Canadian, 36Q, 3.96 GPA

[RickRypienRIP]

Canadian Applicant (currently non-student), Minority (South Asian), Trilingual (English, French, Native Tongue)

3.96 science GPA, 3.95 Cumulative GPA
14 BS, 9 VR, 13 PS, Q

- Volunteered at general hospital (over 200 hours logged)
- Shadowed pediatric anesthesiologist, therapeutic clown, pediatric pharmacist (20 hours, shadowing isn't that huge in Canada)
- Molecular Biology Research on novel Listeria detection: no publication but presented poster at school poster day (around 450 hours)
- Clinical research for pediatric pharmacy at children's hospital, wrpte research proposals and currently leading opioid-weaning study, since June 2012 (400 hours estimated?)
- Fundraised $2,000 for palliative care facility, doing a charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in October, 2012
- Taught English in Africa for a month in June 2011, raised money for an orphanage when I got back
- Volunteered with religious centre throughout undergrad
- "Logistics coordinator" for school literacy club (barely 30 hours)
- Was a Restaurant Host
- Acted as a supply clerk for Health Canada (summer job)
- Seasonal Student Employee at Health Canada (another summer job)

Looking to know which schools would be interested in taking Canadians, with my qualifications, that are reputable (ideally I'd like to return to Canada after studies).

I was thinking UChicago, Stanford, Columbia (but they might be a little too competitive)
Application's almost ready for submission, I just need to know which schools I should be aiming for. It is pretty late though.

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[Catalystik]

Canadian Applicant (currently non-student), Minority (South Asian), Trilingual (English, French, Native Tongue)

3.96 science GPA, 3.95 Cumulative GPA
14 BS, 9 VR, 13 PS, Q

- Volunteered at general hospital (over 200 hours logged)
- Shadowed pediatric anesthesiologist, therapeutic clown, pediatric pharmacist (20 hours, shadowing isn't that huge in Canada)
- Molecular Biology Research on novel Listeria detection: no publication but presented poster at school poster day (around 450 hours)
- Clinical research for pediatric pharmacy at children's hospital, wrpte research proposals and currently leading opioid-weaning study, since June 2012 (400 hours estimated?)
- Fundraised $2,000 for palliative care facility, doing a charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in October, 2012
- Taught English in Africa for a month in June 2011, raised money for an orphanage when I got back
- Volunteered with religious centre throughout undergrad
- "Logistics coordinator" for school literacy club (barely 30 hours)
- Was a Restaurant Host
- Acted as a supply clerk for Health Canada (summer job)
- Seasonal Student Employee at Health Canada (another summer job)

Looking to know which schools would be interested in taking Canadians, with my qualifications, that are reputable (ideally I'd like to return to Canada after studies).

I was thinking UChicago, Stanford, Columbia (but they might be a little too competitive)
Application's almost ready for submission, I just need to know which schools I should be aiming for. It is pretty late though.

Numbers-wise, you can apply any place that accepts Canadians, but be wary of those schools that expect you to put one to four years of tuition money in escrow to prove you have sufficient finanacial backing.

EC-wise, unless you are massively understating your experiences, I am not seeing the sterling activities that "top schools" might be drawn to.

Top schools aim to train future leaders in medicine. Your chances of an acceptance by one of them lies with whether your application supports this potential, backed up by your LOR writers. Ways in which you can show this capability for making a difference might be with substantive research over years where you took a creative role (publications are not required), with strong, consistent, hands-on community service to those in need, or with above-and-beyond leadership.

We don’t know all the details of your past Experiences, so I 'd have to ask if you think your application will show that you are a desirable candidate for the most selective schools? Your stats say yes, but what about your activities?

As to US schools considering Canadians, this might help: http://www.naahp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2559

And here is a partial spreadsheet one SDNer started, that you might use as a model and add to: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkT6csiPgT6YdFZXdWZuZXp5ZTBBMDZiZGpYSlRsQUE&hl=en#gid=0

 

[Claudin]

Don't apply to Stanford; because it's very hard to get into as an international student. I know 3 people with 3.9+/40+ who applied to Stanford but only 1 of them got in.

From what I have heard, schools like Yale, Vanderbilt, and Columbia are pretty Canadian friendly (and I hope this is true).

 

[paratroxal]

Canadian Applicant (currently non-student), Minority (South Asian), Trilingual (English, French, Native Tongue)

3.96 science GPA, 3.95 Cumulative GPA
14 BS, 9 VR, 13 PS, Q

- Volunteered at general hospital (over 200 hours logged)
- Shadowed pediatric anesthesiologist, therapeutic clown, pediatric pharmacist (20 hours, shadowing isn't that huge in Canada)
- Molecular Biology Research on novel Listeria detection: no publication but presented poster at school poster day (around 450 hours)
- Clinical research for pediatric pharmacy at children's hospital, wrpte research proposals and currently leading opioid-weaning study, since June 2012 (400 hours estimated?)
- Fundraised $2,000 for palliative care facility, doing a charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in October, 2012
- Taught English in Africa for a month in June 2011, raised money for an orphanage when I got back
- Volunteered with religious centre throughout undergrad
- "Logistics coordinator" for school literacy club (barely 30 hours)
- Was a Restaurant Host
- Acted as a supply clerk for Health Canada (summer job)
- Seasonal Student Employee at Health Canada (another summer job)

Looking to know which schools would be interested in taking Canadians, with my qualifications, that are reputable (ideally I'd like to return to Canada after studies).

I was thinking UChicago, Stanford, Columbia (but they might be a little too competitive)
Application's almost ready for submission, I just need to know which schools I should be aiming for. It is pretty late though.

You are very competitive even for Canadian schools. Seeing as you want to go back to Canada, probably for a residency and then practice there, you should definitely apply to Canadian schools. If you are either a western province local, or one of the Atlantic provinces local your chances are awesome!

If you are in province for Ontario (which might be the likely case) you'd be great for Queens and Master with the decent verbal score, although Western U cut off's are 11 on VR... I hope you plan to apply to Canadian schools too! If so which have you decided on?

 

[RickRypienRIP]

Hey all, thanks for the great suggestions.

Catalystik: my ECs are def not up to snuff, but I didn't want to suggest that just to get an unbiased view. I had terrible ECs a year ago, so it was really hard to get them up.

Claudin: thanks for that. I'll drop Stanford and add Yale.

Paratroxal: I'm from Ontario, my desire to apply to the States comes from my low verbal score and weak ECs. I applied in Ontario last year, but got the shaft (no interviews). I'm not applying to Memorial, Quebec schools, and McMaster or Western, but everything else is fair game.

 

[paratroxal]

Hey all, thanks for the great suggestions.

Catalystik: my ECs are def not up to snuff, but I didn't want to suggest that just to get an unbiased view. I had terrible ECs a year ago, so it was really hard to get them up.

Claudin: thanks for that. I'll drop Stanford and add Yale.

Paratroxal: I'm from Ontario, my desire to apply to the States comes from my low verbal score and weak ECs. I applied in Ontario last year, but got the shaft (no interviews). I'm not applying to Memorial, Quebec schools, and McMaster or Western, but everything else is fair game.

You seem really competitive for Canadian schools, what is your OMSAS GPA if you don't mind me asking