US school. Why would you waste your time with: SUNY Stony Brook Rosalind Franklin Wayne State Albany I guess I'm looking at those in case I completely bomb everything else. I haven't done my homework on American applications, but most of these schools use the AMCAS application right? So it wouldn't actually be more time, but more money? Or am I missing something here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Oops, should have stated that I'm looking to apply next year. Also, I should elaborate on my OP. If I can't make it into schools like UT or McGill, which American schools should I automatically write off? I guess I'm looking at those in case I completely bomb everything else. I haven't done my homework on American applications, but most of these schools use the AMCAS application right? So it wouldn't actually be more time, but more money? Or am I missing something here? Most US schools use AMCAS except for Texas which has its own system. US applications are daunting because of all the secondaries you have to do. If you do not know yet, secondaries are follow up applications sent to you by schools after you submit your AMCAS application (primary). Each secondary you submit costs money ($50-$100/secondary) above and beyond AMCAS (costs around $160 for one app, then around $40 for each individual school added). Most secondaries are time consuming too. They are essay type questions that require a lot of thinking and effort if you want to get an interview. Probably a lot of applicants who apply broadly would agree that applying to the US is like a full time job in a way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hackintosh Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 I would take off Michigan State from that list and add Jefferson. Your stats look good and I think you should get accepted to Canadian schools. If you don't you are pretty much guaranteed interviews to american schools if you apply next year (this year might be too late) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Your stats look good and I think you should get accepted to Canadian schools. If you don't you are pretty much guaranteed interviews to american schools if you apply next year (this year might be too late) The MCAT "P" will be cut out some CDN schools. The US should give you some interviews, but just make sure you have some extracurriculars and medical field volunteering to back up your apps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmitch8 Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Take out Uchicago, Upenn and Tufts unless you did your undergrad at a US school. They'll just take your money and reject you on the basis of you being Canadian (stats don't matter). I second Hackintosh's suggestion to add Jefferson. It is a fantastic school, they accept a lot of ppl each year, and they seem to be very CDN friendly. Also, if you're going into this with the mindset that the American school will automatically be a "back-up" to any CDN school - that list might be too long. Like Keith said, it's a full-time job filling out that many American secondaries. You will be working hard for at least a month getting through the list. And then when you get interviews (which you will with those stats) you will be spending a lot of time sitting in airports, driving, and hanging out solo at hotels in US cities. I'm not trying to discourage you, I think the American schools are great - but if you've already decided to look at American schools strictly as a backup to Canada, you might be wasting time/money applying to THAT many schools. Maybe read up on ones that really interest you and apply to 2 in each "difficulty tier" of school? i.e Yale,Cornell at a reach, NYU, Boston in the mid-range, then SUNY and Wayne as backups? A lot of people say to apply broadly, but I think if you've already decided you'd prefer a CDN school, that list is just too long. I wish you the best of luck and I hope this helps you out - with those stats you'll definitely get in somewhere if you're smart about applying. Apply early too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plasticookies Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Oh yep..my list is totally too long I'll whittling it down before I apply. Thanks everyone for the suggestions and thanks keith_015 for the heads up on secondaries. Much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c17h Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Take out Uchicago, Upenn and Tufts unless you did your undergrad at a US school. They'll just take your money and reject you on the basis of you being Canadian (stats don't matter). I second Hackintosh's suggestion to add Jefferson. It is a fantastic school, they accept a lot of ppl each year, and they seem to be very CDN friendly. Also, if you're going into this with the mindset that the American school will automatically be a "back-up" to any CDN school - that list might be too long. Like Keith said, it's a full-time job filling out that many American secondaries. You will be working hard for at least a month getting through the list. And then when you get interviews (which you will with those stats) you will be spending a lot of time sitting in airports, driving, and hanging out solo at hotels in US cities. I'm not trying to discourage you, I think the American schools are great - but if you've already decided to look at American schools strictly as a backup to Canada, you might be wasting time/money applying to THAT many schools. Maybe read up on ones that really interest you and apply to 2 in each "difficulty tier" of school? i.e Yale,Cornell at a reach, NYU, Boston in the mid-range, then SUNY and Wayne as backups? A lot of people say to apply broadly, but I think if you've already decided you'd prefer a CDN school, that list is just too long. I wish you the best of luck and I hope this helps you out - with those stats you'll definitely get in somewhere if you're smart about applying. Apply early too! +1...couldn't have said it better myself! It takes ALOT of work to do applications. Apply early and apply smart...you'll definitely get in somewhere. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoMaki Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 +1...couldn't have said it better myself! It takes ALOT of work to do applications. Apply early and apply smart...you'll definitely get in somewhere. Good luck! +2 for me, my application was a second job in the summer. It really takes alot out of you and I'm really hoping that it pays off over the next 3-4 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.