3rd time reapplicant (Canadian), need help with school list and want to know what my chances are

[notgettingin1]

Hey there, I am looking for some honest assessment. I would like to know if I have any chances of getting accepted, and whether my list of schools is a good one.

This will be my third time applying to American schools, as a Canadian. The first two times were somewhat haphazard, and realistically I should not have applied since my application was not competitive. I have gotten accepted into 2 Carribean schools (SGU and Saba), I will most likely defer if there is some chance that I might get accepted into USMD. I have also applied to USDO, Canadian friendly schools.

My current stats are as follows:

cGPA: 3.51

1GPA: 2.71 (1 failed course)
2GPA: 3.67
3GPA: 3.76
4GPA: 3.95

old MCAT: 33 (91%): P11/V10/B12
new MCAT: 518 (97%): ChemPhys130/CARS127/B132/PS129

ECs: 2 years of volunteering at a UHN hospital, all of which was in direct contact with patients. ~350 hours in total

I have done some research volunteering, with around 250 hours in total.

I shadowed a surgeon and a GP for 50 hours total.

I play a musical instrument at a moderately high level, and play sports.

That is pretty much the gist of my application.

I have a very marked upward trend. I was a part time student in my first year and my grades were terrible. In this year I failed one course. I think this is really holding me back right now. My next three years were successively better, going from good to excellent. In my final year my lowest grade was 87 and my highest grade was 100. I graduated with high distinction from U of T. My program was a science program but I minored in philosophy as well.

I am looking for advice on which USMD schools to apply to. So far this is the list I am looking at:

Baylor
Boston University
CA Northstate Univ COM
Central Michigan University College of Medicine
Creighton University School of Medicine
East TN State U., James H. Quillen Coll. of Med.
Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Florida State University
George Washington University Sch of Med & Hlth Sci
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Howard University
Indiana University School of Medicine
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Meharry Medical College
Michigan State University
New York Medical College
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
University of Arkansas College of Medicine
University of Illinois at Chicago-College of Medic

Are there other schools which, given the stats above, I might have a shot at? Do I have a shot at any of the USMD schools, or are my stats too low? How does the fact that I've applied twice already affect things? Do I have no shot at all?

Any information or advice will be very much appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

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[Goro]

You've done research, but yet you didn't bother to look at Meherry's website, did you?

Apply only to those schools that have accepted more than a handful of internationals. Under no circumstances apply to CN'u".

 

[notgettingin1]

You've done research, but yet you didn't bother to look at Meherry's website, did you?

Apply only to those schools that have accepted more than a handful of internationals. Under no circumstances apply to CN'u".

Sorry I don't understand what you're trying to say. Does Meharry not accept Canadians? I've been reading over and over that they do, is this information wrong?

 

[Goro]

They do accept Canadians...all of 1 last year.

But, you're not African American or Afro-Canadian, are you?

Meharry Medical College

Meharry Medical College - Wikipedia

 

[zukunft195]

OP, for the love of all things good and holy, don't even think about going to the Caribbean with those stats. The odds of matching into a Canadian residency after getting a Caribbean medical degree are incredibly low.

 

[notgettingin1]

OP, for the love of all things good and holy, don't even think about going to the Caribbean with those stats. The odds of matching into a Canadian residency after getting a Caribbean medical degree are incredibly low.

So do you think my stats are good enough to get into USMD? Even though I've applied twice already to most of the schools in that list?

 

[notgettingin1]

They do accept Canadians...all of 1 last year.

But, you're not African American or Afro-Canadian, are you?

Meharry Medical College

Meharry Medical College - Wikipedia

Thank you very much for this heads up. Do you think the rest of that list is okay? Any schools I might have missed?

Also can you tell me how badly it hurts my chances that I've applied to these schools before? Thank you very much.

 

[Goro]

*sigh*
Howard is also an HBC. Loma Linda is for SDA and devout Christians.

You really need to invest in MSAR Omline and look at the number of internationals accepted (among those interviewed) and not make a list from USN&WR.

You're hurt as a re applicant if you can't show improvement from the last cycle. You have a nice rising trend, and a killer MCAT, but what's in the rest of the package? That's what they'll want to see.

There are 14 DO schools that accept Canadians (MSUCOM and UNECOM in particular). Include those on your list. Beggars can't be choosy. Most international s have to be of Stanford/Harvard caliber.

 

[gyngyn]

To illustrate the need to check the acceptance data in MSAR, CN"U" matriculated zero internationals.
Baylor, on the other hand, is a fine school. They also matriculated exactly zero internationals. applying to schools where your odds are essentially zero does not improve your chances.

 

[notgettingin1]

Thank you guys for your honest responses. I will look into buying MSAR.

The fact that you guys think I have a chance has been a massive confidence boost.

There are 14 DO schools that accept Canadians (MSUCOM and UNECOM in particular). Include those on your list. Beggars can't be choosy. Most international s have to be of Stanford/Harvard caliber.

Yup I have already applied to both MSUCOM and UNECOM, as well as several other DO schools. Thank you for your advice. If you have any more I'd be happy to take it into consideration.

 

[DrfluffyMD]

Look into Icahn school of medicine. One of my good friend went there and she told me she had multiple canadian in her class (of 2013)

 

[gyngyn]

Look into Icahn school of medicine. One of my good friend went there and she told me she had multiple canadian in her class (of 2013)

Mt. Sinai has dramatically shifted it's admissions strategy since then.
Only 2 internationals matriculated last year in the regular admissions process (and the class median MCAT was 519).

