How many canadians still have no US interviews?

[Futurama2010]

Starting to get a bit discouraged...I applied to 15 schools and still not a single interview (but 2 rejections)...my stats are good, 33 Mcat, 3.87 gpa, EC decent (lots of research + pubs/presentations, clinical experience, sports, club exec, mentoring etc..)

Oh, I also applied relatively early, with most of my secondaries complete by end of Aug/early Sept. It's my first time applying.

[trickybox]

Hmm, your stats seem fine. Did you apply broadly? (ie. low, mid and reaches, and of course, Canadian friendly ones) Only one other thing I can think of right now, your LORs might have red flagged your application.

[moo]

You've got good stats, and you applied early. I second the poster above. Wondering if your LORs pulled you down or whether it's the type of schools you applied to.

[hmmmm]

same problem here. Similar stats with ~3.9 cGPA. Similar ECs with volunteer experience abroad finished secondaries in August.....but NOTHING!

[Futurama2010]

well I don't think it's the LORs, I think they're all good....and then again, how do you find out whether it's one of the LORs that has a red flag??

I tried contacting one of the schools I got rejected from to get feedback but they said they have too many applicants to give personalized advice blah blah blah

 

regarding the schools I applied to, they're all mid to high tier, but I don't really want to apply to low tier schools as I want to be involved in research during med and unfortunately the best research opportunities are in the higher ranked schools...so I guess I'm stuck waiting and hoping!

[keith_015]

With a 33 MCAT it is no wonder you are waiting. Higher tiers want 35's or better.

[Futurama2010]

well, it's not so straightforward though.. Higher tiers usually have a median of 35-36, which means that 50% of accepted applicants have lower than that...and 33 is still 90th percentile so it shouldn't be that bad

[Gitanjali]

I am really curious...Futarama can u list some of the schools you applied too???

[hmmmm]

I applied to mid-tiers but have heard nothing (well two rejections). Very surprised.

[trickybox]

well, it's not so straightforward though.. Higher tiers usually have a median of 35-36, which means that 50% of accepted applicants have lower than that...and 33 is still 90th percentile so it shouldn't be that bad

 

Yes the median is 35-36, but you're forgetting probably 2 things that may skew the median.

 

One would be URMs that are accepted (who usually have lower MCATs), and the other is that internationals are always evaluated at a higher standard, especially at the higher tier schools. In fact, I'd probably wager that you need an MCAT equal to or greater than the median to get accepted by those schools. (unless you have some OUTSTANDING ECs)

[c17h]

Yes the median is 35-36, but you're forgetting probably 2 things that may skew the median.

 

One would be URMs that are accepted (who usually have lower MCATs), and the other is that internationals are always evaluated at a higher standard, especially at the higher tier schools. In fact, I'd probably wager that you need an MCAT equal to or greater than the median to get accepted by those schools. (unless you have some OUTSTANDING ECs)

 

+1

 

10 charac

[Cyradis]

Some good and bad news for you from what I know:

 

The good:

 

I know tons of people who have not heard back from many US schools (people with high 30s) on their MCAT, so honestly they might just be pretty behind or still considering people for their last round of interviews or something.

 

The bad:

 

Some schools are already done interviews, and for some reason are just really slow sending out their rejections. For example, NYU's interview spots are completely gone, but I haven't actually heard from them (although I'm 99% sure it's a no from NYU, I don't see them magically opening up new interview spots =/)

 

So there's still hope, but... just don't want to get your hopes super high or anything.

[Rach]

Yes the median is 35-36, but you're forgetting probably 2 things that may skew the median.

 

One would be URMs that are accepted (who usually have lower MCATs), and the other is that internationals are always evaluated at a higher standard, especially at the higher tier schools. In fact, I'd probably wager that you need an MCAT equal to or greater than the median to get accepted by those schools. (unless you have some OUTSTANDING ECs)

 

I don't think URMs could skew the numbers that much considering there are only a handful of URMs per class (though I guess there are probably an equal number of ORMs with low stats dragging down the average). The number of people with freakishly high MCATs is probably close to the number of low scoring URMs and ORMs. Maybe the 35 MCAT is actually a pretty good gauge?

Also, aren't a lot of the top schools private and very Canadian friendly?

 

I do think top schools look for something "special" in applicants. They could fill their classes many times over with really high-scoring people so you really have to have awesome ECs, letters, and essays to stand out.

[bannie22]

^ and interviews

[moo]

I'm sorry to break this to you but if you haven't heard by this time, you probably will get rejected (especially if you've completed early). I remember the last interview I heard from was from Northwestern, in early February (February 2 to be exact, I don't know why I remember that from 8 years ago). If you're complete and schools want you, you will have gotten interviews Sept-Jan.

 

Remember, you should always apply broadly. The US admissions process is a big lottery. Apply to lower tier schools to be safe. If you end up at a lower tier school, you can always still do research (many people take a year off to go to the NIH or Hopkins or Harvard or elsewhere to do research).

