(CAD, Qc Applicant) Working on school list

[PubliusOvidius]

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Hi everyone,

I'm a bit of a lurker here and I'm preparing for the 2018 application. I intend to apply as early as possible when it opens in June. I am interested in applying to the US. Based on my application, I was wondering if people could give me some advice on where to apply - I am interested in going into ethics/ social issues in medicine in the future, likely a PhD as well. I am also very interested in communication of medical knowledge to the public and its impact on discourse between the population and physicians.

I believe I have a decent enough application to apply internationally, although I know competition is stiff.
Here are my stats (not comprehensive, I'll be listing the most relevant things):

Neuroscience Major/Classical Studies minor
4.0 GPA across the board
520 MCAT (129/128/132/131)

Research
Over 1000 hours leading a research project (on a topic I think I can say is pretty high-impact worthy) in Neuroscience, first-author publication in the works (but likely won't be ready for application), ongoing
Over 500 hours leading a research project in biomedical ethics, ongoing (I am in two labs right now)
One poster presentation, although I foresee more in the future

A number of awards/scholarships/honour rolls across the board

ECS
Over 1000 hours of volunteering with mentally-disabled adults, and now the elderly in an old-aged home (ongoing)
Over 100 hours of shadowing in an intensive care unit trauma center, including surgeries, procedures, rounds, etc. (ongoing)
First-dan black belt in karate kickboxing (over 12 years, ongoing)
Pianist for the past 8 years
Fluent in Classical Latin

I also believe that I have a fairly strong letter/personal statement, as well as letters from multiple professors, researchers and an MD/PhD.

I am emphasising my education in the arts in my application, as I believe it is conducive to my wish to pursue medical ethics in the future as a physician. Anyway, I don't have a very comprehensive list right now. I just have some of the higher tier schools (which I imagine my chances aren't great at), but it would be wonderful if anyone could recommend some more based on my stats/interests, or point me somewhere where I could look into it more. Note that my "safety net" are schools that I am applying to in Canada, so I don't mind risking it a bit with tougher schools for my US application.

My schools (no particular order):

Harvard, Stanford, UCSF, John Hopkins, Yale, UPenn, Columbia, NYU, UCLA

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance 🙂.

 

[gyngyn]

Buy the MSAR to optimize your choices.
For example, Stanford only matriculated 2 internationals, UCSF, 0.
Look at the acceptance information tab.

 

[PubliusOvidius]

Buy the MSAR to optimize your choices.
For example, Stanford only matriculated 2 internationals, UCSF, 0.
Look at the acceptance information tab.

Thanks, I probably will look into that in the near future. I was on the fence about it but it seems to be a good idea. I was hoping to also get some personal opinions, though, from people on this forum, but I'm assuming it's hard to judge since I'm international.