 

[zukunft195]

Mt. Sinai has dramatically shifted it's admissions strategy since then.
Only 2 internationals matriculated last year in the regular admissions process (and the median MCAT was 519).

The median MCAT of the two international matriculants was 519? That would just be the average of their two scores.

 

[gyngyn]

The median MCAT of the two international matriculants was 519? That would just be the average of their two scores.

The class median was 519.
Although international applicants do not always have higher than median stats, if they do not, they provide some factor not easily found in domestic students.

 

[zukunft195]

The class median was 519.
Although international applicants do not always have higher than median stats, if they do not, they provide some factor not easily found in domestic students.

Oh, OK. I misunderstood. Thanks.

 

[GnomeBeGone]

Northstate definitely accept Canadians. You just need to contact admissions and have a chat after you submit your application.
(There's a Canadian in our class, by the way.)

And I suppose you might as well try your luck if there really aren't that many schools that accept Canadians, but the Flordias, Tennessee, LSU, and Arkansas schools are probably a waste of money (but so is 3 years worth of applying to medical school...), so do what you will.

I had similar stats, but with a worse start to undergrad. Read the threads about CNU on SDN and decide for yourself if you can deal with the lack of U.S. federal loans (can Canadians even access those?) or university hospital, but at no point is the medical admissions process ever forgiving or understanding to the applicant. You need to do what you can to go where you can. Not applying is downright bad advice if you're already on your 3rd cycle.

Also, have you contacted your home institution to ask for feedback about your application? (Any II's?) They won't always tell you what sunk it, but if you read between the lines you might be able to find out if there's a bad LOR in your file or something.

 

[oldanddone]

UHN sounds like you're in a very difficult province for acceptances, the Cali of Canada. look into requirements for residency in another province. many would be too strict, and some might be quite doable. skip the caribbean. gl on the u.s. trail. edit to add: msar was a great resource. sdn and also there was in interview resource one that was awesome. sometimes doing an smp in the states is good for the u.s. process.

 

[Visible Ghost]

Hey there, I am looking for some honest assessment. I would like to know if I have any chances of getting accepted, and whether my list of schools is a good one.

This will be my third time applying to American schools, as a Canadian. The first two times were somewhat haphazard, and realistically I should not have applied since my application was not competitive. I have gotten accepted into 2 Carribean schools (SGU and Saba), I will most likely defer if there is some chance that I might get accepted into USMD. I have also applied to USDO, Canadian friendly schools.

My current stats are as follows:

cGPA: 3.51

1GPA: 2.71 (1 failed course)
2GPA: 3.67
3GPA: 3.76
4GPA: 3.95

old MCAT: 33 (91%): P11/V10/B12
new MCAT: 518 (97%): ChemPhys130/CARS127/B132/PS129

ECs: 2 years of volunteering at a UHN hospital, all of which was in direct contact with patients. ~350 hours in total

I have done some research volunteering, with around 250 hours in total.

I shadowed a surgeon and a GP for 50 hours total.

I play a musical instrument at a moderately high level, and play sports.

That is pretty much the gist of my application.

I have a very marked upward trend. I was a part time student in my first year and my grades were terrible. In this year I failed one course. I think this is really holding me back right now. My next three years were successively better, going from good to excellent. In my final year my lowest grade was 87 and my highest grade was 100. I graduated with high distinction from U of T. My program was a science program but I minored in philosophy as well.

I am looking for advice on which USMD schools to apply to. So far this is the list I am looking at:

Baylor
Boston University
CA Northstate Univ COM
Central Michigan University College of Medicine
Creighton University School of Medicine
East TN State U., James H. Quillen Coll. of Med.
Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Florida State University
George Washington University Sch of Med & Hlth Sci
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Howard University
Indiana University School of Medicine
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo
LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans
Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University
Loma Linda University School of Medicine
Meharry Medical College
Michigan State University
New York Medical College
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Tulane University School of Medicine
University of Arkansas College of Medicine
University of Illinois at Chicago-College of Medic

Are there other schools which, given the stats above, I might have a shot at? Do I have a shot at any of the USMD schools, or are my stats too low? How does the fact that I've applied twice already affect things? Do I have no shot at all?

Any information or advice will be very much appreciated.

Thank you for your time.

The trend of your stats are impressive. Did you apply early or late in the previous cycles?

 

[Visible Ghost]

So do you think my stats are good enough to get into USMD? Even though I've applied twice already to most of the schools in that list?

They are better than a handful of people I know who have been accepted to USMDs.

I would add Wayne State to your list

 

[gyngyn]

Northstate definitely accept Canadians. You just need to contact admissions and have a chat after you submit your application.
(There's a Canadian in our class, by the way.)

And I suppose you might as well try your luck if there really aren't that many schools that accept Canadians, but the Flordias, Tennessee, LSU, and Arkansas schools are probably a waste of money (but so is 3 years worth of applying to medical school...), so do what you will.

I had similar stats, but with a worse start to undergrad. Read the threads about CNU on SDN and decide for yourself if you can deal with the lack of U.S. federal loans (can Canadians even access those?) or university hospital, but at no point is the medical admissions process ever forgiving or understanding to the applicant. You need to do what you can to go where you can. Not applying is downright bad advice if you're already on your 3rd cycle.

Also, have you contacted your home institution to ask for feedback about your application? (Any II's?) They won't always tell you what sunk it, but if you read between the lines you might be able to find out if there's a bad LOR in your file or something.

Northstate matriculated exactly zero international applicants last year.
I do not recommend such a school to internationals.