- Joined
- Jul 24, 2016
- Messages
- 61
- Reaction score
- 52
The irony being that most of these underserved areas voted for Trump.
Agreed on the checking the interview/matriculation rate. Mayo accepted Canadians so I still applied!Don't relay too much on MSAR as there are few mistakes! After this, better check how many internationals matriculated! I know mayo doesn't accept internationals
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Hey also Canadian and planning on starting at Geisel in August..... have you had trouble with Canadian Student Credit lines? I'm finding it harder than I expected to get a credit lineAny fellow Canadians interview at Dartmouth?
Funding for med school years come from the school of medicine. Funding for the graduate school years come from the graduate school/department/PI's funding.Also, who funds students for non-MSTP?
Hey guys, Canadian international student here starting USMD in a couple weeks.
3.94/507 MCAT
Applied 10 schools, 4 II, 3 acceptances (didn't attend one of the IIs)
Also got a merit scholarship. Wasn't ALOT but it helps.
Also didn't have any problems getting 275K credit line from Royal Bank
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Hey guys, Canadian international student here starting USMD in a couple weeks.
3.94/507 MCAT
Applied 10 schools, 4 II, 3 acceptances (didn't attend one of the IIs)
Also got a merit scholarship. Wasn't ALOT but it helps.
Also didn't have any problems getting 275K credit line from Royal Bank
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
275k is ~68k/year. The average OOS COA is ~58k (tuition, insurance, fees). That means you've got ~10k for rent and utilities and stuff. So.. less expensive city (ie not New York or San Francisco) + roommates + budgeting skills would make 275k sufficient.What should students do if the 275k isn't enough for 4 years of COA?
You're right, I didn't account for currency exchange. I assumed (I guess falsely) that the 275k was in USD. The 15k/year that I was talking about is in USD.But like what should students do if the cost will end up being more? @nonamesleft are you accounting for the currency exchange?
idk how much being URM affects a Canadian applicant. I was curious because of your MCAT score and your ratio of applications: interview invites.@nonamesleft yes I am URM. I don't know how that affects my application though as I'm also Canadian
@StephenCurry1 as noted above, I'm going to be in a less expensive state. Breaking down my expenses/Savings/10K OSAP, as long as I'm not going overboard, 275K should be sufficient
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Thanks! I'll ask about a secondary line of credit. And yeah I definitely agree about borrowing only as much as you need!You're right, I didn't account for currency exchange. I assumed (I guess falsely) that the 275k was in USD. The 15k/year that I was talking about is in USD.
I didn't take out loans, so I'm not the best to answer questions about alternatives. I only have data on how much I'm spending. Is it possible to get a secondary line of credit?
[edit] Regardless of how much the "max" you can borrow is, budgeting wisely is important. Whatever you end up borrowing now does eventually need to be paid back. So less borrowed = less to pay.
What schools did you apply to if you don't mind me asking? I'm in a similar boat and also URM, just trying to make a final school listHey guys, Canadian international student here starting USMD in a couple weeks.
3.94/507 MCAT
Applied 10 schools, 4 II, 3 acceptances (didn't attend one of the IIs)
Also got a merit scholarship. Wasn't ALOT but it helps.
Also didn't have any problems getting 275K credit line from Royal Bank
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
MD schools have requirements about where you took your courses. You should probably check them and make sure you meet the minimum for application. Generally, US/Canada is ok, but not foreign.This thread is amazing!
I have some questions myself. I am a non-Canadian international with English as a second language. How do I improve my English reading/writing abilities? I'm not too worried about interviews. It seems a bit early but I think it's never too early to start to prepare.
I am a transfer student from public school to a private school and will do my junior year abroad. Basically I will be in 3 different universities for undergraduate and one of them is in UK top school. All of them are wonderful schools. How would my interesting/weird education experience influence my application?
Plan to take a gap year and do research before applying, also more time for MCAT until I'm ready.
If I cannot get into a good med school, I'll do PhD instead. I'm thinking about applying both MD and MD/PhD. I do enjoy research and would love to do more in graduate school.
