510 MCAT, 3.43 cGPA, 3.5 sGPA, Canadian applying to US

[kenken]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey everyone,
I've been trying to make a list of medical schools to apply to in the US. Canadian citizen, 22 yr old, South Asian origin.

MCAT: 510, 127 (PCS), 125 (CARS- horrible I know), 130 (BS), 128 (Psych and Soc) Planning on retaking in July
cGPA: 3.43 after 4 yrs from University of Toronto, downward trend
sGPA: 3.5

Extracurriculars: Intramural Men's volleyball for 4 yrs with MVP award in first 2 years. Intercampus Cricket intramurals winner. Facilitated study group leader at school for 1 term.
Medical related: 150 + hours of volunteering in ER of hospital. 300+ hours of volunteering as a medical first responder with campus response team. Planning on shadowing family physician soon but 0 shadowing hours as of now.
Other: 1 yr research position for the upcoming academic year. 1 yr biology internship in a hospital setting in the upcoming academic year.

These are the schools i have lined up so far:
MD

UC Davis
NYU
SUNY downstate
Boston U
Tulane
Rosalind Franklin School of Medicine
NY Medical College
Mayo
Keck SOM (USC)
Mount Sinai
Albany
Central Michigan
Columbia
University of North Carolina SOM
Case Western/ Cleveland Clinic
LSU School of medicine
SUNY upstate
Virginia Commonwealth University COM
Wayne State
Medical College Wisconsin
Sidney Kimmel Medical College
George Washington University SOM

And for DO, I have no idea which schools are good and accept Canadians, so if you have any ideas, please feel free to share. If you could help me edit my list, have any suggestions, etc. i will be grateful. Feeling a little lost here.

DO is probably a better bet, but I don't know if i should give up on the chance for an MD just yet.

 

[gyngyn]

I can tell by your list that you have not looked at the MSAR yet.
Buy it.
Filter for schools that accept internationals (62 of them).
Eliminate the ones that matriculated 3 or less (on your list: Davis, 0; LSU,0; Downstate,0; Mayo,0; Albany 0; UNC,1...).
Come back with the ones whose median MCAT is about 30, given your gpa (not NYU or Columbia at 36, nor Case or USC at 35).
Is that your first MCAT?

 

[kenilu]

Thanks. Yes, that is my first MCAT. Also, bought the MSAR, looked at the MCAT scores between 30-34 for 90th percentile, and came up with the following for my updated MD list:

Central Michigan University SOM
Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University
Howard University SOM (looked at matriculant demographics -> (I'm not African -American, but there is a good representation of South Asians)
Meharry Medical College
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine (2 international students matriculated)
West Virginia University School of Medicine (2 international students matriculated)

Hopefully I do much better on my second MCAT in July. It'll delay my application but it will probably open up other schools for me too. Any suggestions/comments?

 

[gyngyn]

Hopefully I do much better on my second MCAT in July. It'll delay my application but it will probably open up other schools for me too. Any suggestions/comments?

Do not re-take the MCAT unless you have reason to believe that you will do much better. A similar score on a repeat is worse than a single strong score.

 

[kenken]

Yeah I've had multiple people say that to me. The thing is I took the princeton review prep course and didn't really study much until about 2 weeks before the MCAT. I feel like if I study for 2 months this time around, I can do much better. I'm going to take the Princeton prep course again so Im pretty confident I can get a 514/515.

Is my new school list better? It's much smaller, but I guess whether I can add more schools to it or not is contingent on my new MCAT score.

 

[gyngyn]

Is my new school list better? It's much smaller, but I guess whether I can add more schools to it or not is contingent on my new MCAT score.

There were only 2 Indian matriculants at Meharry. With no ties to the south, it's a real long shot.
Are you kenken or kenilu?

 

[kenken]

Whoops. I have two accounts and I responded from the wrong one by mistake. Sorry.
That's a good point. Where do you think I lie with the rest of the schools?

Also, I have another question about the AMCAS GPA calculations: Is the GPA of students from Ivey League schools treated differently than other schools? Also, where does U of Toronto stand on that list? I've heard that U of T is considered Ivey League by med schools in the US, but I am not sure about the credibility of the source, it sounds a bit ridiculous to be honest. If so, do you know how the GPA formula changes? Thanks.

 

[gyngyn]

Whoops. I have two accounts and I responded from the wrong one by mistake. Sorry.
That's a good point. Where do you think I lie with the rest of the schools?

Also, I have another question about the AMCAS GPA calculations: Is the GPA of students from Ivey League schools treated differently than other schools? Also, where does U of Toronto stand on that list? I've heard that U of T is considered Ivey League by med schools in the US, but I am not sure about the credibility of the source, it sounds a bit ridiculous to be honest. If so, do you know how the GPA formula changes? Thanks.

Gpa is gpa for the most part. If the evaluator likes your ap, then he will use the old "but it's a 3.4 from U of C!" argument. If he doesn't like your ap, it out because of the 3.4, no matter where it's from. For the most part, we are blissfully unaware of distinctions in rigor between non-US schools.