blizzah Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 So I am taking a break from PS editing, and was trying to decide which schools to apply to (what an exciting life right now lol). I was hopeful everyone here could give me some help choosing. I was trying to whittle the list down some from the current 42, but I don't want to regret missing out on a school. Both my GPA and MCAT are on the low side from what it appears, so hopefully all goes well. Another question: I have LOR from 2 faculty (1 science I did a project with, and 1 non-science). Would another LOR from the professor I did research for over 3 years count as faculty, even though she didn't teach me in any courses? Background: 3.76 overall GPA (sGPA will be similar, consistent over three years, UTSG) 33Q (12/11/10 - P/B/V) -3 Summers research, 2 years during school year (2 separate labs) -2 publications in submission (1 first author) -1 more first author on the way hopefully by the end of the summer -3 years shadowing/working for family physician (2-3 hours a week) -5 years volunteer old age home (1 h/week) -2 years VP of active student union -2 weeks hospital volunteering in China School List: Loma Linda U of Southern California Stanford Yale U of Connecticut GWU Georgetown Emory U of Hawaii Rosalind Franklin Indiana U U of Kentucky Boston Harvard Johns Hopkins U of Maryland Wayne State Michigan State U of Minnesota St. Louis U Duke Wake Forest Creighton Dartmouth Columbia SUNY Upstate Einstein Mt. Sinai Albany NYMC Case Western Jefferson Penn State U of Pennsylvania Vanderbilt EVMS U of Virginia Virginia Commonwealth U of Vermont Texas: UT Southwestern Texas A&M UTMB Thanks to all and good luck to everyone applying this cycle! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshto Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 too many schools, some of which do not (or no longer) accept Canadians, including, EVMS, Wake Forest (I believe), SUNY Upstate. You have a very good chance of getting accepted to mid-tiers, and an outside shot of the upper-tier. Secondary applications are mentally draining---I would advise you to narrow down your list, with the hope of writing the more persuasive essays for the schools that remain on the narrowed down list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawn_doe Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 I have a very similar list as you. I also have the same MCAT score, but an O in the writing (33O) and 3.99 GPA. I've volunteerd at a children's hospital for 4 years, did some student gov't and frosh guiding, worked in a lab for a summer and then an honour's project, volunteered weekly at a church for 10 years and volunteered at a variety of other charities. I'm planning on applying to 30 schools (added them to amacas, cost $1117 ) Albert Einstein College of Medicine Boston University School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Columbia University College of P & S Dartmouth Medical School Emory University School of Medicine George Washington University Sch of Med & Hlth Sci Harvard Medical School Jefferson Medical Coll. of Thomas Jefferson Univ. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Loma Linda University School of Medicine Medical College of Wisconsin Michigan State University Mount Sinai School of Medicine New York Medical College New York University Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicin Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Scien Saint Louis University School of Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine Stony Brook University - School of Medicine SUNY Upstate Medical University University of Chicago - Pritzker University of Kentucky College of Medicine University of Maryland School of Medicine University of North Carolina School of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine Wayne State University School of Medicine Yale University School of Medicine Any thoughts on if I should cut some out? Or add in some that I should have? I think I have enough safeties in there, but let me know. THanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith_015 Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 I have a very similar list as you. I also have the same MCAT score, but an O in the writing (33O) and 3.99 GPA. I've volunteerd at a children's hospital for 4 years, did some student gov't and frosh guiding, worked in a lab for a summer and then an honour's project, volunteered weekly at a church for 10 years and volunteered at a variety of other charities. I'm planning on applying to 30 schools (added them to amacas, cost $1117 ) Albert Einstein College of Medicine Boston University School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Columbia University College of P & S Dartmouth Medical School Emory University School of Medicine George Washington University Sch of Med & Hlth Sci Harvard Medical School Jefferson Medical Coll. of Thomas Jefferson Univ. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Loma Linda University School of Medicine Medical College of Wisconsin Michigan State University Mount Sinai School of Medicine New York Medical College New York University Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicin Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Scien Saint Louis University School of Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine Stony Brook University - School of Medicine SUNY Upstate Medical University University of Chicago - Pritzker University of Kentucky College of Medicine University of Maryland School of Medicine University of North Carolina School of Medicine Washington University School of Medicine Wayne State University School of Medicine Yale University School of Medicine Any thoughts on if I should cut some out? Or add in some that I should have? I think I have enough safeties in there, but let me know. THanks! Dear God... You guys should do a little more research before deciding to apply. First of all, secondaries a lot of times cost $100, so even if you would get 20 secondaries, that could be $2000 extra in spending on top of the $1000 for the primary. Tack on potential travel expenses for interviews and you could be looking at $10k for an application cycle. Ask yourself if you can afford that right now. Second, when you do the secondaries you will be far too confused about each school because you will have too many on the go. You likely will not do a great job, and this hurts your chances broadly. Doing secondaries adds to the experience many of us had that applying to the US is like a full time job. And you want to get this job over and done with to be complete early and have a better chance. This might lead you to rushing or not putting full effort on a lot of them - which wastes your money and time should schools