Canadian, MD/PhD applicant, school list

[tuasfaim]

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Hello All,

I'm a canadian citizen (no US citizen/permanent residency) and I'm thinking of applying to US MD/PhD programs. Going into my 4th year undergrad in Sept.

cGPA = 3.60, BCPM = 3.61, slight upward trend.

MCAT: 11V, 13PS, 14BS, total: 38N (err, not sure what happened in writing)

I have decent ECs:
- 3 yrs of research, I started first month of undergrad (part time during school yr, full time during summer). 1 Peer-reviewed publication.
- 3 years of volunteering at provincial advocacy group.
- 2 years of Shadowing radiologist/neurosurgeon
- 1 yr as president of an on-campus advocacy group.
- Other minor volunteering, leadership.
- a few univ awards.

My thoughts: I think my GPA is a bit low. My MCAT is alright. My ECs are pretty good.

I'm thinking of which schools I should apply to. Maybe a few reach schools. I think I've given up on Canadian schools, which are super GPA-centered. I know its much harder for Canadians to get into US Schools. I'm looking for any schools that will take Canadians (not so much schools that take 1 international student every 5 years, lol). I've browsed through the SDN forums and the I've compiled a list.

- Stanford
- Yale
- Northwestern Univ
- Wash U STL
- Dartmouth
- Wake Forest
- Penn State
- Case Western
- LSU
Added:
- U Penn
- Emory
- UTexas SW
- U Virginia
- Baylor
- Vanderbilt.
- Cleveland Clinic (research MD)

My questions are:
1) How is my list (I feel like they're all reach schools...)
2) Any other Schools that are friendly to Canadian MD-only applicants?
3) Any schools particularly friendly to Canadian MD/PhD applicants?

I'm a complete noob to US applications. Any advice/suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[nonamesleft]

If MD/PhD is your goal..you might need a few more schools on that list...(here's the thread I made when I was still thinking about reapplying..the MD/PhDs on that list accept Canadians, and the ones in the first section are mostly mid to low tier schools)

..I don't think Duke takes internationals for the MD/PhD? ..the list for MD and MD/PhD schools is slightly different.

..with regards to LSU - make sure you're applying to New Orleans and not Shreveport ..and while I know the school takes Canadians for MD/PhD, I'm not sure if this is one of the one every five years schools (they also don't take any OOS for MD-only)...I'm still trying to figure out how I got in 😛 but it would be great to have a fellow Canadian here!

I'm not sure if VCU actually accepts Canadians for MD/PhD, but I know that this past year, they interviewed at least 2. Also, the current MS2 class has 2 Canadians in it (MD only)..

If you have two years above 3.7 (doesn't matter which 2, just have 5 full year courses in the year), you could try applying to Western's MD/PhD. I applied and then found out three months down the road that one of the people who wrote a research letter for me doesn't like the idea of MD/PhDs..so make sure your letter writer actually supports your career choice. (Luckily for me, Western's MD/PhD was the only program I sent the letter to)
..and maybe Mac's MD program? their MD/PhD minimum cutoff is a 3.85 I think...

Good luck this cycle!

Hello All,

I'm a canadian citizen (no US citizen/permanent residency) and I'm thinking of applying to US MD/PhD programs. Going into my 4th year undergrad in Sept.

cGPA = 3.60, BCPM = 3.61, slight upward trend.

MCAT: 11V, 13PS, 14BS, total: 38N (err, not sure what happened in writing)

I have decent ECs:
- 3 yrs of research, I started first month of undergrad (part time during school yr, full time during summer). 1 Peer-reviewed publication.
- 3 years of volunteering at provincial advocacy group.
- 2 years of Shadowing radiologist/neurosurgeon
- 1 yr as president of an on-campus advocacy group.
- Other minor volunteering, leadership.
- a few univ awards.

My thoughts: I think my GPA is a bit low. My MCAT is alright. My ECs are pretty good.

I'm thinking of which schools I should apply to. Maybe a few reach schools. I think I've given up on Canadian schools, which are super GPA-centered. I know its much harder for Canadians to get into US Schools. I'm looking for any schools that will take Canadians (not so much schools that take 1 international student every 5 years, lol). I've browsed through the SDN forums and the I've compiled a list.

- Stanford
- Yale
- Northwestern Univ
- Wash U STL
- Dartmouth
- Duke
- Wake Forest
- Penn State
- Case Western/Lerner.
- LSU

My questions are:
1) How is my list (I feel like they're all reach schools...)
2) Any other Schools that are friendly to Canadian MD-only applicants?
3) Any schools particularly friendly to Canadian MD/PhD applicants?

I'm a complete noob to US applications. Any advice/suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[tuasfaim]

If MD/PhD is your goal..you might need a few more schools on that list...(here's the thread I made when I was still thinking about reapplying..the MD/PhDs on that list accept Canadians, and the ones in the first section are mostly mid to low tier schools)

..I don't think Duke takes internationals for the MD/PhD? ..the list for MD and MD/PhD schools is slightly different.

..with regards to LSU - make sure you're applying to New Orleans and not Shreveport ..and while I know the school takes Canadians for MD/PhD, I'm not sure if this is one of the one every five years schools (they also don't take any OOS for MD-only)...I'm still trying to figure out how I got in 😛 but it would be great to have a fellow Canadian here!

I'm not sure if VCU actually accepts Canadians for MD/PhD, but I know that this past year, they interviewed at least 2. Also, the current MS2 class has 2 Canadians in it (MD only)..

If you have two years above 3.7 (doesn't matter which 2, just have 5 full year courses in the year), you could try applying to Western's MD/PhD. I applied and then found out three months down the road that one of the people who wrote a research letter for me doesn't like the idea of MD/PhDs..so make sure your letter writer actually supports your career choice. (Luckily for me, Western's MD/PhD was the only program I sent the letter to)
..and maybe Mac's MD program? their MD/PhD minimum cutoff is a 3.85 I think...

Good luck this cycle!

Much thanks for the reply! and the link!

I did think about Ontario schools. But the only ones that will even look at my application is Mac and U of T. I don't make the cutoffs for the other schools. So I will apply to those two, but I'm not hopeful.

So now the US schools are my new prioritites. And since I'm a "non-citizen without permanent residency" (lol, that's how I'm going to introduce myself from now on...), the opportunities are less, and more competitive. I will def remember to apply to LSU ... in New Orleans.

I'm also added some new schools through forum searching. Let me know your thoughts!

 

[nonamesleft]

your list still looks a bit top heavy..but I do know someone personally who got into Vandy this past year as a Canadian (she had a 3.9x/33 though), and I think someone on pm101 mentioned getting into UVa..(both were for MD programs though..so not sure how this works out for MD/PhD)
You could try calling the MD/PhD programs, and asking them how many Canadians are in the program right now. They might not give you exact numbers, but they'll probably give you the total number (all the years added together) and say something like none, a few, etc. with regards to number of Canadians. It'll give you an idea of which programs are friendly.

also look at the links on this site:
http://www.aamc.org/students/considering/research/mdphd/

btw..I'm not hungry..

Much thanks for the reply! and the link!

I did think about Ontario schools. But the only ones that will even look at my application is Mac and U of T. I don't make the cutoffs for the other schools. So I will apply to those two, but I'm not hopeful.

So now the US schools are my new prioritites. And since I'm a "non-citizen without permanent residency" (lol, that's how I'm going to introduce myself from now on...), the opportunities are less, and more competitive. I will def remember to apply to LSU ... in New Orleans.

I'm also added some new schools through forum searching. Let me know your thoughts!