Canadian Applicant-What are my chances?

[canadian12]

Hi All,

Here are some of my statistics and EC's that were included in my application. I applied to only a few schools including USC, UCLA, Stanford and Columbia. I have applied more broadly across Canada but selected good schools close to family members.

My gpa is ~3.6
MCAT is 33P, (9V, 14PS, 10 BS)

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[Catalystik]

What is your BCPM GPA?
Any physician shadowing or teaching?
How many years of research?
Your cGPA is below the average of those accepted. Is this due to a bad first year or any particular cause?

Based on your stats, Keck is a reasonable goal stats-wise, but they don't take a huge number of internationals. I thought that UCLA didn't take any. Or do you have a greencard? It would be wise to spread your net further and not have mainly "reaches" on it.

 

[CodeBlu]

Also can you please break down your GPA by year, both sGPA and cGPA.
Please tell us what undergraduate institution you are currently located at. As the scales vary for OMSAS/AMCAS etc.


Use this AMCAS GPA calculator thread.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=590424

 

[canadian12]

Thanks very much for the reply!

My BCPM gpa is likely slightly higher than 3.6, although it hasn't been calculated by AMCAS yet. At my local university, they consider only the three best years, so it gives me more of an advantage.

I have had 2 summer research positions (May-Aug), a 6 month research position at the University of California, Irvine, and a full year into my Master's graduate degree (thesis based).

I received a cgpa of 3.3 in my first year, and I have gradually improved each year, receiving 3.85 in my final year.

I have done a fair amount of shadowing, and is reflected in one of my reference letters, however, I haven't included it as one of my work/activities in my application.

I don't have a greencard...I believe I read somewhere that they do accept Canadian students. I sure hope so! I'll have to look into it again before secondaries...

 

[canadian12]

Also can you please break down your GPA by year, both sGPA and cGPA.
Please tell us what undergraduate institution you are currently located at. As the scales vary for OMSAS/AMCAS etc.


Use this AMCAS GPA calculator thread.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=590424

Sure! I'll check this out and get back to you! Thanks for the link 🙂

 

[canadian12]

Also can you please break down your GPA by year, both sGPA and cGPA.
Please tell us what undergraduate institution you are currently located at. As the scales vary for OMSAS/AMCAS etc.


Use this AMCAS GPA calculator thread.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=590424

Ps. I'm a student at the University of Alberta.

 

[canadian12]

Year 1:
total GPA 3.263
bcpm GPA: 3.256

Year 2:
total GPA: 3.50
bcpm GPA: 3.62

Year 3:
total GPA: 3.638
bcpm GPA: 3.74

year 4 (final year of undergrad)
total GPA: 3.8
bcpm GPA: 3.85

Year 5 (one semester, as open studies,post-bach)
total GPA: 4.0 (3 courses only)
Bcpm gpa: 4.0 (2 courses in this category)

Running total GPA: 3.582
Running Bcpm GPA: 3.60

This does not include MSc. courses which i have taken. Only had one course that offers a grade (received an A and goes towards Bcpm gpa), the rest are Pass/fail.

A bit low...but it does show progression. Who knows!

 

[CodeBlu]

Year 1:
total GPA 3.263
bcpm GPA: 3.256

Year 2:
total GPA: 3.50
bcpm GPA: 3.62

Year 3:
total GPA: 3.638
bcpm GPA: 3.74

year 4 (final year of undergrad)
total GPA: 3.8
bcpm GPA: 3.85

Year 5 (one semester, as open studies,post-bach)
total GPA: 4.0 (3 courses only)
Bcpm gpa: 4.0 (2 courses in this category)

Running total GPA: 3.582
Running Bcpm GPA: 3.60

This does not include MSc. courses which i have taken. Only had one course that offers a grade (received an A and goes towards Bcpm gpa), the rest are Pass/fail.

A bit low...but it does show progression. Who knows!

Your GPA is fine-ish. The upward trend is nice. MSc courses will not count towards your uGPA. Now... I guess Ontario schools are pretty much out... I don't know how U of A works... but I'm guessing that you need 3.8+, 32+ to even be considered?

Your MCAT is fine. But the P will hurt you at some places.

As far as US schools go... you can apply broadly. Catalystik will be so kind to come up with a list of schools for you to consider.

It is a little late to be submitting AMCAS... we'll see what Cat says.

 

[canadian12]

Your GPA is fine-ish. The upward trend is nice. MSc courses will not count towards your uGPA. Now... I guess Ontario schools are pretty much out... I don't know how U of A works... but I'm guessing that you need 3.8+, 32+ to even be considered?

Your MCAT is fine. But the P will hurt you at some places.

As far as US schools go... you can apply broadly. Catalystik will be so kind to come up with a list of schools for you to consider.

It is a little late to be submitting AMCAS... we'll see what Cat says.

I am really working on improving my interviews, as it is likely where I am falling short.

The US applications are more for curiosity, and I thought the private schools might find my research involvement and publications appealing. Not really sure!

 

[CodeBlu]

Best advice. STEP UP YOUR INTERVIEW GAME!!!!!!

 

[canadian12]

Best advice. STEP UP YOUR INTERVIEW GAME!!!!!!

haha for sure!

 

[Catalystik]

You can generate a Canadian friendly school list from these resources, keeping in mind that policies change from year to year and you need to confirm from websites. I've heard Vermont, for example, isn't taking internationals anymore:

US Schools Policies on taking Internationals: http://www.naahp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2559
**Canadian friendly school list: http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19065

 

[canadian12]

You can generate a Canadian friendly school list from these resources, keeping in mind that policies change from year to year and you need to confirm from websites:

US Schools Policies on taking Internationals: http://www.naahp.org/Default.aspx?tabid=2559
**Canadian friendly school list: http://www.premed101.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19065

Thanks very much Catalystik!

Do you think it is possible to get an interview at the 3 schools that I have applied to so far? Or this is unrealistic.

I spoke with UCLA, and they take 1-2 international students every few years...I will likely not complete a secondary application for this school. Possibly will send an application to Boston University or Jefferson.

 

[canadian12]

Keck school of medicine does not consider Canadian students as international, thankfully! I received an email from them explaining this.

 

[Catalystik]

Download a copy of this, put your own stats in, and you can see the likelihood of an acceptance for a targeted school. Look at the schools with a LizzyM score of 69 (your score) and below:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmKVGWwobG5GdEx2MjlBTDE0bXFXNGFZczZqYTZKb2c&hl=en_US#gid=0