Any advice/suggestions/comments?
Really want to start preparing early so that I still have time to fix problems/improve my application.
Thank you all so so so much!
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
MD schools have requirements about where you took your courses. You should probably check them and make sure you meet the minimum for application. Generally, US/Canada is ok, but not foreign.
MD, MD/PhD, and PhD are very different paths. you should find out more about each before making a decision.
1. You should make a "what are my chances" thread in that part of sdn.Ok so hey guys! I just finished my mcat a couple of days ago (5/13 was brutal to be honest) and now I'm just getting my application finished and trying to finalize my school list before the time comes up.
Background: Just finished Undergrad in Life Sciences, AA- Canadian male, Low SES (trying not to spend too much in my applications tbh)
GPA: cGPA: 3.71 sGPA: 3.5 (Strong upward trend 3.9-4.0 last 3 years, first year got me a little bit )
MCAT: Waiting patiently, but I practised around 507-513 so hopefully not under 507 (fingers crossed)
ECs:
-Recently went on a mission to Ethiopia to shadow a rural surgeon (who is doing more good in this world than any of us could ever imagine) over 500 hours shadowing
-Spent over 2000 hours over the last 7 years coaching intercity kids basketball, these kids mean more to me than anything, and giving back to my community is extremely important to me
-More than 1500 hours over the last 4 summers tutoring kids at the local minority private school (because I went there as a kid and wouldn't be where I am without them) Great kids and just tried to teach anything I possibly could
-200 hours helping Syrian refugees who were recently accepted to Canada get acclimated to society and being available to them whenever they needed help
-Spent over 4 hours per week the semester helping international Chinese students get accustom to life at my University, was basically like a big brother and tried to help these students.
- Held down many jobs throughout school and tried to divide my time as much as possible
-Couple of other little things, but No research yet (not that interested), but will be doing clinical research all next year during my post bacc while praying I get accepted somewhere
School List: (All are Canadian friendly from what I've found out)
Dreams (Super Reaches):
-Yale
-Emory
-Stanford
-NorthWestern
-Harvard
-Columbia
-Mayo
-Duke
-Cornell
Kinda Reaches/ Stretch:
-UC Davis
-Pritzker school of medicine
-Boston U
-Michigan State
-NYU
-UNC
-Rutgers
-Albert Einstein (?)
-Mount Sinai
-Tufts
-Rutgers
-Syracuse
-Penn State
At My Level (hopefully):
-Medical College of Georgia
-Rosalind Franklin
-College of Illinois
-Central Michigan
-Oakland
-University of Michigan
-Valhala
-Stony Brook
-Case Western
-Cincinnati
-Pittsburg
-Howard
-Meharry
-Wayne State
-Oakland Beaumont
-VCU
-CMU
-George Washington (?)
I was confused about some of these so if anyone can help me refine my list based on any knowledge or opinion that would be amazing! (Also applying to all Ontario schools, but gotta be safe lol)
I think we just have to pay honestlyI don't think international students are eligible for fee waivers from AMCAS. Does anyone know of any other ways to alleviate the costs of applying for an international?
If you're saying you wanna cut down on app costs, then the truth is that all of your super reaches should be cut from the list. In general, cut any school where your stats are not above the median at least (probably even higher tbh).Ok so hey guys! I just finished my mcat a couple of days ago (5/13 was brutal to be honest) and now I'm just getting my application finished and trying to finalize my school list before the time comes up.
Background: Just finished Undergrad in Life Sciences, AA- Canadian male, Low SES (trying not to spend too much in my applications tbh)
GPA: cGPA: 3.71 sGPA: 3.5 (Strong upward trend 3.9-4.0 last 3 years, first year got me a little bit )
MCAT: Waiting patiently, but I practised around 507-513 so hopefully not under 507 (fingers crossed)
ECs:
-Recently went on a mission to Ethiopia to shadow a rural surgeon (who is doing more good in this world than any of us could ever imagine) over 500 hours shadowing
-Spent over 2000 hours over the last 7 years coaching intercity kids basketball, these kids mean more to me than anything, and giving back to my community is extremely important to me
-More than 1500 hours over the last 4 summers tutoring kids at the local minority private school (because I went there as a kid and wouldn't be where I am without them) Great kids and just tried to teach anything I possibly could
-200 hours helping Syrian refugees who were recently accepted to Canada get acclimated to society and being available to them whenever they needed help
-Spent over 4 hours per week the semester helping international Chinese students get accustom to life at my University, was basically like a big brother and tried to help these students.
