Question About State Connection And Chances Due To That

[LFOHarmonics]

Heya guys,

So I took the MCAT twice, once in Aug 2014 (26, 10 Bio, 8 in both PS and VR), then in Jan (31, 12 Bio, 11 PS, and 9 VR....)

My cGPA and sGPA is around 3.5-3.6 (3.15, 3.15, 3.85, 3.9)

Now I AM a Canadian citizen, but I lived in Michigan for around 12 to 13 years. I did kindergarten to grade 9 there. In that time my parents were eligible for PR or citizenship, but for whatever reason they never followed up with it (I think my mother found the TOEFL a bit difficult? I have no idea.... It was out of my hands).

As such I am looking heavily at Michigan schools that accept OOS. My question is if this connection will help in anyway... One thing I was wondering was about in-state residency in terms of tuition cost, I know you can appeal to get in-state tuition if you meet the eligibility requirements for being a Michigan resident... With my situation being unique (would have been a citizen if my parents applied), would I be able to appeal for this?

I am considering retaking the MCAT next year (the new one) since I jumped 5 points while studying for my university courses... I'll be taking the year off to work and volunteer as I apply this cycle, so studying from summer to... Sometime next year, I think I can do better. 

[s5260205]

Are you a permanent resident of US? If yes, you would qualify for Michigan IS residency.

 

I would not suggest retaking the MCAT since the new version is much longer and covers extra content. 31 is good enough a score for many US schools, especially with your very strong upward trend in GPA. Purchase the MSAR and check the GPA/MCAT averages for each school. Start with schools you are considered IS and add additional OOS and private schools. I would suggest creating a thread under "what are my chances" on SDN to get more opinions. 

 

EDIT: The only time you would retake the MCAT is if you want to stay in Canada. With your GPA trend, you could take advantage of Queen's most recent two year, Western's best two year, and Toronto and Ottawa's special formula (likely too low though). For Western, you would need a 11 VR based on the cutoff from past year, though no one knows what that 11 VR would translate to in the new MCAT. Not sure about Queen's but you may be able to land an interview with the current stats. Toronto and Ottawa both have super high average GPA (3.9+).