33 O, 3.6 GPA, 26 Schools, Intl Applicant

[oli84]

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V-12
P-11
B-10
W-O

3.64 GPA (from Cornell)

These are my schools, where do you think the best chances of getting in are? They have already been pre-screened for intl friendliness except for a few where i just hope to get lucky. 😀

Boston University [Delete]
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons [Delete]
Cornell University (Weill) [Delete]
Emory University [Delete]
George Washington University [Delete]
Howard University [Delete]
Indiana University--Indianapolis [Delete]
Jefferson Medical College [Delete]
Loma Linda University [Delete]
Mount Sinai School of Medicine [Delete]
New York Medical College [Delete]
Northwestern University (Feinberg) [Delete]
Penn State University College of Medicine [Delete]
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science [Delete]
SUNY--Syracuse [Delete]
St. Louis University [Delete]
Tulane University [Delete]
University of California--Los Angeles (Geffen) [Delete]
University of Minnesota--Twin Cities [Delete]
University of Pennsylvania [Delete]
University of Southern California [Delete]
University of Vermont [Delete]
Vanderbilt University [Delete]
Wake Forest University [Delete]
Wayne State University [Delete]
Yeshiva University (Albert Einstein) [Delete]

Anything I should add to this list?

 

[Spitting Camel]

V-12
P-11
B-10
W-O

3.64 GPA (from Cornell)

These are my schools, where do you think the best chances of getting in are? They have already been pre-screened for intl friendliness except for a few where i just hope to get lucky. 😀

Boston University [Delete]
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons [Delete]
Cornell University (Weill) [Delete]
Emory University [Delete]
George Washington University [Delete]
Howard University [Delete]
Indiana University--Indianapolis [Delete]
Jefferson Medical College [Delete]
Loma Linda University [Delete]
Mount Sinai School of Medicine [Delete]
New York Medical College [Delete]
Northwestern University (Feinberg) [Delete]
Penn State University College of Medicine [Delete]
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science [Delete]
SUNY--Syracuse [Delete]
St. Louis University [Delete]
Tulane University [Delete]
University of California--Los Angeles (Geffen) [Delete]
University of Minnesota--Twin Cities [Delete]
University of Pennsylvania [Delete]
University of Southern California [Delete]
University of Vermont [Delete]
Vanderbilt University [Delete]
Wake Forest University [Delete]
Wayne State University [Delete]
Yeshiva University (Albert Einstein) [Delete]

Anything I should add to this list?

NYMC asks for all four years of tuiton up front if you are international. If you can't or will not be able to do that, cross it out. I would add UCSF instead. Buy the MSAR and check out what the other schools' policies are on that as well before you realize you can't matriculate at a school that accepted you.

 

[oli84]

The 4 years upfront problem I think I can avoid, relatives will gladly help out in case it does become an issue.

Isn't UCSF a little too hard to get into with these numbers? I put in UCLA as an "if I'm lucky" school..

Thanks Camel and to whoever replies! 🙂

 

[KNightInBlue]

what about NYU? I seem to recall them saying they accept intl applications.
I would buy the MSAR if I were you. Definitely worth it to see which schools are intl friendly or not.

Good Luck

P.S. Wow, you have family ready to put up $120,000 for you? Thats great!

 

[oli84]

what about NYU? I seem to recall them saying they accept intl applications.
I would buy the MSAR if I were you. Definitely worth it to see which schools are intl friendly or not.

Good Luck

P.S. Wow, you have family ready to put up $120,000 for you? Thats great!

Oh I forgot to mention that I have a copy of the MSAR, and I've checked it before and it turns out NYU isn't intl student friendly. I would love to go there though, a friend of mine in an upper class got in. 🙂

And thank God for a big family. 🙂

 

[junathon]

I have a friend at Georgetown who is international. Good luck!

 

[oli84]

I have a friend at Georgetown who is international. Good luck!

Hey that's really good. Congratulations on his doing well! Do you know what kind of numbers he had in terms of GPA, MCAT, etc?

 

[oli84]

oh btw I just checked an UCSF has only accepted 1 international student in the past 6 years... no UCSF for me I guess 🙁

 

[Duke08]

I think that Pritzker, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Duke and Yale are international-friendly schools. Yale will even give you need-based financial aid!

 

[JDAD]

Are you for sure that Yale gives out aid to international students?

 

[Duke08]

Yeah, I think they started it either this year or last. I don't have too many details, but my understanding is that international applicants don't qualify for some financial aid components, but do qualify for Yale grants (or something like that). I would check with the school to make sure. Sorry for not having more info!

 

[oli84]

The thing is though, are those schools realistic choices with my numbers? I personally don't think so.

