Duke-NUS Medical School - Any info? Should I bother?

[repede]

Anyone got any info on this school? I received an e-mail about it today, checked it out, and I am definitely interested in applying.

 

The thing that discourages me is that it contains the name "Duke". If I'm pessimistic about getting into UBC and UofT, I probably won't have a chance at such a school, will I? Here's the catch... those admitted to this program are obligated to do an internship in Singapore for 1 year, then work for 5 more years. That's a minimum of 10 years total in Singapore, and I don't know how many are willing to go through that.

 

For those curious, I'm very interested in this opportunity because I'm half Singaporean, and I have lots of family there. I've been to the city twice, and I love it.

 

The curriculum is very American, and I think the admissions process is very American as well. I know nothing about American med schools, since I've had my eyes set so hard on solely Canada until now. Somehow I have the impression that American schools are more focused on volunteer work and ECs than GPA and MCAT... My ECs are diverse, but few are medically related. :/

 

I don't mean for this to become another "rate me" thread, but would you care to provide your opinion on whether I should even bother trying? There's a lot of work (4 essays) to this application and I don't want to kill myself over something I don't even have a chance at.

 

EDIT: Thanks for the feedback, guys! I deleted my stats because I'm a little uncomfortable with leaving them for the world to see. But to update everyone, I decided not to apply after reading up about life working in Singapore. I had the intention of staying in Singapore after the degree, but I don't think I want to do that anymore. Although tied to Duke, it's considered a Singaporean MD so it'd be hard to come back to North America. Also, this should have gone in the International forum, not the American forum; sorry!

[bannie22]

Anyone got any info on this school? I received an e-mail about it today, checked it out, and I am definitely interested in applying.

 

The thing that discourages me is that it contains the name "Duke". If I'm pessimistic about getting into UBC and UofT, I probably won't have a chance at such a school, will I? Here's the catch... those admitted to this program are obligated to do an internship in Singapore for 1 year, then work for 5 more years. That's a minimum of 10 years total in Singapore, and I don't know how many are willing to go through that.

 

For those curious, I'm very interested in this opportunity because I'm half Singaporean, and I have lots of family there. I've been to the city twice, and I love it.

 

The curriculum is very American, and I think the admissions process is very American as well. I know nothing about American med schools, since I've had my eyes set so hard on solely Canada until now. Somehow I have the impression that American schools are more focused on volunteer work and ECs than GPA and MCAT... My ECs are diverse, but few are medically related. :/

 

I don't mean for this to become another "rate me" thread, but would you care to provide your opinion on whether I should even bother trying? There's a lot of work (4 essays) to this application and I don't want to kill myself over something I don't even have a chance at.

 

 

 

Current undergraduate, 4th year, Pharmacology

OMSAS cGPA 3.82 (cGPA 3.85, 4.00 scale), don't know how it converts

MCAT 36M (admissions at Duke-NUS told me this is respectable)

 

Piano

- ARCT Piano Performer's diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (14 years start to finish)

- Piano competitions and lots of awards from them, regional (11 years)

- Collaborative piano [accompaniment, duets, duos, quartets, concertos] in competition, now as a hobby

- Solo piano now as a hobby

 

Tennis

- Provincial competitive tennis (5 years)

- School tennis team, regional champions, and 2nd place in provincials 2 for years (5 years)

- Provincial summer league [team], silver medalists for 1 year, gold medalists for 2 years (3 years)

- Tennis now as a hobby

 

Research

- 12 months doing polymer and nanoparticle chemistry research, poster presentation at an undergraduate research fair

- 4 months doing pharmacogenetics research, PowerPoint presentation to the department

 

Internship in a Pharmaceutical Company

- 7 months research in an industrial analytical lab (research)

- 5 months in clinical operations (administrative work for clinical trails and medical research)

 

Other employment

- 4 months as Cashier at Shoppers Drug Mart

- A few years as Receptionist at a tennis club

 

Volunteer (hmm, crap, they seem to like medically related stuff...)

- Peer tutoring for 4 years

- Youth ESL/homework tutor at a community centre for 8 months so far

- Residence committee representative for 9 months

- Just started at Community Outreach Programs in Addiction

- Fundraisers here and there

 

Languages

- English (duh), some French, some Spanish, some Chinese, some Japanese

 

Won't bother listing my hobbies, as they probably won't contribute much...

 

I think my LORs should be pretty good too.

 

 

I think you have a good shot at DUKE-NUS. A little lacking on the research side, but your hobbies should make up for it.

[madskillz99]

I was under the impression Canadians could not apply to the Duke-NUS medical school. Make sure you get confirmation from admissions that you can before you go ahead. All the best!

[balster]

I'm a current student at Duke-NUS. It's an amazing school and I really encourage you to apply.

 

I'm also Canadian. Citizenship has absolutely no bearing in admissions.

[leviathan]

That would be expensive but a really interesting experience to do medical school and live in Singapore.

[ArchEnemy]

I'm a current student at Duke-NUS. It's an amazing school and I really encourage you to apply.

 

I'm also Canadian. Citizenship has absolutely no bearing in admissions.

 

OP already gained admission into UBC VFMP 2016