Chances & school recommendations

[nick]

Hi! Would any kind soul like to take a look at my stats, and recommend American schools for me to apply to? I have MSAR, and I've found it useful (especially in conjunction with the list of schools that accept Canadians in the sticky thread), but I find it difficult to evaluate myself holistically based just on the stats in MSAR.

 

Here goes:

MCAT - 37Q (11VR-14PS-12BS)

 

Honours science degree. I'm not exactly sure about my AMCAS GPA, cause I don't know what GPA conversion scale (PDF) AMCAS uses for UBC. I calculated it with the 3rd and 4th Canadian scales, and got my cGPA to be 3.51/3.62, my Bio-Chem-Math-Phys GPA to be 3.39/3.51, and my non-Bio-Chem-Math-Phys GPA to be 3.76/3.86. No clear trend in the GPA; my last degree year was the worst, but my post-degree courses (once I was motivated by applying to med schools) were straight A+'s.

 

ECs: 1yr volunteer research assistantship (health-related & ongoing), 1.5yr clinical (ongoing), executive of a students' organization, athletics & hobbies, irregular health advocacy volunteering for a few years. I've had a steady professional job for several years.

 

Edit: I looked at the LizzyM spreadsheet (score: 71/72), but I don't know if its recommendations apply to me, cause (I assume) canucks are in the international pool and have a harder time of it in admissions.

[nick]

I'd appreciate any help at all, even in generalities. Do I have a good shot at mid-tier schools?

[bpatient]

You have okay chances, apply to low tier/safety, some mid and some reach...you never know...also use AMCAS gpa conversion scale...

[nychila]

Why is there no clear trend in your GPA when your post-degree courses were straight A+s? Were they science courses (weighed more heavily)? Upper-level undergrad (weighed more heavily) or grad level?

 

You definitely have a chance at mid-tier schools, but because there aren't that many that accept internationals and the admissions process is somewhat random, it's hard to say that you have a "good" chance.

 

As for schools to apply to, a question that everyone on premed101 is asking these days, please review the most recent list on the "List of US Schools Accepting Canadians" thread. Based on US News rankings, very roughly, top 10 is top-tier (prestigious), 10-30 is upper-mid tiers (very good reputation), 30-70 is mid-tier (decent reputation), and 70 onwards is low-tier (nobody cares where you got your MD unless you want to become the Chief of Surgery at Mass General).

[nick]

Thanks everyone! My grades in the last year of my degree were mediocre because I was 21, didn't understand what I could get from school, have since turned over a new leaf, etc. etc. My grades are pretty good (except for a couple black sheep: a D, a couple C's, etc.), but most of my grades are kind all over the place in the B-A range. They were mostly upper-level science courses in my fourth year. Thanks again!