jcc89 Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Hello friends, I'm a first time poster and have been lurking for about a year. Admittedly, I try to not read these forums because it usually ends up psyching me out, especially after reading stellar stats that have been rejected by various schools. Well any way, here I am posting now looking for suggestions on how I can improve my app, what to do next year, etc. This is gonna be long so please bear with me. First, here is my story/stats: First time applying From Toronto Graduated in 2011 with an Honors Specialization in Biochemistry MCAT: 13P/9V/11B Q (33Q) - This is my best score, wrote 2 times before GPA: OMSAS 3.84 (mucked around in 1st year), U of T weighted: 3.9, Ottawa weighted: 3.89, Last/best two years: 3.91 Essay: Definitely needs more work - too fluffy/creative in my opinion it kinda seems superficial. ECs: Vice President of two clubs, summer hospital volunteering every summer with children with special needs, dabbled with research in 3rd and 4th year (don't really like it), 4th year thesis, 1 pub but 7th author, intramural sports (hockey and soccer for all my years of UG, water polo in my first year), boys and girls club volunteer for two years, international volunteer for a month (was one of the leaders so had to prep for about half a year (fundraising, asking for medical supplies, etc), not many awards (just the standard entrance scholarships and aiming for the top), job shadowed last summer in stroke rehab, worked for the Toronto Public library during high school, and some other small ECs. These are the stats that I applied with this year, but was rejected pre-interview. I applied to all schools in Ontario (except Northern) and Dal. Currently, I have a part-time job as an instructional therapist for autistic children (PM me if you are interested in hearing what this job entails, really cool job IMHO) and I also do private tutoring for high school and university students (couldn't put these on my app because I started them after I submitted). I'm trying to save money to finance my (hopefully) medical education. I work around 20-30 hours a week, and I spend the rest of my free time playing recreational sports with friends, going to the gym, or hanging out. I'm really passionate about a career in medicine, so I don't want to consider another career. However, I can't help but feel like a failure after all the rejections. I'm just looking for some advice - things I can do to improve my app, or maybe I just need some feel good words... I wouldn't mind applying to the states for next cycle, but I would prefer to stay in Canada. Oh yeah, I don't have an English credit because I was scared it would pull my GPA down. Suggestions on what I should do? Thank you for reading to the end of this post. All your help is greatly appreciated. -J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Did you at least get interviews? If you got interviews don't think about hightailing it off to the U.S or the Caribbean just yet, especially if this was your first application. I'll let the people who know what they are talking about do the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc89 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 nope, no interviews. I don't have the MCAT cut offs for Western and Queens, and CASPer felt bad. My only hopes were Ottawa and U of T. Ottawa rejected me based on my ECs being not good enough. I'm assuming U of T rejected me because of the same reason and the essay, which I definitely need more work on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Ottawa told you your EC's were not good enough? Well as far as the intangibles go (the GPA) you're up there. I wouldn't settle for anything less than Canadian med school with that. Still no harm in throwing a few applications next year to the U.S of A. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDoc Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Apply to the USA. Submit your application early. As in June, the first day you can submit. Start writing a personal statement now. Get it edited. Get reference letters started for it. You have great stats. An American MD school will surely interview you. Your ECs sound great. Maybe work on the packaging. ex. This is why I know I want to be a physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Apply to the USA. Submit your application early. As in June, the first day you can submit. Start writing a personal statement now. Get it edited. Get reference letters started for it. You have great stats. An American MD school will surely interview you. Your ECs sound great. Maybe work on the packaging. ex. This is why I know I want to be a physician. Surely interview him? But he's Canadian! Though I suppose they have plenty of doctors down there, and med schools (like everything down there) just want to make money. What were your stats deedoc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soap.Bar Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Your application seems pretty good to me, and personally I think your ECs look quite good (or else I'm pretty much screwed, ha ha). My best guess would be perhaps your MCAT score..? Just to make sure, is the score you posted your most RECENT score? Other than that I guess it'd probably be due to essay and other things (e.g. CASPer)... The best things to do would probably to improve your MCAT scores, check through your references again to see if there's a way to make them better, and get advice for essays. As for steps you can take for now, maybe it'd be better for you to just do an extra year to give yourself time to work on these things before considering the States. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Your application seems pretty good to me, and personally I think your ECs look quite good (or else I'm pretty much screwed, ha ha). My best guess would be perhaps your MCAT score..? Just to make sure, is the score you posted your most RECENT score? Other than that I guess it'd probably be due to essay and other things (e.g. CASPer)... The best things to do would probably to improve your MCAT scores, check through your references again to see if there's a way to make them better, and get advice for essays. As for steps you can take for now, maybe it'd be better for you to just do an extra year to give yourself time to work on these things before considering the States. Yeah with your GPA you definitely made it into their review pile. Gotta be the MCAT, reference letters or essay. Try try again, get some of the fellas on here to review your stuff. Most frustrating part of this to me would be...what the hell am I going to do for a year? Work at blockbuster? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chii Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Hey JCC, I'm definitely interested in hearing more about your experiences as an instructional therapist! I would PM you, but PMs aren't working right now! Do you have an email I can contact you at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc89 Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 hey friends, thank you for all your input. My most recent MCAT is the score that's on my post 13P/9V/11B/Q (33Q). Chii: contact me at chanjustin@live.com if PMs aren't working. Dee Doc: I'll definitely start to apply to the States ASAP - even if its just for the interview experience, if I even get one. In regards to the packaging, you are right, I think I need to sell myself better. But here's my question: What sorts of things would make me stand out as an applicant? In my ABS I put down why I did the activity and what I learned from the experience because I think Ottawa wanted to know that stuff, but due to the lack of characters, I wasn't able to include a lot of the duties. Are there any American school you suggest I look at knowing that I do not have an English credit? Soap bar: In regards to rewriting the MCAT for verbal, this could be a risk because I must have done probably around 15 practice tests at least and the highest score I achieved in verbal was a 10...so when I wrote the real thing and got a 9, I was like "Alright, I'll take it". However, I never really focused on practicing verbal outside of just doing practice tests...I was mainly focused my studying on physics because I got an 8 in Physics the first two times I wrote the MCAT. My other MCAT scores were 8/7/10/P (1st one was a trial run), 9/9/11/P, and my most recent 13/9/11/Q. Even though its a risk, I'm not gonna write this idea off. Oh, another question: What kind/style of an essay should I write...This year I tried to be creative, but after reading it over - it just sounded really superficial. Should I go for a 'bragging' type of essay or a 'humble' kind? Thoughts? What sorts of things do other pre-meds do with a year off? I'm working two part time jobs and play recreational sports regularly (flag football in the summer and hockey in the winter). Would a Master's degree help me at this point? Though, I'm really not a huge fan of research. Thanks again for all your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blizzah Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I'm from U of T and applied US this year with a 3.76/33 and similar ECs. I'm here 4 acceptances later. Definitely apply to the US next year. Remember their application opens June 1 and you want to apply as early as possible. Go to the US section of the boards to get a feel for school list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc89 Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Thanks blizzah, will do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I'm from U of T and applied US this year with a 3.76/33 and similar ECs. I'm here 4 acceptances later. Definitely apply to the US next year. Remember their application opens June 1 and you want to apply as early as possible. Go to the US section of the boards to get a feel for school list. You mean you got accepted into 4 medical schools? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kylamonkey Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Hm... I think that the US is a good shot for you, but I have this feeling (and maybe someone can clarify) that they might look on rewriting MCAT as a bad thing? No offense meant, but writing it 3x is probably enough. It's a good score, in any case, and unless there's some real reason why you think you can do better, prob best not to bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamIDP Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Your stats are amazing. I won't lie, but if those stats didn't get you a single interview applying to 6 schools.....that's just sad. But to tell you the truth, unless your a 4th year UG, don't feel to sad. Usually 3rd year students who are accepted have insane grades, closer to the 4.0. When your in your 4th year you'll be sure to pile up a few interviews. I hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Do med schools note how many times you have applied? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcc89 Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Your stats are amazing. I won't lie, but if those stats didn't get you a single interview applying to 6 schools.....that's just sad. But to tell you the truth, unless your a 4th year UG, don't feel to sad. Usually 3rd year students who are accepted have insane grades, closer to the 4.0. When your in your 4th year you'll be sure to pile up a few interviews. I hope this helps. I graduated already last year (2011). Although I as well find it kind of sad, I really only had a reasonable chance at 3/6 schools I applied to. My MCAT Verbal and CASPer didn't go so well. I was mainly banking on U of T, Ottawa and Dal. Thanks for the encouraging comment on my stats...maybe I really do need to work on the packaging of my ABS and have a more convincing essay... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blizzah Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 You mean you got accepted into 4 medical schools? Yes. US med schools do look at all your attempts, but if they see a steady upwards progression, then it generally won't be such a bad thing. I think there should be a limit at 3, any more and that is pushing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I'd think having tried for a few years would help your chances - they might feel bad for you and let you in (if your application is at least somewhat competitive). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamIDP Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I graduated already last year (2011). Although I as well find it kind of sad, I really only had a reasonable chance at 3/6 schools I applied to. My MCAT Verbal and CASPer didn't go so well. I was mainly banking on U of T, Ottawa and Dal. Thanks for the encouraging comment on my stats...maybe I really do need to work on the packaging of my ABS and have a more convincing essay... Well that's good news as your GPA is set in stone and it's very good. If I were you, I would take a year off and re polish everything and see where I went wrong and reapply. You are very sure to get interviewed next year, and now that you know where you went wrong and know where to improve, you should be fine. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeDoc Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Surely interview him? But he's Canadian! Though I suppose they have plenty of doctors down there, and med schools (like everything down there) just want to make money. What were your stats deedoc? >3.9 GPA, >36 MCAT, 12 verbal. Gunning for U of T or UWO though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 >3.9 GPA, >36 MCAT, 12 verbal. Gunning for U of T or UWO though Why was UWO the #2 for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JB. Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I'd think having tried for a few years would help your chances - they might feel bad for you and let you in (if your application is at least somewhat competitive). WTF. Everytime I read your replies to threads, they just get more and more ridiculous. Are you trying to be an idiot or does it just come naturally?? jcc- your stats look awesome. Like you, I'm wondering if the wording on your application is holding you back, not your stats. There are a couple members on this site who are really good at reviewing applications and giving feedback/helping to edit. If I were you, I would approach them. I think you'll find yourself more successful next round. Good luck!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Hood Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 WTF. Everytime I read your replies to threads, they just get more and more ridiculous. Are you trying to be an idiot or does it just come naturally?? jcc- your stats look awesome. Like you, I'm wondering if the wording on your application is holding you back, not your stats. There are a couple members on this site who are really good at reviewing applications and giving feedback/helping to edit. If I were you, I would approach them. I think you'll find yourself more successful next round. Good luck!! Or maybe he's just trolling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerkstore Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 peace and tranquillity. serenity now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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