To All Premeds :) US Applications

[medhopefuls2016]

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[nonamebrand]

hey thanks for doing this.

 

stats?

school list?

interview/accepted where?

[AshPreMed]

Could you please answer my question in this thread based on your US experience? Thanks.

 

http://premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64426

[nonamebrand]

Damn impressive stats!!! And even more impressive school list

 

did any of the interviews mention or ask about the current state of health care (US or Can)? Did you study US healthcare before attending these interviews?

[Savac]

Hey,

 

I have a similar GPA to yours (3.99 OMSAS, not sure what AMCAS would make it), but my MCAT practice scores are not quite as high. My AAMC average is around 34. Would the schools on your list (which seems to include some very respected schools) look less favorably on me if I can only score around a 34? I expect that I'll probably get a score near my average score give or take a few points.

 

I'm applying to Canadian schools only this cycle (most likely), since I won't have everything ready until around September. I don't think I'd stand a good chance at US Schools if I applied that late. Still, I need to prepare for US Applications throughout the next school year.

 

Thanks, and I think what you're doing is very nice.

[GaganS]

Hi

 

1) What university did you do your undergrad at, and what program at that university did you do?

[GaganS]

Dear Gagan,

 

I did my undergrad in Canada in an Ontario school, and I majored in a life-science degree.

 

Best regards,

 

Okay, thanks for the quick reply

 

I have another question:

 

Did you apply third year, or fourth year?

[Savac]

Dear Savac:

 

No, a 34 on the MCAT (assuming balanced and not 15, 15, 4 of course) is VERY respectable and you should be very proud of yourself! Many people would die to have a score like yours! As a result, a 34 won't make you look less favorably at the Top 10 schools.

 

However, it is unlikely that you will get invited to WashU (Washington University in St. Louis). The class average for WashU is a 37-39 (depending on the year). From what I gathered, out of the 15 of us who interviewed at WashU on my interview day back in November, our sessional MCAT average was at least a 38.

 

Best wishes and I wish you the best of luck in your application!

 

 

Thanks for the reply. My score is never very balanced, even when I score "well" on verbal. Usually my VR hovers around 7-9. I know that a VR score less than 10 or 11 is a serious problem in Canadian schools, but how is it treated at (non top 10) American schools?

 

Thanks again.

[AlphaMagnum]

How restrictive are LOR requirements? Every school seems to want two from Science professors.

 

I have one from a science prof, one from a humanities prof, and one from my research supervisor back home. This is really getting on my nerves...

[AlphaMagnum]

Yeah the U.S application requires pretty strict reference sets. As a general rule, you can have more reference letters (up to 10 I believe according to AMCAS), but you must satisfy the minimum requirement (both numbers and their science/non-science/research requirements). For me, I submitted 5-8 reference letters to most schools

 

2 Science prof (Both of whom I know very well. One taught me physiology. The other was the director of my program and taught me a bunch of courses)

 

1 Non-science prof (Psych prof)

 

4 Research letters (3 in Canada and 1 in the States)

 

1 Community member (President of my charity)

 

Best of luck and I hope that this clarifies some things

 

Ugh....that's never good. At the same time, thanks for the heads up. I also appreciate that you took a look at my thread. I'm really struggling to find another science reference because the lack of one is going to kill my app in several schools, apparently.

 

Unfortunately most of my classes were large, 100+ student monstrosities with little in the way of prof-student interaction. I managed to get letters from the few which were not that way, but getting more is definitely going to be an issue. What do you think I can do, apart from contacting the American schools to ask for an exception? I've done that for three schools, so far.

[apache]

nice thread guy… cool info

[sugarmouse]

Hi

What kind of extracurricular activities did you get involved with?

 

 

Dear All,

 

Yesterday alone I received 10 private messages regarding U.S applications. I believe that I have responded to all of them by now. Fire away with the questions here!

 

I am glad that I can be of some help in this stressful (and exciting....trust me....once you start going on the interview trail when none of your Canadian friends have even finished their application, you feel absolutely awesome !)