Pritzker might be a possibility, but their stats are as goes for international students (based off of usnews.com):

applied: 51
interviewed: 2
accepted: 2
enrolled: 2

avg. GPA: 3.63
my GPA: 3.62

avg. MCAT composite: 10.3
my MCAT: 33

 

[romed81]

V-12
P-11
B-10
W-O

3.64 GPA (from Cornell)

These are my schools, where do you think the best chances of getting in are? They have already been pre-screened for intl friendliness except for a few where i just hope to get lucky. 😀

Boston University [Delete]
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons [Delete]
Cornell University (Weill) [Delete]
Emory University [Delete]
George Washington University [Delete]
Howard University [Delete]
Indiana University--Indianapolis [Delete]
Jefferson Medical College [Delete]
Loma Linda University [Delete]
Mount Sinai School of Medicine [Delete]
New York Medical College [Delete]
Northwestern University (Feinberg) [Delete]
Penn State University College of Medicine [Delete]
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science [Delete]
SUNY--Syracuse [Delete]
St. Louis University [Delete]
Tulane University [Delete]
University of California--Los Angeles (Geffen) [Delete]
University of Minnesota--Twin Cities [Delete]
University of Pennsylvania [Delete]
University of Southern California [Delete]
University of Vermont [Delete]
Vanderbilt University [Delete]
Wake Forest University [Delete]
Wayne State University [Delete]
Yeshiva University (Albert Einstein) [Delete]

Anything I should add to this list?

Hey man
I am an international who applied last year and got into Southwestern. 33 MCAT, and 3.98 GPA, 4 yrs of ER experience and also taught KAPLAN. I applied to 24 schools - the ones that I applied and are on your list are the following: Boston, Columbia, Cornell, Emory, George Washington, Jefferson, Northwestern, Penn State, UCLA, UPenn, Vermont, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. Out of all these I had two offers of interview - Emory (where I was waitlisted), and Vermont (where I declined the interview since I had already been accepted at Southwestern). I would be careful with Loma Linda, b/c they have a strong emphasis on religion - they even have chapel time; if you're into this go for it, but otherwise, I'd think twice. If I were you I would also try the Texas schools - one application for all of them (more or less). They can only accept 10% nonrezidents, but hey I got in, and also they will give you in state tuition.

 

[winstonm]

The thing is though, are those schools realistic choices with my numbers? I personally don't think so.

Pritzker might be a possibility, but their stats are as goes for international students (based off of usnews.com):

applied: 51
interviewed: 2
accepted: 2
enrolled: 2

avg. GPA: 3.63
my GPA: 3.62

avg. MCAT composite: 10.3
my MCAT: 33

US News gives you all that info about international students for each school?!Is that in the premium/print edition only?

If anyone has that stuff electronically all on 1 page or something, a posting would be greatly appreciated 😉

 

[sweatybrain]

romed81--

dude, you are making me depressed. How does someone with a 3.98 and a 33 end up getting TWO interviews? That is almost unfair. My GPA is similar to yours, and MCAT will probably fall more or less along the same line (at least according to the AAMC practice tests).

Hmmm...now I'm questioning whether the sacrifice is worth it.

Any tips for us international people? If you could do it all over again, would you have done anything differently? (I honestly have no idea where the bar is set for int'l applicants....I know it would be higher than the average, but I didn't know it would be 4.0 and 40+ MCAT.) 👎

 

[romed81]

- sweatybrain -

Well, there are a couple of things I could have done to improve my chances. First is a better research experience. I had done some research, but nothing major, and nothing that I could feel it was worthy to put down on my AMCAS. The other thing is some volunteer work. Since I come from Europe, I strongly do not believe in volunteering, and I see it as something left for the rich kids, whereas I had to go to work to pay bills. Nevertheless, the adcoms do look for volunteer work and you have to BS some about how you are willing to sacrifice time and effort for the betterment of humanity *word of caution here* be extremely careful with any kind of BS-ing you do, since adcoms can smell it miles away; there is a good reason why they say that at an interview it is best if you simply are yourself. That being said, it is a good thing for the adcoms to see that you have a charitable side; I myself don't have it, and I didn't have anything to put on paper.
On the other hand, I can tell you what improved my chances greatly - ER work. Been in that place for about 4 yrs, first started off a secretary, and then became an EMT. It is THE place to be if you want to know what medicine is all about, and if you want to make yourself look awesome. Doctors also helped me a lot with their advice, not to mention the great letters of rec I got from them. I got to to a lot of cool stuff (driving the transfer ambulance, suturing, intubation, even some lumbar punctures), but also some of the nasty stuff too (cleaning rooms, doing hemocults, wiping behinds, etc, etc) All in all though you get a fair view of what medicine entails, and if you do it long enough, adcoms will know that you didn't come to the conclusion of applying to medschool just because the word "doctor" sounds cool. so by far, this is my strongest advice I can give - get an EMT licence, and work in the ER. Also, when you are ready to apply be willing to spend some cash and improve your chances by applying to many schools. I think I spent a little bit over $2000, and I applied to 24 schools. Remember - true internationals have extremely low chances. Stats that you may be reading about internationals going to medschool sometimes include "permanent residents", and that's a totally different ball game. So my advice is apply to as many schools as you can possibly can (also get that AMCAS book - forgot the title - that has stats about all medical schools, and use it in your weeding out process. Remember, it is always better to decide you don't want to go to an interview, rather than not have an interview. Other than that, if your numbers are similar to mine, then take a deep breath, play the patience game, and stay on top of things - chances are you'll get in. And one last thing, my one BIG DUMB mistake was waiting around and not applying as early as possible. So there you go, apply as soon as it is humanly possible. Early applicants have BY FAR better chances of getting in.