- Held down many jobs throughout school and tried to divide my time as much as possible
-Couple of other little things, but No research yet (not that interested), but will be doing clinical research all next year during my post bacc while praying I get accepted somewhere
School List: (All are Canadian friendly from what I've found out)
Dreams (Super Reaches):
-Yale
-Emory
-Stanford
-NorthWestern
-Harvard
-Columbia
-Mayo
-Duke
-Cornell
Kinda Reaches/ Stretch:
-UC Davis
-Pritzker school of medicine
-Boston U
-Michigan State
-NYU
-UNC
-Rutgers
-Albert Einstein (?)
-Mount Sinai
-Tufts
-Rutgers
-Syracuse
-Penn State
At My Level (hopefully):
-Medical College of Georgia
-Rosalind Franklin
-College of Illinois
-Central Michigan
-Oakland
-University of Michigan
-Valhala
-Stony Brook
-Case Western
-Cincinnati
-Pittsburg
-Howard
-Meharry
-Wayne State
-Oakland Beaumont
-VCU
-CMU
-George Washington (?)
I was confused about some of these so if anyone can help me refine my list based on any knowledge or opinion that would be amazing! (Also applying to all Ontario schools, but gotta be safe lol)
If you're saying you wanna cut down on app costs, then the truth is that all of your super reaches should be cut from the list. In general, cut any school where your stats are not above the median at least (probably even higher tbh).
I mean you stand a tough time if you're below the median stats because of the international disadvantage. And I mean yeah top tiers are gonna have top tiers stats. That being said if the rest of your app is amazing then I'm sure you could get away with having a lower than median GPA.Is it True that we should apply for schools where our GPA is higher than their medians?? I just checked the new MSAR and almost all the top tiers' GPA medians are more than 3.88...
Even the lower tiers such as STLouis or Kentucky has 3.82.
Is there really a big difference between 3.8 and 3.9???
Also I'm sure your story matters too. Like a 3.8 from a top tier college may arguably be better than a 3.9 from another school but I don't have any data to back me up.Is it True that we should apply for schools where our GPA is higher than their medians?? I just checked the new MSAR and almost all the top tiers' GPA medians are more than 3.88...
Even the lower tiers such as STLouis or Kentucky has 3.82.
Is there really a big difference between 3.8 and 3.9???
Is it True that we should apply for schools where our GPA is higher than their medians?? I just checked the new MSAR and almost all the top tiers' GPA medians are more than 3.88...
Even the lower tiers such as STLouis or Kentucky has 3.82.
Is there really a big difference between 3.8 and 3.9???
Updated mine! Hope it's helpful (with an additional data point)Internationals, please create MDapplications. There aren't a lot and it will be helpful.
Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
You can start, but not complete. Currently, OPT for medicine is 1 year.Does anybody know if it is possible to complete residency years under OPT? Also, does an MD qualify for post-completion STEM OPT extension?
What about if you had a STEM extension left over from undergrad?You can start, but not complete. Currently, OPT for medicine is 1 year.
I'm not sure. I've gotten mixed answers regarding using the OPT from PhD (2 years) + OPT from MD (1 year). Some people say that I can combine the two and get 3 years of OPT. Others say that if I'm doing residency, I can only use MD OPT because I wouldn't be able to justify residency as "additional training" for the PhD.What about if you had a STEM extension left over from undergrad?
