Which schools will I be competitive in?

[Guest clarox]

I will be applying to the states this year... currently trying to narrow down my list of schools. Can anyone give me advice on where I have a chance?

 

GPA 3.87 overall (3.97 in the last two years)

MCAT 14P/11V/13B/M (but I'm retaking this Aug to bump up my WS)

Mediocre extracurriculars, 2 summers and 1 year of research (and continuing this fall), hospital volunteer for ~1 year

[Guest rads]

What undergrad did you goto?

 

I would say that you have a good shot at a lot of the upper-tier programs. If you score a publication you'd be set. Of course, with the upper-tier programs, there are a lot of similarly qualified applicants, so be sure to apply to back up's. And of course, consider the $$$ before even applying to anything in the US.

[Guest VwDubber]

I will be applying to the states this year... currently trying to narrow down my list of schools. Can anyone give me advice on where I have a chance?

 

GPA 3.87 overall (3.97 in the last two years)

MCAT 14P/11V/13B/M (but I'm retaking this Aug to bump up my WS)

Mediocre extracurriculars, 2 summers and 1 year of research (and continuing this fall), hospital volunteer for ~1 year

I noticed you have a 14 and a 13 in two of the sections. Statistics have shown that peeps with 14's and 13's usually go down by 1 point or more when they rewrite. In my opinion it's not worth the risk especially if what you're trying to do is to bring up a WS score of M which is not that bad to begin with and surely would not keep you out of a lot of awesome schools in the US.

 

Good Luck!

[Guest 007]

I have no idea how reliable this link is, but it may give you some ideas. You input your stats and it tells you which schools in the US you are competitive for.www.studentdoc.com/medfind.html

[Guest ilitvino]

Dear clarox,

 

I think that you will be competitive in ALL MD programs in the states. I am currently completing my Ph.D. at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and actually will be applying to Canadian Med schools. Here are some considerations that will help you to narrow your choices. Here is a straight scoop:

 

- Check out the http://www.bestplaces.net to compare US cities for a cost of living and crime.

 

- Check out the NIH ranking in research funding

(go to nih.gov and search for "medical school rankings"

 

- Also some things to keep in mind:

Stanford is a 5 year program

Duke is a 3year program with one year dedicated to research (total ends up being 4)

 

- Some really good schools are located in really, really, really nasty, crime-ridden paces like East Baltimore (Johns Hopkins), Philly (U Penn), Chicago (U Chicago), etc.

 

- Some schools like Hopkins have tough policies on funding i.e. you have to place $200,000 USD on an escrow account in Maryland before they let you in.

 

A few schools offer a full-ride scholarships. I know that Wash U (St. Louis) offers the most scholarships. I know that U Penn awards 6 full-time scholarships each year and Vanderbilt offers quite a few scholarships.

 

Regards,

Ivan

[Guest ilitvino]

wanted to add one more thing ... stay away from state schools. They all have 90% quota for in-state applicans. Also, most state schools and a number of private schools (like St. Louis University) will not even consider applications from foreigners.

[Guest sajani]

Hey,

 

I was wondering where you were getting your info on St. Louis U. not accepting foreigners from? According to SDN (which I do not treat as the ultimate word, don't worry, I am simply wondering who/what your source is)94 international students applied in the last cycle (or the one before), 9 were admitted, and 3 maticulated. Have their requirements changed or is there reason to assume these were special case applicants due to having some close tie to St. Louis?

 

Thanks

[Guest moo]

SLU used to not admit foreigners. They recently changed this rule. I know when I applied they did not accept foreigners but I was told that they were changing the rules for the next year.

[Guest sajani]

Thanks moo...just wanted to make sure I wasn't wasting money on a secondary.

[Guest ilitvino]

Thanks, moo for this update. I knew that they were not accepting foreigners or even US permanent residents a few years ago!!! I wonder what made them change their rules?