pass on you. Focus on a select number of schools (20 or less) you would actually want to go to, do some solid research on those schools, then choose to apply. Ask yourself do you want to go to a religious heavy school (Loma Linda). Ask yourself if you want to/have a chance to go to a primary minority school. Third, ask yourself if you actually want to live in each respective city. Flying out of a smaller city especially is expensive. Think about not being able to go home often due to cost. Also consider what you are comfortable with. St. Louis and Detroit may not be your thing due to crime and violence. Finally, ask yourself if you can afford each school's tuition or be able to secure the estimated cost of attendance. Money is not easy to secure to go to the US. Scholarships are very scarce for Canadians and I don't think many schools will help you out. Ask yourself if you will be able to afford the escrow or upfront payment of full tuition before starting for some schools (SLU, NYMC) - financing for US schools IS NOT EASY to begin with, so don't bank on getting enough cash at the end of the day to pay for it. EDIT: Also DO SOME RESEARCH on each school to determine if A, they accept Int'l or Canadians, and B, that you actually fulfill the application requirements. Some schools may be sticklers with prereqs, so why bother wasting time applying if you don't have the prereqs. For example, I ran into one issue with SUNY Upstate where my 1st year chem courses weren't adequate because they weren't titled "General". I accepted that fact before I submitted the secondary knowing that I could've done summer school to get the prereqs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathvvv Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 What Keith said Get a copy of the MSAR at your local university library or buy it. Check schools that have more than 3 Canadians matriculating at. You would save more money in the long run and not apply to schools like North Carolina which doesnt accept any Canadians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawn_doe Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 Thanks guys! It does sound daunting and I will trim it down to 20 schools. I haven't really looked at the geography at all. Much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thirty6ix Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 +1 to all of the above. Just a word of caution, though; don't rule out SUNY Upstate completely. There's a really big difference between "flat-out doesn't except Canadians" and "used to accept a lot of Canadians, and accepts far less now". Upstate is a decent school that is very close to the Canadian border, and their secondary application is very simple. I applied there this past cycle, interviewed and was accepted for the class of 2015. True, it's possible that this cycle they may not end up taking any Canadians, but their policy is still that, "...non-US residents with a strong record of academic research achievement are encouraged to apply.". I'd give it a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blizzah Posted May 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 Thanks guys, I will try to cut down to 20-25. Initially, I just wanted to give myself the greatest chance, by applying to the most schools; but it does make sense that I would end up spreading myself too thin and end up not writing good secondaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deathvvv Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 +1 to all of the above. ....strong record of academic research achievement are encouraged to apply."[/i]. I'd give it a shot. That part is important. If you look at the people on this board who get accepted, SUNY is definetely no low tiers by any means (ppl got in had 3.7+ 33+ stats) If your stats are average or below, you might want to apply to other schools instead unless you have significant ties to Syracuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawn_doe Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Ya I was going to take a shot at SUNY upstate just because it's so close to the border. I figure with wayne and couple of other backups I'll get in somewhere. The Ivy's are a long shot but might as well try. I've cut it down to 25 schools and I think I'll roll with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiehmin Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Can the helpful folks take a look at my stats and give me an opinion as well? would be much much appreciated: 3.6 overall GPA, currently phd student, bad undergrad 3rd year, but 3.6, 3.65, 3.77, 3.98 on 1/2/4/grad years. (UBC) MCAT: 34(10/11/13)Q expired, retook last month and waiting for scores -6+ years of research in multiple labs -5 publications, one 1st author -2 international conferences with posters, one oral presentation -scholarships -3 years of P, VP positions in student council -2 years of hospital volunteering -2 years of cancer hostel volunteering -multiple mini-projects such as symposium organization, student advocacy applying to most Canadian med except NO, Sask, and memorial for States: WashU St Louis (long shot) Northwestern (long shot) Baylor Virginia Dartmoth Maryland Mt. Sinai St Louis U Indiana Case Western Jefferson Wayne State Emory SUNY Georgetown What should I take out or replace? I have no problem with any of the cities. I am an older applicant (28) and my window is closing fast so I don't care where I go. Thank you guys in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mlbn Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Can the helpful folks take a look at my stats and give me an opinion as well? would be much much appreciated: 3.6 overall GPA, currently phd student, bad undergrad 3rd year, but 3.6, 3.65, 3.77, 3.98 on 1/2/4/grad years. (UBC) MCAT: 34(10/11/13)Q expired, retook last month and waiting for scores -6+ years of research in multiple labs -5 publications, one 1st author -2 international conferences with posters, one oral presentation -scholarships -3 years of P, VP positions in student council -2 years of hospital volunteering -2 years of cancer hostel volunteering -multiple mini-projects such as symposium organization, student advocacy applying to most Canadian med except NO, Sask, and memorial for States: WashU St Louis (long shot) Northwestern (long shot) Baylor Virginia Dartmoth Maryland Mt. Sinai St Louis U Indiana Case Western Jefferson Wayne State Emory SUNY Georgetown What should I take out or replace? I have no problem with any of the cities. I am an older applicant (28) and my window is closing fast so I don't care where I go. Thank you guys in advance Maybe add NYU and BU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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