My school officer from undergrad and an immigration lawyer I was working with (OPT STEM extension application failure this past year - that was SO MUCH FUN) said that it would be put for it. But n=1.I'm not sure. I've gotten mixed answers regarding using the OPT from PhD (2 years) + OPT from MD (1 year). Some people say that I can combine the two and get 3 years of OPT. Others say that if I'm doing residency, I can only use MD OPT because I wouldn't be able to justify residency as "additional training" for the PhD.
My guess is that STEM extension from undergrad would be viewed similarly? (ie need to justify how residency is "training" for the UG degree?)
I think there are ways to waive the 2-year home-country requirement for J1. I have a high school friend who used a J1 visa in high school for a research program in the United States, but she was able to waive the home country requirement when she started working on H1B. For physicians, I know one way to waive it is to practice in a rural/underserved area for two years.There technically is the J1 if you want to go to your home country for 2 years. (This cannot be circumvented even if you end up marrying a US citizen). I am going for H1B or broke LOL.
Have you managed to find a general "Programs that sponsor H1B" list?Yeah there are ways to waive it but they are either hard to get or not preferable to most so the H1B, at least for me, would be a much better option.
There isn't a general list because it's different by which specialty as I've read that its usually up to the program director to sponsor the H1B. So School X can have an H1B for emergency med, but not for IM or smth like that. It's definitely an issue you want to start researching once you've picked your specialty.
also:actually, if it's a university program, it usually goes through their internationals office. so it would be a blanket sponsor all programs or none.
idk how many community programs sponsor H1B, but I could see those being specialty to specialty variation.
also:
A quick google search turned up this: F-1 Issues for Medical Residency - Thomas Jefferson University - Thomas Jefferson University
Which lead me to this: http://www.myvisajobs.com/General-Medical-and-Surgical-Hospitals-6221-2017IN.htm
If someone (or more people) want to split the list with me to verify them, I'd be up for it after June 9 (currently tied up with irl stuff). We could create our own verified list.
Obviously there's a lot of J1 only or J1 preferred institutions. It definitely takes the right combination of specialty and institution to get that sweet sweet H1B.
In any of your/everyone's experiences (or anecdotes, digging) would you know about relative chances of a Canadian C(anadian)MG vs. an international (non-Canadian) AMG of getting an H1B?
I know for matching itself, according NRMP, CMGs have about a 45-85% match rate spread in the last 5 years but low n-s overall. Non-US citizen FMGs hover about 50%. Unfortunately non-US citizen AMGs aren't a separate category so I'm assuming it's similar to US AMGs at about 90%? (http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Main-Match-Results-and-Data-2017.pdf - Table 4)
~trying to decide which route to take: graduate as an international AMG or as a Canadian CMG.
Anyone have thoughts on being on a J1 as a Canadian vs. J1 as a non-Canadian?
From digging, I believe a CMG is between an AMG and IMG so i assume a international AMG would be the preference all else being equal. From what I've heard from med school international people, the match rate for intll AMG is basically the same as US AMG (if not higher coz you know that the international student applied to a 100+ programs just to be safe).Obviously there's a lot of J1 only or J1 preferred institutions. It definitely takes the right combination of specialty and institution to get that sweet sweet H1B.
In any of your/everyone's experiences (or anecdotes, digging) would you know about relative chances of a Canadian C(anadian)MG vs. an international (non-Canadian) AMG of getting an H1B?
I know for matching itself, according NRMP, CMGs have about a 45-85% match rate spread in the last 5 years but low n-s overall. Non-US citizen FMGs hover about 50%. Unfortunately non-US citizen AMGs aren't a separate category so I'm assuming it's similar to US AMGs at about 90%? (http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Main-Match-Results-and-Data-2017.pdf - Table 4)
~trying to decide which route to take: graduate as an international AMG or as a Canadian CMG.
Anyone have thoughts on being on a J1 as a Canadian vs. J1 as a non-Canadian?
Dear fellow international students,
I heard that some medical schools, such as Vanderbilt, SLU have a GPA cut-off of 3.80, does anyone know if its true? Also what GPA is enough for an international applicant?
See my stat in signature. Also I had similar stat from a previous failed cycle with 0 interview invites.