Canadian Applicant, Question on process

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Hello everyone, I was hoping some people here could give me some advice. I understand that the US medical school process is based on rolling admissions for the most part. I am a Canadian student and just took the May 19th mcat. I'm not feeling too confident in my score. Scores will be released June 20th and my plan is to continue studying in case I missed my mark (Goal score: 510-512). I'm very confident I can achieve my goal score if not higher if I re-take the test June 30th (Will be my 3rd attempt).

Some* background stats: White - Caucasian, 3.8+ GPA, Volunteer experience 200hrs+ shadowing 100 hrs+, Sports team involvement, tutoring, manger... the usual. (NO RESEARCH experience)*.

Lets say I do the MCAT june 30th and the scores will be released August 1st and i'll have my application verified and everything (also ill have my secondaries ready for the schools to which I will apply (low-mid tier broadly). Assuming the Mcat goes as planned, what are my chances of securing interviews, getting into medical school for entering year: 2018. Am I applying too late? Any suggestions to improve my chances?
-Thank you in advance.
 
Spliced said:
Hello everyone, I was hoping some people here could give me some advice. I understand that the US medical school process is based on rolling admissions for the most part. I am a Canadian student and just took the May 19th mcat. I'm not feeling too confident in my score. Scores will be released June 20th and my plan is to continue studying in case I missed my mark (Goal score: 510-512). I'm very confident I can achieve my goal score if not higher if I re-take the test June 30th (Will be my 3rd attempt).

Some* background stats: White - Caucasian, 3.8+ GPA, Volunteer experience 200hrs+ shadowing 100 hrs+, Sports team involvement, tutoring, manger... the usual. (NO RESEARCH experience)*.

Lets say I do the MCAT june 30th and the scores will be released August 1st and i'll have my application verified and everything (also ill have my secondaries ready for the schools to which I will apply (low-mid tier broadly). Assuming the Mcat goes as planned, what are my chances of securing interviews, getting into medical school for entering year: 2018. Am I applying too late? Any suggestions to improve my chances?
-Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
International applicants have to be Harvard/Stamford caliber for US med schools.
 
gonnif said:
You are an international student (or considered as such by many schools) with no research, low volunteering hours, not sure of what your clinical-non clinical numbers may be, nothing outstanding in EC, possible weak or mediocre MCAT (all scores will matter) applying late, though not that late. Personally, I would considering enhancing another year with both clinical and non clinical hours, possibly getting involved in a clinical study somehow, unless your MCAT super-duper. I am just not feeling it with your situation
Click to expand...

Thank you very much for the quick reply. I will definitely look into getting some research experience.
I volunteered at many different clinical settings: 200+ hours at walk-in clinic, 60 hours dental office, 50 hours physiotherapy clinic. Captain of Rep sports team (ton of hours), I also have an online business. What do you think?
 
Goro said:
International applicants have to be Harvard/Stamford caliber for US med schools.
Click to expand...

I was hoping to apply to most of the low tiers that accepted a few internationals, also I know some schools consider Canadians as out of state. That is where my aims are at.
 
Don't apply this year if you have to re-take. Applying is expensive, attending is incredibly expensive and being a reapplicant sucks. Plus it would give you another year to apply to Canadian schools for cheaper tuition in a country not run by Donald Trump.

In general for Canadians I'd recommend giving the US one good try when you know it's the last year you're going to try in Canada. Assuming you'd rather stay in Canada if possible, should be at least 2-3 cycles.
 
NotASerialKiller said:
Don't apply this year if you have to re-take. Applying is expensive, attending is incredibly expensive and being a reapplicant sucks. Plus it would give you another year to apply to Canadian schools for cheaper tuition in a country not run by Donald Trump.

In general for Canadians I'd recommend giving the US one good try when you know it's the last year you're going to try in Canada. Assuming you'd rather stay in Canada if possible, should be at least 2-3 cycles.
Click to expand...

I actually don't want to stay in Canada and want to move to the US. I have family in the states and plan to live/ work there in the future.
 
Spliced said:
I'm not feeling too confident in my score. Scores will be released June 20th and my plan is to continue studying in case I missed my mark (Goal score: 510-512). I'm very confident I can achieve my goal score if not higher if I re-take the test June 30th (Will be my 3rd attempt).
Click to expand...
Those with multiple MCAT scores are at a disadvantage in the US even if those scores go up over time.
Do not re-take the exam until you are confident of a score consistent with success.
Depending on your previous scores that may need to be higher than a single good score would have been.
 
gyngyn said:
Those with multiple MCAT scores are at a disadvantage in the US even if those scores go up over time.
Do not re-take the exam until you are confident of a score consistent with success.
Depending on your previous scores that may need to be higher than a single good score would have been.
Click to expand...

How would you quantify the impact of multiple scores? my first mcat was a mistake; took it without pre-reqs. What would you consider a "good" mcat score in my situation to be?
 
Spliced said:
How would you quantify the impact of multiple scores? my first mcat was a mistake; took it without pre-reqs. What would you consider a "good" mcat score in my situation to be?
Click to expand...
Multiple weak scores are much more damaging than a single one.

The median MCAT for a successful international was about 515 (33.6).
Be aware that the AAMC recommends averaging scores (and each examiner can have an idiosyncratic interpretation).

There will be no asterisk on the first score that explains your rationale, sadly.
 
gyngyn said:
Multiple weak scores are much more damaging than a single one.

The median MCAT for a successful international was about 515 (33.6).
Be aware that the AAMC recommends averaging scores (and each examiner can have an idiosyncratic interpretation).

There will be no asterisk on the first score that explains your rationale, sadly.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply. Averaging will be problematic for me. Is there a list which would give me information on which schools average test scores? Or would i have to contact each school individually?
 
Spliced said:
Thank you for the reply. Averaging will be problematic for me. Is there a list which would give me information on which schools average test scores? Or would i have to contact each school individually?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, many of them say something along the lines of "all scores are considered."
Looking at websites is a good idea, because some schools famously average scores (e.g. Jefferson).
Even the ones that say they "take" the most recent (or highest)score, may be referring to the fact that they include that score in published matriculation stats.
 
gyngyn said:
Unfortunately, many of them say something along the lines of "all scores are considered."
Looking at websites is a good idea, because some schools famously average scores (e.g. Jefferson).
Even the ones that say they "take" the most recent (or highest)score, may be referring to the fact that they include that score in published matriculation stats.
Click to expand...
Okay, i'll keep that in mind when applying. Thank you again.
 
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