[bona_verba]

well I don't think it's the LORs, I think they're all good....and then again, how do you find out whether it's one of the LORs that has a red flag??

I tried contacting one of the schools I got rejected from to get feedback but they said they have too many applicants to give personalized advice blah blah blah

 

regarding the schools I applied to, they're all mid to high tier, but I don't really want to apply to low tier schools as I want to be involved in research during med and unfortunately the best research opportunities are in the higher ranked schools...so I guess I'm stuck waiting and hoping!

 

i think your idea about lower tier schools not being good for research is a little strange.

 

have you applied to the following? they are all pretty decent for research:

 

-wayne state

-case western

-rosalind franklin

-u kentucky

 

and they are also super canadian friendly

 

and have you actually done a great deal of research in your undergrad years?

[Gitanjali]

i think your idea about lower tier schools not being good for research is a little strange.

 

have you applied to the following? they are all pretty decent for research:

 

-wayne state

-case western

-rosalind franklin

-u kentucky

 

and they are also super canadian friendly

 

and have you actually done a great deal of research in your undergrad years?

 

Case Western is sooo not low tier buddy:rolleyes:

[bannie22]

^ I know eh.

Someone doesnt know waht tehy are talking about.

 

How on earth can you put Case together with Wayne RFU and Kentucky.

 

I know Case sucks alot, but ... srsly?

[bona_verba]

^ I know eh.

Someone doesnt know waht tehy are talking about.

 

How on earth can you put Case together with Wayne RFU and Kentucky.

 

I know Case sucks alot, but ... srsly?

 

 

lol ok

 

i put case in there because they're serious about research

and the OP seemed interested in that

 

case takes ppl with not so hot stats if they apply early and have a lot of experience and motivation for research in medicine

 

u guys need to stop rating schools

and looking at each school individually and if it fits you

 

and you dont ''fit'' at an institution because of its tier.

you fit it for other reasons

 

wsu, uky, are definitely reputable research institutions. rfu is building itself in that direction through its mission in discovery. you dont need to be at harvard to get a good research education. especially if you can't get in. either way you'll find the opportunity to conduct research. so don't stress OP, just apply a little more broadly.

[bannie22]

i think your idea about lower tier schools not being good for research is a little strange.

 

have you applied to the following? they are all pretty decent for research:

 

-wayne state

-case western

-rosalind franklin

-u kentucky

 

and they are also super canadian friendly

 

and have you actually done a great deal of research in your undergrad years?

 

lol ok

 

i put case in there because they're serious about research

and the OP seemed interested in that

 

case takes ppl with not so hot stats if they apply early and have a lot of experience and motivation for research in medicine

 

u guys need to stop rating schools

and looking at each school individually and if it fits you

 

and you dont ''fit'' at an institution because of its tier.

you fit it for other reasons

 

wsu, uky, are definitely reputable research institutions. rfu is building itself in that direction through its mission in discovery. you dont need to be at harvard to get a good research education. especially if you can't get in. either way you'll find the opportunity to conduct research. so don't stress OP, just apply a little more broadly.

 

 

Look who started rating schools by rank.

[Rach]

I believe that US News rankings (though somewhat useless) end at around 60 with the total number of schools at 125-130. I think it's safe to say that if a school is ranked, they are either top or middle tier. The schools that aren't ranked are probably considered lower tier. At least this is how I looked at it when I was trying to pick schools from a broad range. IMO Case is borderline top and middle, Kentucky being middle, the other two being unranked.

[rmitch8]

lol ok

 

i put case in there because they're serious about research

and the OP seemed interested in that

 

case takes ppl with not so hot stats if they apply early and have a lot of experience and motivation for research in medicine

 

u guys need to stop rating schools

and looking at each school individually and if it fits you

 

and you dont ''fit'' at an institution because of its tier.

you fit it for other reasons

 

wsu, uky, are definitely reputable research institutions. rfu is building itself in that direction through its mission in discovery. you dont need to be at harvard to get a good research education. especially if you can't get in. either way you'll find the opportunity to conduct research. so don't stress OP, just apply a little more broadly.

 

I couldn't agree more with bona verba. I've been to interviews at a range of "tiers" and it seems that there are ALWAYS really great research opportunities for med students. It's just up to the med student to suss these opportunities out.

 

I think the difference with high tier "research schools" may be that a greater portion of the class takes part in research opportunities because the school provides incentive. i.e. I got the sense that at Vandy most students did some kind of project in the summer between first/second year because Vandy sponsored a program that provided funding; 50% of the Harvard class stays for a scholarly fifth year because it's tuition-free and school supported; and I've heard that, at Yale, all med students are required to complete a thesis before graduating.

 

Futurama2010, your opportunities for research won't be as limited as you think at a lower-tier school - you just may not have the push from your school and your peers in that direction. But if you already know that you want to do research, who cares? There are opportunities for research at most med schools, you just have to talk to the PIs and make it happen. So if it doesn't work out this time around, apply again in June to a load of schools, with some in a "lower" tier.